“I knew something like this would happen to her,” she said, in between sniffles. “I always told her to let me or Pimples know when she was going off.” She looked up to Genghis and Jeff. “How did it happen? Did they catch the person who did it?”
“Well, to answer your first question her carotid artery was cut,” Genghis lied. “She bled out in a matter of minutes.” He glanced over to Jeff and continued, “She probably didn’t feel a thing.”
“And no,” Jeff continued, “to answer your second question, the WPD haven’t caught him yet.”
“Anything you guys can do?”
“I’ll have to find the police report, but it’s probably not in the computer yet. But we could start looking into it.” Genghis said, as he sat next to Jennifer on the couch.
“I’ll have to tell Pimples the next time I see him.” She gave a quick gasp and looked from Jeff to Genghis. “You don’t think Pimples had anything to do with it, do you?”
“No, Twinkie,” Jeff said. “We’re very sure he had nothing to do with it.”
After breakfast and coffee, Jennifer went into her bedroom to change. She decided that she would still go into Old Town and start looking for work. It would be a good distraction to keep her mind off Trisha. She entered the living room wearing the same charcoal gray pinstriped pantsuit, but with a different blouse on underneath.
Jeff looked over. “Very nice, Twink.” He got up. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” she said. “You know, whatever happens, happens today! I’m not going to expect too much.” She put on her winter coat. “Anyway I’m not in any real hurry. I’ll find something.”
“That’s the spirit, Twink,” Genghis said.
An hour and a half after Jeff and Genghis dropped Jennifer off on Fifth Avenue in Old Town she called and asked for them to come and pick her up. Jeff stood alongside Genghis in the living room with his coffee mug in hand. They were facing Jennifer’s bedroom while she was changing, and when her door opened, Jeff broke out into a big grin while Genghis’s ears folded back onto his head.
Jennifer came out wearing a new pair of blue jeans and a black polo pullover with the gold-and-white logo of Dave’s Coffee Pot emblazoned on the left breast and her name tag on the right. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was wearing a baseball cap which also had Dave’s logo on it. She smiled and curtsied. “Well? What do you think?”
“You look great, Twinkie!”
“Yes, a contributing member of society,” Genghis added.
“Yes, you're right, Genghis. And let's not forget about all that free coffee we'll be drinking,” Jeff said as he winked at Genghis. “Let’s not forget the free coffee!”
“Now hold on, you two. If I start handing out free coffee, it will hurt our bottom line and profits will suffer. And that will hurt my success-sharing check. Dave said we all get one every quarter.”
“Yes, Twinkie. We were just kid . . .”
Jennifer interrupted him, “So, no freebies for either one of you,” she said waving an index finger at them. “And I expect you two to come in and see me as often as possible. And I know you very well, Uncle Jeff, as a great tipper.”
“A what?”
“So, what time do you start, Twink?” Genghis asked.
“Tomorrow, eight am. Monica is working the same shift and she’s going to show me everything. She says it’s real easy to catch on, and Dave is going to give me a booklet on how to make everything. He’s a pretty nice guy.”
“That’s excellent, Twinkie. I’ll make sure I’m up and ready to take you in on time.”
“We both will,” Genghis said.
“Thanks, guys, and you don’t have to worry about picking me up after work. Monica said she would drop me off, it’s on her way home.”
At seven-thirty the next morning, all three were up and ready to take Jennifer into town for her first day on the job. She was wearing the same ensemble she modeled yesterday. She made sure everything was perfect, from her new white sneakers all the way up to the perfectly combed ponytail cascading over her baseball cap's Velcro sizing strap.
It was a cold morning despite the bright sun and cloudless sky. Old Town was crowded with early morning shoppers getting ready for the holiday. Jeff had to park to the side of Dave’s on 9th Street and apologized to Jennifer for not being able to drop her at the front entrance.
“No problem, Jeff,” Jennifer said, as she got out of the Thunderbird.
“Good luck, Twinkie,” Jeff replied, as Genghis hopped over the console and sat in Jennifer’s vacant seat.
“Have fun today, Twink,” Genghis said. “Don’t take any wooden nickels.”
Jennifer scratched Genghis’s head between his ears. “I’ll try not to.” She looked at both of them, “Well, here I go!” They said their final good lucks and watched as she turned and disappeared around the corner of the building. As Jennifer walked to the front of Dave’s, she heard someone start laughing hysterically and knew right off who it was.
“Oh, Twinkie!” Billy Bourbon laughed. “Look at you girl, working for da man!” He looked at her up and down. “Ah come on, you know you ain't gonna make the kind of money working here that you used to. I give you two weeks working at minimum wage and you're back doing what you do best.”
“Screw you, Billy,” she said. “I gotta go to work.”
“Hold on, sweet thing,” Billy said while reaching into his coat to make sure he had Bollar’s radio on him. “Your Sugar Daddy drop you off?”
“He’s not my . . . you’re an idiot, Billy,” she said, as she turned from him and entered Dave’s.
“Not to worry, Sweetie!” Billy called after her, “We still need to talk later. Okay?”
As Trent was turning the cruiser around to head back to the apartment, he and Genghis both saw Billy talking to Jennifer. Jeff parked
