Lou's (closed for theapprentice)

[jennifersdreams]

Lou's is a little hole-in-the-wall by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. They do a good business at lunch and dinner, but after nine the kitchen closes, and the local working people mostly go home to their TVs and their beds. The bar stays open til one, and what business there is from then on is mostly the same half dozen local drunks, and the occasional trucker.

Jenni waited tables at dinner, but this night, Lou asked her to cover the bar. His wife was sick and he was needed at home. It was an extra four hours, but he gave her a hundred dollars out of the register to make sure she said yes.

"Besides," he said. "A pretty girl like you ought to get the boys tipping pretty good."

He was right about her looks. Jenni always said that guys tended to tip according to cup size, and she was a double D, with a tight little body and a long blonde ponytail. She wore a little black miniskirt and a low cut white tanktop that seemed to keep her male customers happy. The women might have bitched, but they were seldom the ones leaving the tips.

She knew she wasn't really being given a choice, but at least he was making it worth her while, and she sighed and nodded. A few minutes after nine, the cook locked up the kitchen and hit the road. Jenni was alone, except for the two old men at the end of the bar.

 

[TheApprentice]

As the radio DJ took the station out of commercial, Brody peered out the windshield of his old Ford. And don't mistake it, the car was very old. But it was American, and that was as much a status symbol in a town like this as any. At the same time, it didn't start so well in the winter anymore, and Lou didn't have the cash to fix it. Not that he needed to, of course, he'd been out of work for almost a year, and had nowhere to drive. Most nights he sat around the house, pushing paper to try and find a job, inevitably falling asleep on the couch in a drunken stupor.

Tonight though, had been the last straw. Tonight the letter from the bank had come, the letter saying if he didn't have the money by the 30th, that they would take the house from him. He had already lost so much you see. His wife, disgusted by him now, had left him months ago to stay with her mother. And she had taken their two sons with her. He had nothing else left in this world but his home, and be damned if he wasn't going to give it up without a fight.

He had been to Lou's before. A few times in fact, and recognized the pretty waitress behind the bar tonight. He had thought only Lou worked the counter, but schedules change, circumstance changes, and he supposed she would be easier anyway. He had been there enough times to know that Lou's was the type of place that pulled in a good haul on a weekend night, and it would probably be even better if this bombshell had been keeping the brews flowing. He watched as the two old men, the last patrons at the end of the bar, stood to leave, one of the old, drunken men slipping a final $20 bill between her breasts and smiling coyly before being yanked by his friend to the door. That was the last sign Brody needed. That money was his.

He waited just long enough to see the two men pull out of the parking lot, and then got out of his own car, turning off the ignition but leaving the keys in the car for a quick getaway. He pulled the ski mask over his face, and pushed open the door. This was it. No turning back.

The gun he pulled out was nothing too intimidating. A simple pistol. Of course, a gun becomes very intimidating no matter the size when it's pointed at your face, which is the position he now had the waitress in. What was her name again? Jenni? Jessie? No, it was Jenni, that was right.

He spoke in a voice that was calm and didn't betray his racing heart. "All the cash from the register. And the tips too. On the counter. Now."

 

[jennifersdreams]

It was almost time when the two old guys left. When they stood up, she glanced at the clock, and it was quarter to one. Of course Jerry had to have his fun, copping a feel as he stuffed another twenty down her blouse. It made her feel cheap, but the fact was that with only a few customers the whole evening, she wasn't going to do anything to stop the dirty old prick from handing over twenties. She thought about locking the door after them, but knowing Lou, he'd pull in at 12:59 to make sure she wasn't cheating him.

So she stuffed the 20 in the jar with the rest of her tips and started picking up the bowls of snacks that sat on the bar mostly untouched all night. She'd kept up with the side work as much as possible, while entertaining the old guys, so there was just a little left to be done. If noone else came in, she could lock the doors at one and be out by ten past. She came from behind the bar and slipped a five in the juke box and punched in a few songs, to keep herself moving while she finished up.

She was leaning over, picking out songs when the door opened. She shot a glance over her shoulder and saw a man's shape, but nothing more as she put in her next song.

"Hi there, be with you in a sec," she said, and then she heard him. She turned to look and he had a gun pointed at her, and a ski mask on. She stumbled back against the juke box, just as her first song started to play. She held her hands up, her mind racing. There was a gun under the bar, she knew, and a panic button, but she couldn't get anywhere near them from where she was, and the man seemed utterly cold. She didn't doubt he'd shoot her in a heartbeat if she gave him anything resembling a reason.

"Please, don't shoot. I'll get it for you," she said, her voice shaking. The juke box played a bouncy pop song as she slowly walked back behind the bar, her hands held up and shaking badly.