The snow was lightly falling as I pulled into parking lot of the Dogwood Diner. I pulled up the hood on my jacket over my light brown hair as I headed inside.
"Sit wherever you like sweetie." The hostess said as I walked in the door. "Happy Thanksgiving."
"Thanks." I answered as I walked towards her. "Happy Thanksgiving." I smiled as I walked by and found my normal seat in the back corner. I pulled my hood off of my head and brushed the snowflakes off of my clothes before settling into the two person booth.
"I was wondering when you'd be in." The waitress, Ms. Peggy, said as she walked towards me. "Happy Thanksgiving Mason."
"Thanks Ms. Peggy." I answered. "You too." She walked back into the kitchen before quickly returning with a glass of ice and a pitcher of sweet tea.
"You working again tonight?" She asked as she set them in front of me.
"You know it." I answered; this would be the tenth year in a row that I would be working tonight. Every year for the past ten I have come to this diner for Thanksgiving dinner. Every year Ms. Peggy has waited on me. She knew my story better than most. A waiter was walking by our table and she grabbed a basket off of his tray and handed it to me.
"Thanks Ms. Peggy." I smiled as I began to butter a piece of cornbread from the basket.
"We're kinda busy tonight, so it'll be a few minutes." Ms. Peggy informed me before smiling and walking away.
"No rush." I called after her. I enjoyed my cornbread while I thought longingly about my parents. There had been a terrible accident, my parents had been hit by a drunk driver, and both died instantly. I was only six years old at the time. My only living relative was my MeMaw, sadly she passed away four years later when I was ten years old. My MeMaw sold my parents house and left her house to me. The treatments the doctors used to extend my grandmother's life were expensive, but there was a little bit of money that was left in a trust for me.
The years since had not been easy. The remaining eight years of my childhood I spent in an orphanage of sorts. I was very shy around the others and struggled to make friends. When I turned sixteen and was old enough to work, the orphanage let me work afternoons, weekends and holidays, I got a job at the local electronics store. That Thanksgiving was the first time I had come to this diner, that I had met Ms. Peggy. She has been dear to me since.
"I heard people are already lining up." Ms. Peggy said as she walked by. "I wouldn't freeze to death to try to save a few bucks."
"What people will do for a good deal." I answered as she headed into the kitchen.
"Here you go sweetie, just the white meat." Ms. Peggy placed the Thanksgiving Special in front of me. The aroma of the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, and fixin's wafted into my nose.
"Mmm." Escaped my lips as she headed off to another table. I was grateful that the orphanage fed me, but the food there was terrible. That was the main reason I went to the diner ten years ago. I missed my parents and MeMaw more than anything. My mom and grandma were both great cooks, I decided then that I would try to get a good meal on Thanksgiving to help me remember what it was like.
"On the house." Ms. Peggy said as she placed a slice of chocolate pie in front of me.
"Thanks Ms. Peggy." I was grinning at her; she knew it was my favorite. The silky chocolate pie was magnificent, and I practically licked the plate clean. I got up and paid. I found Ms. Peggy to give her a tip.
"Call me if you need anything sweetie." She pulled me into a hug and kissed my cheek.
"Thanks. You too." Ms. Peggy had always been so nice to me, I knew my story touched her and she always had a warm smile waiting for me. I made it back to my car; I still had a stop to make before heading off to work. The snow was starting to stick to the roads, so I needed to hurry. My little car wasn't made for running on the slick roads. I pulled into the doughnut shop; I had called ahead with my order. I ran inside to collect eight boxes; each held 25 glazed droughts, fresh from the cooker.
Peggy was right, there was a line starting to wrap around the building, customers lined up waiting for the Black Friday sales. I had worked every Thanksgiving since I started. Every year the sales, crowds, and calamity that was Black Friday escalated. I grabbed one of the boxes of doughnuts and held it open as I walked by the line. It was quiet and orderly now, but that would probably change in a few hours.
"I'll be back in a few minutes with coffee and hot chocolate." I said to the gathered crowd before I unlocked the door and turned off the security alarm. I had been promoted to manager two years ago. I was a few minutes early and my help started trickling in. I had set up a table in front of the store for the drinks and doughnuts when Shelly walked in. She was an assistant manager and was always willing to help.
"Hey Shell, can you help me with something?" I asked as she walked up towards me.
"Sure boss." She smirked at me, knowing that I did not like to be called boss.
"Please follow me to my car, I have too much to carry." Shelly followed me to my car and I handed her the yellow bag that had hot chocolate mix and coffee. I grabbed the seven remaining boxes of doughnuts and we headed back inside. I found the two stainless steel drink warmers and set them up while Shelly made the hot beverages.
"You wanna hand out drinks or tickets?" I asked Shelly as she started another pot of coffee.
"Drinks." She answered with a grin. "Remember last year when your clumsy ass spilled on the people lined up."
"Don't remind me." I half groaned, half laughed at the memory. Shelly filled up a tray with a lip around the edge, half with coffee, half with hot chocolate. I held the door open for her before she made her way out. I checked to make sure everyone knew their assignments and what registers needed to be open.
"Mr. Muse." I heard my name and turned around to see two police officers.
"Mason, please." I said as I shook their hands. "Thanks for coming. Help yourself to drinks, and doughnuts." I said as I pointed to the table. "It'll be another thirty minutes before we open, hopefully your presence will prevent any chaos." They smiled and stepped over to get coffee and doughnuts. It was true that cops liked doughnuts, but to be honest, not many people would decline a free doughnut. People got carried away by the "Door Buster" deals and last year got out of hand. In order to keep the sale going, the store was required to hire two police officers for the night, and pay them overtime, to keep the peace.
This year I would be handing out tickets for the limited "Door Buster" items based on who was in line first. Hopefully it would cut down on the mad dash through the store. I had already made the tickets and a flipped through the paper stubs before heading outside. Shelly was on her way back in to get more drinks, the line had doubled since last I saw it.
"We have plenty of sales tonight, but for the limited items I will be passing out tickets. Each person can claim one ticket, the people in the front get first choice." I announced in my loudest voice, hoping the people in the back of the line could hear me. I knew that the big screen TVs would be claimed first, but there were good deals on video game systems, video games, stereos, blu-ray players, microwaves, toaster ovens, car stereos, satellite radios, computers, tablets, and headphones among others. I walked down the line and people happily picked through, hoping their desired item was still available. A few people got out of line, disappointed that they had lined up for no reason, but most were fairly happy. I was towards the end of the line when a man was happy to hear that I still had ticket for a Nintendo 3DS with game.
"Thanks so much." His hazel eyes smiled warmly at me as I handed him the voucher. He looked a little old to be playing video games, but I had a 3DS too, so couldn't judge him. Shell walked up behind me and the man took a cup of steaming coffee and settled back in line.
"Thanks Shell, I'm heading in. If you get too cold, send Danny out." She nodded and I headed back inside. I knew she would tough it out for the next fifteen minutes until the store opened. I made a final sweep, making sure everyone was where they needed to be. When I walked to the TV section I noticed that Ben was playing with the Xbox One demo.
