Worth Saving(80)

“Wait. That girl looks kind of familiar,” I say when I recognize the short-haired woman wearing a tank top to show off her awesome amount of tattoos.

“Yeah, that’s my girl Marlene,” Layla answers. “She served you guys at the bar . . . that night.”

“Oh,” I reply, stretching out the word. I don’t go into it any further, because I’d prefer not to think about “that night.”

When we approach the two women, all three of them hug like they’re having a family reunion, and then Layla steps back to introduce me.

“Ladies, this is the guy I’ve been talking about all this time. This is Austin,” she says, her words dripping with pride.

The short-haired lady steps up to me first and eyeballs me from top to bottom.

“So, you’re the one I’ve heard so much about. I heard you’re trying to steal my BFF status from me. Is that true?” she asks, standing as close to me as she can get, but the top of her head only comes to my chin, so it’s a little hilarious.

“Umm, well, I’ve been told that the official BFF title has been strictly reserved for you. So, I guess I’d have to say no, that’s not true. Or at least that’s what I think you want me to say. If not, I’ll say something else, just please don’t kill me.” I wrinkle my forehead to try to make myself look afraid, even though she’s so tiny compared to me.

Marlene turns around and looks at the blonde woman who’s standing behind her. I can’t see Marlene’s face, but the blonde smiles, then Marlene turns back to me.

“You know what, that’s a pretty perfect answer,” she says as she starts to laugh. “I think I’m gonna like you. It’s so nice to finally meet you, Austin. I’m Marlene.”

We all laugh as I shake Marlene’s hand and the blonde comes over to introduce herself. She’s wearing a yellow blouse that matches her hair and seems to fit her bright smile.

“Hi, Austin. I’m Amanda,” she says.

“Nice to meet you both,” I reply.

The four of us sit down and order drinks, and Marlene gets right to it.

“So, I have huge news about Red Pony and Damien,” she says. I make a face because I don’t like talking about either of those two topics, but Marlene notices. “Don’t worry, Austin, I think you’re gonna wanna hear this, too. Especially since you were the one who kicked Damien’s ass. I can’t believe you did that, by the way.”

I’m not really sure what to say, so I just shrug.

“Oh, you can’t just shrug this away. I got to work right after it happened, and I was f*cking shocked when I saw Damien’s face. You broke his nose. His face was all bruised up and bloody and swollen. He had to go to the hospital.”

“Well, I was just protecting Layla. He put his hands on her right there in front of me, so he had it coming.”

“Honey, Damien has had that coming for years, and I’m so glad I got to see the little heartbroken look on his face when I came in. He was so embarrassed. It was classic. But, that’s not even the best part. You ready for this?” She looks over at Layla in anticipation, like she can’t wait another second to spill it.

“I’m ready, I’m ready,” Layla chirps. “What is it?”

“David fired him.”

“Holy shit. What?” Layla says, her voice filled with excitement and joy.

“Yeah, that’s right. I guess David saw the whole thing go down with you three, and when you left, he was getting onto Damien about always causing trouble and putting his hands on the girls. He told Damien he was done, and not to come back, because he didn’t know how to run a business. He kicked him out and said he was gonna run Red Pony by himself. You should’ve seen it, Layla, all the girls in the place started cheering right in front of him. You could see how ashamed and embarrassed he was. Honestly, if he wasn’t such an abusive *, I would’ve felt bad for him, but since he is an abusive *, f*ck him. I was laughing.”

“Wow. That’s so good,” Layla says. “I’m sure the other girls were ecstatic. That’s great. He finally got what was coming to him. All the shit he did to us for all those years, it finally came back around to bite him in the ass. I couldn’t have written a better ending for that.”

“You got that right. It’s been a pleasure to go work these past few days without him there to act like an ass,” Marlene says, just as the drinks are brought to the table.

“Okay, so that’s Marlene’s news,” Amanda chimes in. “I have news of my own now, so everybody grab your drinks and let’s make a toast.”

We all pick up our drinks and hold them in the air as Amanda starts talking.

“Okay, so this is a toast to Layla. Not only did she start the revolution at Red Pony when she quit, she also earned her GED and has started taking college classes to become a teacher. And now, I would like to proudly announce that the principal at my elementary school has agreed to hire you as a secretary in the school office.”

“Oh my god!” Layla screams as she stands up and gives Amanda a hug. “I can’t believe that. Are you serious?”

“You know it! One of the secretaries moved away because her and her husband got a divorce, so we had a slot open. I told her about you and your situation and how you were going to college now to become a teacher anyway, and she decided to make it happen. You have to meet with her next week, but if you want the job, it’s yours.”