He arrived at 5:52.
For six months, Marcus worked Saturdays.
Unpaid at first because Ruth refused to create a fake job.
Then paid when he began actually carrying responsibility.
He learned inventory.
Payroll.
Food costs.
Vendor contracts.
He washed dishes when needed.
He unclogged a drain once wearing a suit because he had come straight from an event.
Ruth took a photograph.
Marcus threatened to disown her.
She framed it.
Amber came occasionally too.
Not to prove anything.
Sometimes simply for coffee.
Loretta returned twice.
The second time, Carmen made her put on an apron and help fold napkins.
By the following Christmas, the family had changed shape.
Not repaired into its old form.
Changed.
Ruth hosted dinner at the restaurant again.
Only eighteen people this time.
Family.
A few employees who had nowhere else to go.
Calvin brought his husband.
Carmen brought two grandchildren.
Loretta came.
She sat beside Amber but not too close.
Marcus paid the deposit three weeks early.
Ruth noticed.
Said nothing.
Before dinner, Amber approached Ruth holding a plate.
Ruth looked at it.
Amber smiled.
“Relax. I’m not taking yours.”
Ruth raised an eyebrow.
Amber set the plate in front of her.
Chicken.
Greens.
