Very, very human.
I shook my head to try to get the image of Macal an in her purple V-neck shirt out of my head. Thankful y, it was our turn to order.
Once we got our custards, we grabbed a table.
“So, any other topics of conversation I should avoid on Friday?” I asked while Macal an happily dived into her vanil a custard with cara-mel, chocolate, and pecans.
43
She nodded. “It’s best to not talk about next year — she’s real y paranoid about going to high school.”
As she explained about Emily’s sister and everything, I made
mental notes. There seemed to be a lot of things that I would have to be cautious about on Friday. It wasn’t like with Macal an, where we could pretty much talk about anything.
Wel , except current growth spurts.
“Yeah, I know, she —”
I stopped myself as Macal an’s gaze settled on something over in the corner. I looked to see that some older kids were picking on an employee who was clearing off a few tables in the back room. They were pointing and laughing at him. I couldn’t tell why until he turned around and I saw he must’ve had Down syndrome or something.
“Are those guys —”
She cut me off. “It’s ridiculous. He shouldn’t have to deal with this.” Her checks became extremely flush.
“Should I go look for a manager?” I offered.
But Macal an had a different idea. She got up and headed over to the corner. I hesitated for a second but realized that I should be there in case she needed some help.
“Is there a problem?” she said to these three guys who were
probably sixteen or seventeen.
“Oh, is that your girlfriend?” one of them asked.
I was used to the question being directed at me, but instead it was aimed at the guy who was trying to wipe down the table next to them.
“Oops.” Another guy dumped his soda on the floor. “Better go
clean that up, retard.”
44
“EXCUSE ME?” Macal an’s voice boomed through the seating
area. Even some people in line started turning around to see what was going on.
“I wasn’t talking to you.” The guy started laughing.
Macal an stood in front of the table. “Wel , you are now.”
The guys were snickering and saying some things I couldn’t make out. Then Macal an slammed her fists on their table. The guy who appeared to be the ringleader jumped a little.
“What’s your problem?” Macal an asked, her entire body shaking.
“All he’s doing is working, minding his own business, cleaning up after slobs like you. He’s making a contribution to society, which is a lot more than I can say about you. So who’s the real waste of space in this scenario?”
A manager approached. “Is everything okay?”
The guys all mumbled that it was fine, but Macal an wasn’t
going to let them off that easily. “No, everything is not okay. These gentlemen” — she said the word with such disdain — “were harass-ing your employee, who is, I might add, doing excel ent work.”
“Yes,” the manager, who looked to be around the same age as
the guys causing the problem, said. “Hank is one of our best employees. Hank, why don’t you take a break?”
Hank took his towel and trays from the table and walked away.
The manager waited for Hank to be out of earshot before he
turned his attention back to the table. “I think I’m going to need to ask you gentlemen to leave.”
They laughed. “Whatever. We were going anyway.”
As they got up to leave, one of them brushed past me and said,
“You need to learn to put a muzzle on your girlfriend.”
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I had been frozen the entire time. Macal an stood up to those
three guys while I’d stood there like an idiot.
Macal an talked a little bit with the manager before he thanked her for stepping in. “It’s great what you did. It’s unfortunate, but it does happen.”
“It shouldn’t,” Macal an said coldly.
Once we were back at our table, just the two of us again, I asked, “Are you okay?”
“No. I hate people like that. They think they’re so much better than Hank. And they probably think they’re better than you or me. What kil s me is that those jerks get to walk down the street and nobody ever judges them. I can guarantee you that Adam works a lot harder in one day than those guys ever will in their lifetimes.”
I’d never seen Macal an so mad. I knew she had very little toler-ance for crap, but I’d had no idea how much it would set her off.
“You’re right,” I told her. “And I’m real y proud of you. I also know to never make you angry. That was something else.”
A smile started to warm her face. “Sorry. I can’t help myself.”
“No, I’m serious. That was awesome. I never saw you as the con—
fronting type. Lesson learned.”
“Only when someone’s being bul ied, I guess.”
“Let’s get out of here. I think this cal s for a Buggy and Floyd marathon.”
“And some more custard.”