Playing Criminal

6 - Cake, Vodka and Schizophrenics

I groaned and closed my eyes shut as my stomach rumbled noisily. God, I couldn’t take this anymore. I pushed myself off my bed and began hustling towards the cafeteria. My stomach complained in protest.

 I was sick and tired of only being able to sneak in the cafeteria for a quick breakfast in the morning, the only the only time when it wasn’t packed with hard-eyed delinquents. Shesh, I wasn’t anorexic. In fact the combination of my fast metabolism and the fact that I only hung around the guys in the gang meant that I had the appetite of an obese teenage guy.

I moaned a bit as I felt my stomach clench up in pain again. Sometimes I felt like I was too darn stubborn for my own good.

I glanced at a clock on the wall and picked up my pace while silently praying that the cafeteria would still be open.

As I pushed open the heavy double doors, I sighed in relief when I saw a few stragglers still eating.

I slid a food tray toward me and reached out for the ladle of mac and cheese.

But I was stopped by a sharp slap of a spoon on my wrist. “Shitake mushrooms,” I yelled as I clutched my throbbing hand to my chest. 

The cafeteria lady narrowed her eyes at me before she returned to wiping down the counters.

I waited a few moments before I cleared my throat, “So… uhh…Can I get some food now?”

She threw her dishtowel on the counter, “No,” she glared. “We stick to schedules here. If you wanted to eat, you should have come at the start of the dinner hour.”

“I’m sorry, but please, I’m starving.”

She picked up her cleaning rag again and shrugged her shoulders at me, “Sorry, I guess you should have thought about that earlier.”

“Hey Macy, can I get some seconds for Gary. I ate a lot of Gary’s food so he’s still hungry.”
The cafeteria lady’s eyes crinkled at the edges as she smiled up warmly at him, “Of course Todd, sweetie, whatever you want.” I drooled over the huge glob of mac and cheese she slopped onto his plate.

“You’re serving him.” I complained as soon as the guy had walked away.

“He came here on time.” She snorted as she stuck up her nose in the air, the picture of haughty.

Thoroughly furious, I turned and slowly trudged my way out of the cafeteria.

“Hey! New girl!” I heard a whisper come from the side and turned my head to see Todd grinning at me eagerly as he waved his hand.

“Uhh hey,” I mumbled as I slowly took a seat.

He stared at me for a couple of minutes and I avoided his eye contact as we stayed silent.

Finally he grinned widely and spoke. “You’re really hungry aren’t you?”

“What?”

He smirked, “You’ve been ogling my plate for the last minute or two.

“Oh,” I blushed.

“It’s okay – take it.” He pushed the tray towards me. I looked to the side and saw that Macy, the cafeteria worker, had gone back into the kitchen.

“Won’t your friend Gary get mad?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Nah. He’s not hungry anymore.”

“Oh. Well where is he?” I glanced around and saw that we were the only two left in the cafeteria by now.

“Right here,” he patted the seat next to him with an expression on his face that said he questioned my sanity. “I mean, he’s only been staring down your shirt since you sat down here.” He smirked and I saw his eyes quickly glance at my chest. “By the way the top two buttons of your shirt came undone.”