Regina checked to make sure they didn’t need anything three separate times while she was there, but with no more smiles or jokes. She flew back and forth from the counter to the floor, taking orders and delivering the food, taking checks, making change and handing out bills.

While she was giving them their bill her bossed called out that she could go after she finished up with their table. She was extremely happy to go home. She was tired, her feet ached and she needed a shower, bad.

She cleared away their dishes while they all dug out cash to pay. When she returned, Eminem handed her a credit card and she took it away, wondering why they had been pulling out cash to pay, when he was giving her his credit card. She shrugged it off, swiped the card, printed out the receipt and went back to the table for him to sign it.

The rest of the guys got up and started towards the door.

“Later Reggie,” they called. Bizarre stopped to say to her,

“Make sure to look behind the sugar packets.” She laughed and told him good night.

Eminem signed the bill and took his card before handing Regina the slip.

“You need a ride home?” he asked, stuffing the card back in his wallet.

“No, I’ll walk,” she replied gathering the rest of the plates and silverware onto the tray and swiping it down with the towel. She looked behind the sugar packets like Bizarre had told her and found a wad of cash. There had to be an upwards of a thousand dollars there. She turned to look at Eminem.

“I can’t take this,” she said.

“Yeah you can, you worked hard tonight,” he replied. She opened the bundle, grabbed a ten and held the rest out to him.

“I got my tip, now give the rest back to them.” She replied.

“No, ain’t mine,” he said walking towards the door. She hurried up alongside him, popped open his pocket and dropped it in.

“Come on Regina, just take it,” he said stopping and turning to look at her.

“No, I don’t want pity money.” She replied going to the order window and asking someone to take the tray. As she turned away she put her hands behind her back, untied the apron string and wadded it up in her hand before walking away. She ducked down behind the counter, grabbed her purse and walked around it again. She was surprised he was still standing there.

“All right, fine, you can drive me home,” she said, knowing he wasn’t going to leave.

“I want you back here early tomorrow Reggie,” her boss called from the register.

“What?” she asked, turning from the door.

“I want you hear at ten instead of twelve, take it or leave it,” he said without even looking up at her. Eminem noticed the way her body stiffened at this.

“I was here at five o’clock today, I was supposed to get off at twelve, I stayed until three thirty, and I didn’t even get a break!” Regina retorted. Eminem smiled, it was about time Regina let him have it. Her boss looked up from his paper and his eyes turned to evil little slits in his pudgy face.

“I don’t care if you got here at six this morning and had to walk from fucking Mexico, I want you back here, in six hours and twenty seven minutes!” he roared. Regina stood still, her anger boiling to a high level.

“Give me my paycheck,” she said steadily, “and the money from tonight.” The boss eyed her steadily and pulled an envelope out of the drawer, grabbing a few notes from the cash drawer and closing it.

“Here, now, tell me you’re going to be here when I told you, or you don’t get the money,” he said holding it out within Regina’s grasp.

“Fine,” she said snatching the money.

“Good, now shut the fuck up, and get out of here until I need you.” He said going back to his paper.

“You know, you’ve got a hell of a lot of nerve,” Eminem said. The boss looked up again.

“What the fuck are you still blabbering about?” he asked.

“Em, don’t,” Regina said.

“You treat her like a piece of shit. You have her work a ten hour shift, don’t give her a break, and expect her back in six hours, you are really fucking unbelievable.” Eminem said, his voice raising slightly.

“Stay out of this!” Regina said pushing him towards the door.

“You don’t have to stay here, why do you put up with this crap?” he asked, not letting her push him out.

“Cause it is none of your business!” she said resolutely.

“So are you going to be here in six hours or what?” the boss asked.

“No, she won’t,” Eminem spoke up for her.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!” Regina hissed.

“Fine with me, get the fuck off my premises!” he shouted pointing towards the door.

“Look, Lou, I’ll be back here when you want me, okay?” Regina replied still trying to push Eminem out the door.

“Don’t worry about it, you no longer work here! Get out!” Regina faltered and looked at him with dead eyes.

“Fine, then fuck you!” she screamed and pushed past Eminem. He followed her outside where the rest of his guys were waiting for him.

“It’s about time, we were gonna come in and get you,” Kuniva said, then he saw the look on Regina’s face. She paced up and down along the sidewalk for a minute.

“You deserve better than that asshole,” Eminem said after watching her.

“You should not have said anything! It wasn’t any of your fucking business!” she shouted at him, stopping with her pacing.

“He treats you like that, and for what! A lousy fucking six fifty an hour paycheck!” Eminem yelled back at her.

“I needed that fucking job! It took me six months to get that fucking job, I have bills to pay, what the fuck am I going to do! You had no fucking right to get involved like that! No fucking right!” she screamed. The rest of the guys stood watching the exchange, not sure they would be any help.

“You’d think that you’d be happy, someone stepped in to defend you!”

“Defend me?” she asked with a strange look on her face.

“Defend me?” she said again. “What, you think you’re my fucking Superman or something, you thought you were helping me?” she walked slowly towards him.

“It was more than you were doing for yourself!” he shouted, though the look in her eyes unnerved him.

“It was my fucking problem to deal with, and I was dealing. But like you say, superman ain’t saving shit! And like I say, stay the fuck away from me, I want nothing more to do with you!” she yelled before throwing her apron at him and walking down the street.