Bullies Targets The Wrong A Waitress — Unaware She's A Karate Black Belt Working Part-Time
Chapter 6
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"Whatever," Braden said finally, waving a hand like he was swatting a fly. "This place isn't even worth the drama."He dropped a few crumpled bills on the table, not nearly enough to cover the check, and walked out with his friends trailing behind him, laughing at something, though none of them seemed entirely sure what.The door swung shut behind them. For a second, the whole diner just breathed. Then slowly the normal sounds came back: forks against plates, the hiss of the coffee machine, a baby fussing two booths down.One of the retired teachers, an older woman named Phyllis who'd been coming in for crosswords every Tuesday for as long as anyone could remember, reached over and gave Dotty's arm a light squeeze on her way past, not saying a word—the kind of gesture that meant more than most sentences could.Dotty sat down heavily in the nearest chair, the badge still in her hand. "I'm all right," she said before anyone could ask. "I'm all right."Joe knelt beside her again. "You sure?""I've dealt with worse than some rich boy's bad manners," Dotty said, though her voice was quieter than usual. "It's the badge I worry about. Your grandfather carried that badge for thirty years, Joe, through things you don't even know about.""I know it means everything to you," Joe said."It means everything to this town," Dotty said. "Whether that boy understands it or not."Joe believed her. She'd grown up watching this whole street treat that badge like something close to sacred, long before she understood exactly why.Dina came over with a rag, wiping down the counter where the coffee had spilled during the commotion. "I can't believe that," she muttered. "Who raised that kid?""Somebody who never told him no," Walt said from his booth, not looking up from his coffee. "That's usually how it goes."Later, during their break, Dina leaned against the back wall next to Joe, both of them catching their breath before the lunch rush hit."You didn't even blink," Dina said. "I would have thrown a plate at him.""Wouldn't have solved anything," Joe said."Maybe not. Would have felt good, though."Joe smiled a little, tired around the edges. "My grandpa used to say, 'Feeling good and doing right aren't always the same thing.'""Your grandpa sounds like he had a saying for everything," Dina said."Pretty much," Joe said. "Grandma says he thought them up on slow nights at the station."Dina studied her for a second, the way friends do when they're deciding whether to ask something personal. "You ever think about him? Like, a lot?""Every day," Joe said simply. "Especially here. This place still smells like his aftershave sometimes in the mornings before anyone else comes in. I don't know how it's been three years.""That's not weird," Dina said. "That's just missing somebody.""Yeah," Joe said. "I guess it is."Dina bumped her shoulder gently against Joe's, the kind of small gesture that didn't need any words attached to it.