I can’t believe it. James Dean is retiring. Pepper adjusted his hat and then looked down and kicked the stone at his feet. That means that Dimitrios Gkirgkiris, Michael Chatfield, or maybe even Benjamin Kerei could easily be promoted out of the Immortals League to fill James’s spot.
Pepper could not even recall what had happened at school once the breaking news announcement had appeared. There was a wave of gratitude that washed over him for the fact that he’d been able to watch James’s last match in the Golem League. He quickly daydreamed about what it would be like to get his poster signed by James.
The moment lasted for a little bit longer until the foul, unpleasant stench of death hit him. He turned his gaze to the left and looked intently at the demon skull. The body was still decomposing. It had come to its final resting place in the center of an old convenience store. The building had been crushed under the weight when it collapsed, and now the scene was a crumbled pile of debris.
The giant horns stretched out from the sides of its skull. There were two hollowed-out eye sockets, and every time Pepper passed by, he swore the skull watched him.
His feet shuffled across the blacktop of the roadway and finally came to a stop. There was what felt like the slightest of tugs on his shirt. His chest leaned ever so slightly towards the pile of ruins. Pepper’s eyes narrowed in on the skull, and his imagination soon filled with the scene of a dark battlefield. The neighborhood he walked through was now nothing more than scorched earth and scattered flames.
Pepper finally shook his head and worked to pull himself out of the mindscape. It was so easy for his mind to wander off. The evidence of the Rift Wars was still scattered throughout the planet. His town was no exception.
It was thirteen years since the first rift portal had opened and the war had begun. Pepper was only three years old when that occurred. He was nearly five when the war ended. He could not recall much of it. What little he could was merely the moments when he was rushed into his grandparents’ basement by his mother. The explosions and sounds of war raged above them, but thankfully he never saw it with his own eyes. The aftermath, the remnants, that was on full display for everyone.
His holodex started to beep at him, and the reminder he had set earlier caused his heart to speed up. Not again! He picked his feet up and began to jog. His vision was already locked onto his destination as the sign for Rocket Burger spun around in its rotating fashion.
Pepper swung the door of the fast-food restaurant open and rushed inside. He dashed through the passthrough at the side of the main counter and hurried into the back room to throw on his work apron. He was just about to exit the small room but watched the small frame of his manager block his escape.
“Really? Late again, are we?” KT said. Her disappointed expression cut through him even more with her Australian accent. “I told you last week, love, if you’re late again, I have to write you up.”
“It wasn’t my fault,” Pepper challenged and finally took a step forward to move past her.
KT stepped out of his way but was on his heels. He quickly washed his hands and turned to jump onto the grill. “Nope, don’t you dare think you can escape the window.”
His shoulders slouched and his head arched upwards. “KT, come on. You know I hate the window.”
“And you know I hate you being late. It isn’t necessarily about the job, love, it’s about—”
Pepper didn’t even let her finish the statement. “Taking responsibility. I know … You tell me like a thousand times.”
“Well, perhaps than you will finally apply it.” She leaned towards him with a scowl.
“Yeah, well… James Dean announced he is retiring.”
KT shook her head in surprise, blinking rapidly in confusion. “What does that have to do with you being late?” Pepper tried to justify his thoughts, but KT waved her arms and cut him off. “Nope, not happening, love, and we don’t have time for this. Get to the window and start taking orders.”
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Pepper sighed and turned towards the dreaded position. He took a step only to be chastised by the small manager.
“Excuse me!”
His skin jumped and he whipped back around. He quickly formed a relieved smile when he saw her arms extended. He stepped back towards her and gave a warm embrace.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re late or not. I still love you, okay?” KT didn’t appreciate his non-verbal response and gave him a tight squeeze. “You know I still love you, right? Let me hear the words.”
Pepper couldn’t help but chuckle. “I know you do, KT. You got love for all of us.”
“Don’t none of you forget it either.” She finished with a smile.
Pepper dragged his feet across the floor and took over the order taker position in the drive through window. He lowered his head and let it thud against the glass. Only 382 Flex more and we can buy a new power core. We can do this… it’s not that—
“Hello! Are you there? Is this thing even on?” A woman’s voice chirped in his ear.
Pepper squinted in anguish at her pitch. The overly loud volume in the headset caused a slight ringing in his ear. His hand rushed to lower the volume before he continued. “Welcome to Rocket Burger. What can we get you for lift-off?”
“I need a number 7, bacon rocket, and then a number 4, mega moon burger.”
Pepper’s eyes crossed as he went through the script he had said a thousand times before. “Would you like to upgrade your order to a mega mission size?”
“No, regular is fine.”
“Okay, that will be 14.50 Flex…”
“On second thoughts, why not? Let’s go ahead and mega mission size it.”
He pounded his fist down on the counter. He rolled his eyes and let out a loud sigh while his free hand started to punch through the multiple screens. I gotta start all over, got to start all over. The dumb point of sale system couldn’t just have an easy back button—nope, I have to cancel and then redo the dumb order … all over again!
“Okay, so a number 7 and a number 4 mega mission size. Did you say what you wanted to drink?”
“Oh dear, what does Stu want today? I just want a tea, but go ahead and give me the citrus rocket fuel for the number 4.”
It doesn’t really matter which number meal gets the drink, but sure… the number 4 extra-greasy, super-sized meal will have the citrus rocket fuel that has no actual citrus in it at all. “That will be 19.75 Flex. Go ahead and drive up to the first window.”
“Okay… see you there.”
Pepper watched with sadness as the vehicle began to pull towards his window. He noticed a new vehicle pulling up to the menu board. He greeted it but asked for a moment while he finished with the present customer.
“Sure thing, Peepers!” Tamin’s voice said in his headset.
Pepper peered through the drive through service window and glared down at the vehicle. The next few minutes were his own personal hell—Tamin making him suffer through all the pointless questions he could think of.
Pepper hit his head so hard against the drive through window that there was an audible thud. He finally made it through the rest of Tamin’s harassment and watched as the sports car rolled up to his location. His heart sank as it slowly pulled up. Yes, dealing with Tamin was a dreadful experience, no matter the circumstances. But it was the person sitting in the back seat that caused him a new level of heartache.
Andrea Brewer. Her bleached blond hair and crystal blue eyes made his heart melt every time he saw her. She had a warm ivory tone to her skin, and every once in a while, she would wear her glasses rather than contacts. They had shared a class last year, but he couldn’t tell if she realized it. Every day he admired her but didn’t dare risk expressing his feelings towards her.
He now felt that his heart was a melted pile of goo. But what made it worse was the feeling that Tamin was standing over his melted heart and stomping on it from above. Pepper did his best to bite his tongue and simply do the job he was paid to do. “That will be 11.95 Flex.”
“Why don’t you just put it on my tab?” Tamin boastfully countered.
“You know that isn’t how we do things here, Tamin.”
“How does it feel knowing you work for me, Peepers?”
He balled his fists and did his best to keep them below the windowsill. He let out a sigh. “I don’t work for you, Tamin.”
“Well, my dad owns the restaurant, and everything that my dad owns, I practically own. So, in a way you kinda do.”
“Pretty sure I kind of don’t. Now how about you pay the 11.95 Flex and get out of here?”
“Well, see, here is the thing…”
Tamin didn’t have time to finish before, without warning, Pepper felt himself being firmly moved out of the way. KT quickly arrived to his rescue and leaned halfway out the window. “The thing is, you’re being a brat like every other time before. Now look here, Tamin, we don’t have time for your silly games. We have a job to do. Now, I am pretty sure your dad doesn’t want me to call him again and inform him his sixteen-year-old son is acting like a five-year-old child. Your father pays us to serve customers, and every time you do this, you impact our ability to serve them. Now either pay for the order or be gone.”
KT was gone just as fast as she had arrived. Pepper noticed the line of cars that had now stacked up in the drive through. Thankfully Tamin turned red with embarrassment. Andrea and whoever the girl was in the front passenger seat started to giggle at the scene that had just unfolded. Tamin didn’t say another word and reached his arm out to tap his Holocube against the payment reader.