PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

INT – PANCAKE HIT KITCHEN AND BACK ROOM – NIGHT

TITLE: PANCAKE HUT BACK KITCHEN.  Sunday, August 6, 2000.  2:34am.

GARY, the night manager, is at the grill.  

EVETTE and SARAH are doing various side work.

GARY leans out from the kitchen window to EVETTE at the counter.

GARY

Both of these with fries? 

EVETTE

Yeah. 

HANK the cook enters the kitchen

HANK

Okay, I'm back from my break. 

GARY

Oh good!  Here’s two more Egg-rage-ous breakfasts.

HANK

No problem, you get out there and manage, and I'll do the cooking. 

GARY wipes his brow and rips off the chef apron, straightens his tie and walks back onto the floor.  

HANK begins studying the order slips.  

IRENE enters the back counter area to put in an order.

IRENE

Ewww, this asshole is driving me crazy! Two ice cubes, no more, no less.  Oh, and he wants his eggs poached and on the side.  No margarine on his toast.  But, get this, he wants real butter on the side!

IRENE shakes her head and mocks pulling her hair out.

EVETTE

I've got a younger version of him at table sixteen. 

EVETTE and IRENE look over to table sixteen where we see JEFF making exaggerated hand movements.  It appears some intense debate is going on.

IRENE

Which one, the guy in the slacks? 

EVETTE

No, the fat guy. 

IRENE

Oh, Jeff?  He's in here all the time. He's not really that fat; I think he's just depressed. 

SARAH

I've never seen him before. 

IRENE

Well he’s in here almost every night.  Always comes in after midnight.  I think he works late at the record store then comes in and writes poetry until four or five o’clock. 

SARAH

Poetry? 

IRENE

Yeah. Some of it is pretty strange I guess.

EVETTE

Like how strange?

IRENE

I don’t know, I've never read it.

EVETTE

Then how do you know it's strange?

IRENE

Well, one time I overheard him reading to this girl and she got so offended that she up and left right in the middle of him reading it! 

EVETTE

Cool!

SARAH crinkles her nose again, this time the band aid falls to the floor.

IRENE

I never saw them together after that.

SARAH leans over to pick up the band-aid.

SARAH

I wonder if I’ll ever get used to working graveyard?

IRENE

Oh, don't worry about Jeff, he's harmless as a teddy bear.