Saturday the 14th again

Saturday the 14th again

The first rush was connected to the second one,
but we went through that unscathed.
There was a lull in the flak,
as the tables were full and eating;
and we all rushed around
reloading for the next wave.

Than it came,
at first it was single volleys,
beeping up on the screen.
And we took care of those.
But it became like Missile Command.
the beeps came faster and faster;
and the tickets came raining down on us.

Sweat and grease dripped from my brow,
stinging my eyes.
I couldn’t see anything.
I know I’m missing some of the beeps,
and not calling ’em to Turtle.
So I stop,
try to wipe the sweat from my eyes
with my dirty towel
and read the screen,
Call an all day.

I can hear Chef screaming
at Desert Fox on hot apps
about taking control of his station
and some other things
I really can’t remember.
Sue runs over to help
With just a glance at Chef’s face and eyes,
as I spun around
throwing vegetables into the sauté pans,
I could see his frustration.

I tapped Turtle on the shoulder,
he glanced over at me.
“the plunger is about to come out,
and we’re going to get slammed.
God says I’ll make it out alive;
I don’t know about you.”

And then it happened,
the whole mess that’d blocked up hot app
was coming our way.
It was time to be the little chef
who thought he could.

The flak came and came
my brain was boiling.
I couldn’t think straight,
The tickets kept coming
and coming.
and Sue was jumping from station to station.
I didn’t even hear the beeps anymore.
All I saw was red
when I gazed up at the screen.

That frustrated look
was all I saw in my minds eye,
I couldn’t get it out.
And the thought of the Universal soldier
over heating;
it was time.

“Off line”
I yelled as I left.
I ran to the back of the kitchen
straight to a sink
took my hat off
stuck my head into it
and turned on the cold water.

And than I was back,
and we went on.
Sue didn’t even ask;
he’d seen it before.
and we went on.
one by one
we went on.
three and four
I think were connected also.
and five came at just enough pace
that it just pulled you down
trying to put an end to you.
But I don’t go down that easy.

With a couple more cold water sessions
I was thinking straight again;
and I realized;
Sue had Jinxed us,
as he was setting up grill,
“I have to work a station
so I can work on the line,
ya’ll never ask for my help anymore.”

Well Sue, you got to work ’em all tonight.