The doorbell mimics a wind chime and Joey laughs. He peeks out the window and sees a police officer.
“Hey there, how can I help you?”
“Are you Joseph Moralez?”
“Yes.”
“Can I have a word with you?”
“Sure, let me put on some pants. I’ll be right down.”
Joey invites Sergeant David Church into the restaurant’s bar. Unopened boxes sit on the tables and bartop.
“Do you want coffee or anything?” Joey holds up a coffee pot.
“No, I’m good. Sorry to wake you up this early.”
“I’ve been up since 4am. I was getting ready to take my mid-morning nap.”
“I miss those. When are you guys opening?”
“Super soft opening this Saturday. Costume optional. Actual soft opening two weeks from tomorrow and grand opening that Thursday.”
“I don’t want to waste your time. I just need to ask what you were doing on Saturday night around 11pm.”
“I was in bed, but I don’t think I was asleep yet.”
“You weren’t out with friends?”
“No. Charles Johnson left the restaurant around 9:30 or 10. I called my son to say goodnight right after and then I went upstairs.”
“Do your security cameras work?”
“I don’t know. I’d have to ask Paul. Is this about the shooting around the corner?”
“Yeah. I’m just covering my bases.”
“Man, this would be so much easier if I had an alibi.”
“It would certainly make my job easier.”
“I went to sleep probably around 11:30 and woke up at 4 in the morning. Made a pot of coffee and had a cigarette outside. It was cold as shit.”
“Yeah, this time of year at that time of day.”
“I checked ESPN around that time on my phone.”
“Okay. Do you own a gun?”
“Yes, but it’s at my house in Portland.”
“This hoodie that you’re wearing. Where did you get that?”
“Atomic Pizza? It’s a friend’s old restaurant in Portland. They closed a few years ago.”
“Can I take it for evidence?”
“Sure. You’re going to find gunshot residue on it, because I wore it to the range last Wednesday. It would be so weird if someone else had this same hoodie.”
“Yeah, what are the odds of that?”
“Shit. I think there were maybe fifty of these made in this purple. Maybe fifteen in this size. Hey, do you have kids?”
“Two girls.”
“When you take them out for breakfast what do they order?”
“The twelve-year-old goes for waffles. Her little sister likes pancakes. They drench it in syrup but no butter. What does your son get?”
“We rarely go out for breakfast, but he likes berries. I’m asking because I’m trying to come up with a breakfast menu for kids.”
“Just smaller orders of what the adults eat.”
The door opens and Paul walks in with a paper bag and cup of coffee. “Hey all, anyone want a sausage and egg McMuffin?”
“Sure, mind as well,” Joey says.
“What’s goin’ on here, officer? My name is Paul Lee.”
“Nice to meet you, Paul. Sergeant David Church. There was an incident the other night around the corner. We’re just talking to people in the neighborhood. Were you around?”
“Saturday night I was in Bozeman. Stayed overnight.”
Becky Eastman sits on the bar with her legs crossed Indian-style. Like a children’s ghost costume the fabric of her gray dress hangs loosely. Though in her thirties and having spent about two decades in restaurants and bars she is fresh-faced and optimistic. Joey and Paul sit at a table in a corner watching her address the thirty or so people scattered in the bar.
“I don’t talk a lot. I don’t like meetings. If you have questions, please ask the person next to you. If they don’t know, you two find the answer together. Ask someone else. Ask me or Romeo or Paul. Well, maybe not Paul. I prefer to be overstaffed than understaffed. So there’ll be hours to be had. It’s easier to let someone off early when we’re slow than to get someone here at the last minute to cover a shift. Barring unforeseen circumstances, there will always be at least two people in the front of the house and two in the back. If someone asks for a drink you’ve never heard of please use your phone. Google is your friend. However, we will not use a blender in the bar. Blenders belong in the kitchen. That’s one of my rules. Please don’t break my rules without asking. Most of you have been hired for a specific position, but unless it’s against the law, you’ll probably do almost every job and chore in this place at one time or another. Family meals are between two-thirty and four-thirty. If you’re in the neighborhood please drop in for family meal. The more the merrier. Romeo will give you more details. Any questions so far?”
A young lady raises a hand.
“You don’t need to raise your hands in meetings, just be polite and don’t talk over each other.”
“Is there a dress code or uniform?”
“Black pants, skirts or dresses. Black shoes. White or dark blue tops. You can also wear one of our t-shirts, sweatshirts or button-ups. Just make yourselves presentable.”
“Are we getting drug tested?”
“Not at this time.”
Becky looks at all the faces and realizes she already knows about half of them. “If you’ve worked with me before you know I’m pretty easy to get along with. If you haven’t, you’ll know soon enough we do not compromise our standards. Okay, we need your paperwork by the end of this week so we can get you on the payroll unless you plan on working for free.”
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