5:30AM Friday Morning

Four young hustlers are huddled in a booth in the corner, one with a bloodied lip another thin and withdrawn.  They order four coffees, a large order of fries and two sandwiches to share.  They’re gone by 6, they leave no tip.

6:30-8AM

The legitimately employed members of the community file in for breakfast prior to starting work.  Debbie hollers out orders…”eggs, over easy; blueberry muffin; you want home fries with that; more coffee; is this to go?”  Friends meet, make lunch and dinner plans.  Lindsey comes in quickly to order a sandwich for later.  Ted and Em arrive and give her a kiss as she leaves.  They say hi to Brian who orders coffee strong, black and sweet.  He’s in his usual cheery mood and says to the boys “fuck off” and storms out.  The boys leave.  Debbie does okay on tips.

It’s quiet.

12-2PM

Lunch is very busy; the nice weather has brought Liberty Ave. to life.  Mikey and Em meet up for lunch and sit at the counter chatting with Deb as she works.  Mikey babbles on about his thoughts for the new issue of Rage while Emmet goes on about the parties he’s planning.  They agree to meet later for dinner.  The tips are pretty good.

4PM

Justin comes in early for his shift; he’s usually in at 5 but he needs to leave early to work on school projects.  Debbie greets him with a kiss and he flashes his smile.  He starts to bus tables and take orders.  There’s a sense of calm before the storm of the dinner rush.

6-8PM

Dinnertime!  It’s like someone rang a chow bell.  Justin breaks a sweat as he clears tables and carries dinner orders.  As we get busy Debbie yells louder.  The boys come in, Ted, Em, Mikey, and Ben.  After a while Brian shows up and they squeeze over to give him room, he sits next to Emmet.  They goof around, talk about sex, order dinner.  Brian notices how tired Justin looks; he smiles at the boy and gently touches his hand as Justin passes.  Justin smiles back.  By eight they head for Woody’s and later Babylon.  Justin and Deb do very well on tips.  Deb has a couple more hours left before Vic will come and walk her home-only to start all over in the morning.  Justin’s shift is over, he goes to the loft.  He would have gone home to Daph’s but he needs the workspace and Brian’s computer; it’s a very large project.  He hopes he can finish in time to join the guys at Babylon.

2AM

The boys come back for a quick coffee before they go home.  Brian is not as high as they think, between the coffee and the cool night air he’s quite sober.  Ted and Em get mushy and leave.  Ben gives Mikey a smile and they’re ready to go home.  Mikey turns back to Brian to ask if he needs a ride home, standing he shakes his head and goes to his car.  As he arrives at his building he sees the lights still burning and goes up… “Justin?”  Brian crosses the floor to the bedroom but it’s empty.  The living room is strewn with sketches and drawings, the computer is also on.  Brian saves whatever is on the screen and shuts it down.  Brian sees Justin asleep on the couch with a sketchpad and pencil in his hand.  He smiles at the drawing Justin did of Brian as he pries the pad and pencil from his hand and carries him to bed.  Brian carefully removes Justin’s clothes and covers him with the blanket.  Brian shuts off the loft lights, creeps back to the bedroom, removes his clothes and crawls in bed.  As Brian stretches out to get comfortable Justin mumbles in his sleep “I love you Brian” and he rolls over draping a pale arm over Brian’s chest.  Brian smiles, inhales the boy’s scent, kisses the top of his head and whispers, “I love you too” as he falls asleep.

5:30AM

A group of young hustles come in and sit in a booth in the corner…

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