Big Love(19)

Chapter Four



“What the hell are you doing?” Carol asked.

Zing was seated at a table in the donut shop. Carol and Nell stood nearby, watching her eat.

“I’m eating breakfast,” Zing answered. “Miracle said breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I came early so I could have my important meal on my first important day.” Zing put another scoop of Rocky Road ice cream on her fresh out of the oven chocolate éclair. “I came early so I wouldn’t be tardy, and I’m being paid in donuts, so I’m having this one,” she pointed at the chocolate éclair, “In advance.”

Carol stared at her, dumbfounded. “She’s putting ice cream on a pastry,” she informed Nell in a whisper.

“I know. I gave her the spoon.”

“It’s disgusting,” Carol said.

“You should taste it. It’s good,” Zing said. She held up a spoonful and offered her a taste.

“No thanks,” Carol said. She put her white baker’s hat on—forcefully.

“Since donuts are so good and ice cream is so good, I thought putting them together would make them both twice as good,” Zing said.

“That’s so crazy it almost makes sense,” Carol said. She looked over at Nell. “Don’t look at her that way. She’s not a lost puppy, she’s a nut ball.”

“Cut her some slack. She’s working for donuts and coffee and right now we need her,” Nell said without taking her eyes off Zing.

“Can she at least wear a white smock? Her flowered shirt is an eyesore,” Carol said. “And tie her hair back so she doesn’t look like a demented mermaid.”

“I’ll get her all set up,” Nell said.

“I can’t be a mermaid, I don’t know how to swim,” Zing said with a full mouth.

Nell and Zing were saved from Carol’s future wrath by the fryer timer.

“I’ll get it. We don’t need a tray of burnt crullers on top of everything else,” Carol said with an exaggerated sigh. She marched back to the kitchen.

“Will I get to bake someday?” Zing asked after licking her spoon. She looked longingly into the depths of her empty bowl.

“Uh, maybe not today. We need you to work the counter. You’ll get people their donuts and coffee and take their money. I’ll show you how to work the register.”

“Oh, how fun,” Zing said. “I love the ching, ching, ching sounds it makes.”

“Most people will pay with credit cards but some pay with cash. Do you know how to make change?” Nell asked.

Before Zing could answer, Carol called from the kitchen, “Am I going to get some help back here anytime soon?”

“Just a second!” Nell answered. She smiled apologetically at Zing and said, “We’ll talk about this later. You go look at the register and familiarize yourself with it. I’ll be back in a minute to answer any questions. When the donuts and pastries are done, you can help fill up the cases.”

“And after all that I’ll get my box of donuts minus the one I ate in advance?” Zing asked.

“Yes. I’ll save you all the best donuts,” Nell said.

“Awesome.”



***



Zing was surprisingly good at the register and at helping people. Her enthusiasm was contagious. She was fast and efficient. She was also good at selling extra donuts by extolling the deliciousness of each and every donut—some of her descriptions were so amazing that people clapped and bought more.

Nell stood in the kitchen doorway and smiled at her. Zing basked in the warmth of that smile. Now that Nell’s bandage was removed and Zing could see both Nell’s ears, she looked lovelier than ever—except for the bald patch that was really evident without her hat on.

By eleven o’clock the crowd thinned out. Zing made her final sale of the day, which officially cleared out the case. Nell turned the sign around on the door to read “Closed.”

Carol stood behind the counter and stared at the empty cases. She shook her head. “We’ve never sold everything before. What are we going to tell Homeless Tom?”

“Who’s Homeless Tom?” Zing asked, her mouth stuffed with a Boston crème donut. Had Nell not been well-versed in Donut Speak no one would’ve understood.

“Homeless Tom comes to the back door every morning and we give him the leftover donuts,” Nell explained. “He hands them out among the homeless.”

Zing looked at her box of donuts. She felt a heaviness in her chest and what felt like a brick in her tummy. Her good mood evaporated and she felt a little sick. “I’m having a bad emotion,” she said to Nell. “What do you call it when you have a lot of something and somebody else has none and it makes you feel bad?”