Before the Storm

I pulled my wavy auburn hair up into a messy bun as I walked across the heated black top and headed straight for the front doors of the restaurant. My white button up dress shirt was tucked into black slacks around my waist line and the sleeves were rolled up around my elbows. It was about ten minutes until my waitress shift was about to start, and I couldn't possibly be less enthused.

The less than charming truck drivers who had been on the road all day, with a lack of caffeine and just had to take out their frustrations on somebody. The overly noisy children with parents who had their heads so far up their asses that they couldn't seem to get how obnoxious their kids were being. The stuck up co-workers who slipped out the back door to take an unnecessary smoke break and leave you with extra work. Yeah, not exactly my cup of tea.

However, it was the best that I could get in this small suburban town, and it gave me enough money to be able to pay for my own personal bills. In no way was I able to live on my own with my salary. I lived with my parents and only really had to worry about paying my phone bill, car payments and gas to get back and forth to work. My parents paid for everything else.

I didn't have enough money for college, which is one thing that I wished more than anything that I could afford. I wanted to go for my degree in medicine so that I could be a doctor, but for right now, that was nothing but a pipe dream. I couldn't pay for college without a better job, but I couldn't get a better job living in the town I lived in. And moving was out of the question. It's a vicious cycle, and it's like I was trapped in this town with no possible way of getting out and bettering myself.

My brother Zack, however, was lucky enough to get out at eighteen. Right out of high school, he enlisted in the United States Army. Two months later, he was headed off for basic training and not looking back. Ever since he went off for basic, he hardly ever came back to visit or anything. Aside from holidays.

I walked in through the front door, the cool air from the air conditioning hitting me smack in the face and instantly cooling me from the hot Georgia sun. The multitude of smells invaded my nose and churned my stomach. The small diner shared a building with the local Exxon gas station, and let me tell you, frozen corn dogs and chicken fried steak were two scents that did not mix well.

"Jaycee, you've got the corner section." I heard come from across the counter. I glanced up, pushing a piece of stray hair behind my ear and looking at Tim, the manager.

"Can't it wait until I actually get through the walk way?" I asked, a slight tinge of irritation in my voice.

Tim and I had never quite seen eye to eye on a lot of things. He didn't like my style of working, and I wasn't too fond of how he managed his sections. To be honest, I think the only reason why he didn't fire me was because I was the most reliable employee there was. I never called in sick, always showed up on time for my shifts, and always came in when I was called in on my days off without hesitation. It was probably a bit egotistical, but sometimes I liked to imagine that this place would come crumbling down without me.

I sat down on the bench where customers would normally wait to get seated and began getting myself situated. Placing my keys and cell phone into my bag, I took out my compact mirror just to give myself a quick little look over to make sure that my make up was okay and I looked presentable. I smoothed back a couple of loose hairs before closing my compact and shoving it back deep into my bag and standing back up, ready to clock in and start my shift.

After I had my stuff put away in the office, I wrapped my apron around my waist and headed out to the corner section where Tim had told me to go earlier and began taking the orders from my customers. I already knew, today was going to be a long day.



It was nearing closing time now, and I was more than ready to get home and relax. It was so busy and hectic, but I had made pretty good tips so I suppose it was a good day. The multiple TVs placed around the diner were playing on many different stations; Some sports, some news, and one specifically for cartoons for the kids that came in with their parents. One in particular, though, caught my eye.

The well put together brunette sat at the news anchor desk, a small stack of papers sitting in front of her. Her cinnamon colored skin was lightly dusted with make up, and red lipstick covered her plump lips. She looked up at the camera as she began her segment of the evening news.

"In other news, it is my greatest pleasure to be able to announce that we have just received word from President Barack Obama that our beloved and brave troops are going to be coming home from Afghanistan. They are expected to be boarding the plane home later on this week. Some have already been granted permission to leave and ..."

Coming home? They weren't expected to be allowed to come home for a few more months, at least. That's what Zack had told to Mom and Dad here not too long ago, anyway. I felt my heart beginning to race and a large smile crept up onto my face. I about dropped the three pieces of silverware that I had in my hands from rolling them up in the napkin, not being able to hardly believe it. She said some of them had already been able to leave, maybe Zack was one of them.

I glanced back up to the tv, seeing the screen split in half with the reporter on one side of the screen, and shots of the troops over in Afghanistan on the other side. I wondered if our parents had gotten word of the news yet. If they hadn't, they'd sure as hell be excited when I told them when I got home.
"I take it you heard?" I heard a voice come from behind me, causing me to jump and look around behind me to see who it had been.

I saw my best friend, Madisen, walking up behind me with a wide grin on her face. She was a little bit taller than me, having been a cheerleader in high school. Her natural blonde hair was up in a high pony tail and there was never a time that I saw when her bright blue eyes didn't have a sparkle to them. We had been best friends since my sophomore year in high school, and I didn't know what I would have done if I had never met her.

"Was it that obvious?" I asked, for some reason feeling a bit sheepish that someone had caught me slacking.

"Nah, not really." She chirped, coming up beside me and beginning to help me roll silverware to help me get done faster. The customers had slowed down quite a bit, since there was only an hour left before we were going to be closing down the diner for the night. "Did they say when he was coming home?"

"Some have been able to leave already. But the rest aren't able to until later this week." I said, glancing back up to the tv again to see if there was anything else being said about the subject, but the news anchor had moved on to other matters at hand.

"That's awesome! Maybe he'll be home in time to come to my party this weekend?" She offered, nudging me in my arm with her elbow.

I had completely forgotten that she was having her birthday party this weekend. Her actual birthday wasn't until next week, but she wanted to get the party out of the way, seeing as how she was like me and ended up being scheduled to work all next week.

"Maybe. I don't even think he'd want to go, though," I said, and saw her face slightly fall. "Ever since he came back from basic training he's become more of a stick in the mud than he was before."

I saw her shrug and couldn't help but feel a little bad for her. She had had a thing for my brother for almost a year now. Even before she told me, it wasn't that hard for me to pick up on it. She always smiled and laughed a lot more when he was around. She always wanted to sit next to him and whenever he offered to take us places with him, she was always the first to accept. A blind man in outer space could see those signs.

"It's not that big of a deal, I suppose." She said in her normal upbeat voice, but I could tell she was trying to cover up exactly how upset she really was.

"Hey," I said, getting her attention and making her look over at me. Her eyes pierced right through me, just like they always did. "I'll get him to come, alright? I'm sure he knows you'd wanna see him jus' as much as everyone else."

All she did was smile and shrug her shoulder, still not really convinced that she'd see him. I felt a lump form in my throat, but I tried shrugging it off my looking back up at the tv one last time. There was a new story being talked about, and this time, it wasn't anything good. I grabbed the remote from one of the shelves on the hostess stand and turned the volume up, just to make sure that I heard everything correctly.

"...It is with great urgency that we inform everybody of the recent events that have taken place down in Macon County, when a middle aged woman was taken into urgent care for a high fever and nausea. Over the course of a few hours, she then began displaying signs of delusional thinking, confused speech and began coughing up blood. This is the fourth reported case within the past two weeks. Doctors do not know what this is yet, but authorities are saying that it is nothing to be highly concerned about. If you notice anybody with any of the symptoms listed, please, call 9-1-1 immediately. Do not make contact with the sick."

I furrowed my brow at what the reporter had said. "That's weird."

"Yeah, no kidding. My mom's friend said that there was some guy like that at her job. He got flown out to Atlanta a few days ago and has been there ever since." Madisen said, placing the last roll of silverware into the grey plastic tub. "She said that he said he had gotten bit, but didn't say by what." She grabbed the tub, holding one side in her hand and propping the other side against her prominent hip.

"Great, so it's some unknown disease, then." I rolled my eyes slightly, and began following her back into the kitchen to get everything put away and to grab my stuff from the office.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. It'll be gone soon enough." She said, and shoved the tub onto the shelf underneath the metal kitchen counter.

"Yeah, you're probably right." I replied, and bit my lip. I wanted to believe it, but a part deep down in my stomach was telling me that she was wrong.

So horribly wrong.