“The Heiress of Pittsburgh” by Ken Gormley
Chapter 5, Spring 1978 (Pitt Campus), “Rolling Down a Mountainside”
“Marjorie, babe. Your boyfriend’s here,” shouted Rocco, the manager at George Aiken’s diner. “Go ahead and clock out. Never mind that there’s seven minutes left till close.”
“Thanks, Rocco,” she answered, deadpan. “Just subtract it from the eight hundred hours you already owe me.”
Marjorie looked up at me and gave a tentative wave.
She wiped down the counters and dumped chicken and lime Jell-O into the trash to prevent Rocco from trying to sell it to customers the next day.
“See ya tomorrow, Marjorie babe,” Rocco said. “Another day, another dollar!”
“See ya, Rocco. No charging my customers for free refills of coffee.”
As she leaned over to pick up her pay envelope, I could see Rocco slide his hand behind her snug uniform and, with a deft motion, quickly grab her rear end as his eyes seemed to roll around with pleasure.
Marjorie immediately jerked her body from his grasp, straightened her uniform and disappeared into the kitchen. A minute later, she returned with a massive carving knife reserved for the biggest chickens with tough bones. Marjorie stared at Rocco, who had taken his spot at the counter, now shoveling some dinner into his mouth. As he was in mid-chew, she raised the carving knife and slammed it down the center of Rocco’s chicken dinner, sending splinters of bone, meat, plastic plate and cheesy macaroni all over her boss.
The entire establishment of patrons looked up. A few regulars in overalls applauded and pounded their tables.
“You touch me again like that, Rocco,” Marjorie stated in a calm voice, “and I’ll do that to your breastbone. You got it, babe? This day’s been lousy enough,” she added, flinging her timecard onto the counter, “without a pervert like you making my life more complicated.”
Marjorie was tougher than most women who had just turned 20; she could handle herself in the diciest situations. Yet, this little episode reminded me there were secret parts of her I still couldn’t fully fathom, no matter how close we became.
I knew it probably related to her early childhood and the mysteries surrounding the identity of her father. But this was a topic that was generally off-limits. So, I tried to remain patient and told myself that my girlfriend would eventually share these personal details when she felt the time was right.
First Published: October 7, 2021, 10:00 a.m.
