Dare Truth Or Promise

Willa and Louie could not be more different. Louie wants to be a lawyer and is an outstanding student. Willa lives in a pub and just wants to get through the year so she can graduate and become a chef. But they are completely attracted to one another when they first meet at a fast-food restaurant. Soon they fall in love fast and furiously, and everything the girls are sure of—their plans, their faith, their families, their identities — is called into question…

There was a moment, later, that was a lightning strike. But the first time Louie saw Willa she had just begun the coleslaw. She had poured the bucket of mayonnaise over the mountain of cabbage and carrot and had plunged her hands up to her elbows in the freezing cold mixture when they walked in.

Kevin presented Willa like a new car, smug; he steered her around the kitchen, hand pressed to her back, his eyes running over her face as if he were polishing the paintwork. Then he ran into Deirdre, and you could almost hear the brakes squeak.

“And here we are, where all the real work takes place!” he announced, and was greeted by a snort. “This is Deirdre, Deirdre this is Willa—as in Will-a, Won’t-a, just a little joke there,” (and a little squeeze, thought Louie) “—and this is Louie. Louie’s an after-schooler like you, and she’s going to show you the ropes, aren’t you Louie?”

Willa had long red hair which she’d pulled back in a bushy ponytail. Her skin was pale and she looked awful in the regulation Burger Giant cap and apron. She moved away from Kevin to re-tie her apron, then turned to Louie.

“Hi,” she said, with a grin.

“Hi.”

The air stretched momentarily.

Deirdre thrust a pile of flattened chicken boxes into Kevin’s arms. “You can take these on your way out.”

Kevin wasn’t wearing his apron, and he took a quick step back and held the boxes at arm’s length as they began to dribble blood from the bottom comer.

“Oh, gross,” he said. “Clean that up, will you,” and he disappeared out the door, beneath the board that held a photograph of Deirdre grimacing at the world and announcing that she was the Burger Giant Employee of the Week.

Louie watched Willa turn and follow her to the sink. She didn’t have that new girl, first day at school look at all. She simply stood and waited as Louie washed her hands under the tap.

“Everyone has a duty each night,” Louie explained. “I’m on salads and preparation, Deirdre’s on filling orders and Simone’s serving. Kelly’s coming in soon to help, and Kevin’s
supposed
to be on the counter with Simone.” She watched as Willa looked about her carefully. “You’ll begin with me on preparation, because we’re behind, but fill orders with Deirdre later. You can start on these dishes.”

Willa was good. She’d never worked in a takeaways before but she knew how to place the tomato around the edges of the burger so it looked fuller than it was; she knew how to smear the relish see-through thin on the bun; she knew how to chop spring onions with the scissors, not the knife.

“You must have worked in a Burger Giant in a previous life,” said Louie.

Willa shrugged. “I get a lot of practice at home.”

The real surprise was Deirdre. Deirdre hated Burger Giant. She hated Kevin. And she hated new staff. She barked a couple of explanations at Willa early in the evening and after that Willa didn’t have to ask her anything. Deirdre’s face showed a begrudging respect for the new girl when Willa fetched ajar of gherkins from the shelves without having to ask and loosened the tight lid by running it under hot water. To Deirdre such domestic skills were worth a hundred of Louie’s Shakespearian quotes. In fact the only time she had seemed impressed with Louie’s academic abilities was last summer when she’d served a husky young German tourist and Louie had spoken in broken Deutsch to take his order, and wished him a Glückliche Weihnachten.

When Kevin returned to total the cash register, take the money and lock up, Willa was putting away the third load of dishes for the evening.

“All settled in?” he asked, sidling up and cornering her against the chip warmer. “You look like you belong here already. Here,” he said, taking a giant sieve from her, “I’ll give you a hand putting those away.”

Just then Kelly bounced in from the counter clutching a canvas bag.

“All done,” she announced, and handed the bag to Kevin. “The door’s snibbed but I’ve left the cash totalling to you.” Kelly had had her teeth capped last month and she delivered her best Ail-American smile to Kevin. “Simone left five minutes early cos it was so quiet, okay?” Without waiting for an answer she pulled her apron over her head. Kelly always seemed to perform this maneuvre with the utmost squirming and wriggling, and always right in front of Kevin.

Willa used the distraction to slip away with a container full of cutlery. Kelly, who watched a lot of soaps, pushed home her advantage with a protracted stretch which left Kevin face to mammary glands for at least five stupefying seconds.

“Aaahhh, what a night,” she moaned, eyes closed. “I can’t wait to slip into my little bed.”

“
I am your spaniel; and Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you,
” Louie quoted sweetly to the air.

“Hmm, yes, okay Kelly,” said Kevin, trying to cough his voice back into control, “pop that bag upstairs on my desk, will you?” He put the sieve down on the bench and slipped across to Willa again. Louie and Deirdre exchanged looks. Kevin’s new girl routine was truly sickening, but also a matter of some fascination. More could be told about their new colleague from her reaction to Kevin’s come-ons than any test they could devise.

Kelly had disappeared through the white swing door that led to the stairs and offices. Kevin approached Willa, or rather Willa’s bottom, as she was bent over sorting cutlery into containers under the bench.

It was a gift to Kevin. His vision of himself as a subtle, sensitive operator in matters of seduction never conflicted with such an opportunity. He reached out and patted the bottom. As Willa leapt up, he dextrously managed to turn her so they were standing front to front, his arm still around her waist.

“Why, Willa, there’s no need to leap on me,” he smarmed, then lifted his arms out wide. “I’m all yours!”

Louie and Deirdre looked on in horror as he laughed at his joke. “Seriously though,” he continued—

“Seriously,” Willa interrupted, and now Kevin saw the butcher’s knife pointing at his groin, “If you touch me again, I’ll cut off your goolies and sell ‘em for chicken nibbles. Understood?”

The air stretched thin again, the two figures taut and surreal. Willa was magnificent, all flame and fury, her eyes fixed on Kevin’s. Louie noticed that they were a light light blue, like opals, and they glittered. The combination of ferocity and composure in Willa’s manner had an immediate effect on Kevin, and he backed away, hands up like a gangster held at gunpoint.

Louie knew immediately that she should have threatened to chop off Kevin’s dangly bits months ago.

p.


Willa had a dog called Judas. It was a German Shepherd and it was tied up by the loading dock behind Burger Giant.

“Get down, Judas,” she said as the dog leapt and whined in greeting, sniffing the bag of leftovers Deirdre had given Willa. In two years Deirdre had never once offered leftovers to Louie.

“Is he yours?” asked Louie, who was undoing the chain on a mountain bike.

“Yes, of course he’s mine. He goes everywhere with me.” Willa let the dog off his rope and he bounded in a few circles then came back to Willa’s side and looked up at her with expectant eyes.

“
Every time for you a little death,
” said Louie, pushing her bike over to Judas and giving him a pat.

“Pardon?”

“Absence.
The times we went away, every time for you a little death.
It’s a poem, to a dog.”

“Do you always quote poetry?”

Louie shrugged, and followed Willa and Judas through an alleyway onto the street. “I just remember things sometimes.”

“You must have a photographic memory. I can’t remember anything off by heart.” Willa clicked her tongue at Judas who had taken off in the wrong direction. He weaved briskly back to Willa, nose sweeping the pavement for scents. “You going this way?” Willa asked Louie.

Louie paused. She did go that way, but was planning to ride her bike. Willa had already started walking, Judas trotting happily at her side. Louie wheeled her bike along the footpath to catch up. “Sure.”

It had been raining, and the streetlights left a smear of yellow along George Street. They passed a few other people coming out of bars and restaurants, but mostly it was still and empty, and Louie had a strange urge to leap about in the middle of the road and shout out loud, to take possession of the main street of Dunedin.

“It’s weird isn’t it, no one in George Street,” she said.

“Spooky,” agreed Willa. “I love it late at night. It’s my favourite time. Come on!” And she jumped onto the road and began running along the centre line, Judas loping beside her, tongue hanging out. “Race you!” she shouted, from a good head start. “To the horse!”

Louie swung a leg over her bike and started pedalling crazily, the bike lurching left and right as she tried to get up speed and overtake Willa. The tyres whizzed against the wet road and somewhere behind her the Town Hall clock began striking midnight.

“Aaaarrggh!” groaned Willa from ahead as she drew to a stop. Arthur Barnett’s neon horse posted up and down on top of the shop roof like a lobotomised Davy Crockett minus his arms which had short-circuited. “Judas won,” Willa panted to Louie as she caught up. The pale tip of Judas’s tail could just be seen bouncing along the road ahead. “Oi! Judas! Get back here,” she shouted, and the dog turned a wide circle and began trotting back along the road.

“You’re fast,” Louie commented. “For someone who’s just worked seven hours.”

“I like speed.”

Louie decided she did too.

Willa went to Woodhaugh Girls’ High too, but explained to Louie that she’d just moved there from Miller Park College, and was doing mostly repeat sixth form subjects. When Louie asked her why she’d shifted schools Willa laughed and said, “Did she jump or was she pushed? You should have a poem about that.”

There was a person shuffling along the edge of the kerb, pulling things out of rubbish bins. Louie didn’t know if it was a man or woman, they were so covered with layers of clothes and hung about with semi-filled plastic garbage bags. Both of them fell silent as they watched the figure sift through the nearest bin, undoing wrappers and sniffing chip packets. As they got closer Louie saw that it was a woman.

Judas trotted over to investigate. Willa called him but he only paused for a moment. When he reached the woman she made a strange noise and pulled the rubbish bags closer round her body. “Git! Git out!” She flapped a hand at the dog, and Judas jumped back and barked.

“Oh god,” said Willa. She called out to Judas, but he was startled by the strange jerky movements of the woman, and kept barking at her. She bustled around the other side of the rubbish bin and hissed at him, which only made him more excited.

“Stop it, Judas,” said Willa, going over to get him. Judas looked at Willa and barked a couple more times. “Sorry,” she apologised. The woman turned her head away from Willa and didn’t speak. She held on tight to her garbage bags. “Look,” said Willa, “would you like these?” And she pulled out of her pack a Burger Giant bag. Judas jumped up at it as she held it out, but the woman turned further away.

“Bugger off!” she spat.

“Go on,” said Willa. “They’re leftovers, you might be able to use them. Please,” she added, when the woman didn’t respond.

“Put ‘em in there.” The woman fired the words like gunshot, flicking a hand at the rubbish bin and turning away again.

Willa walked over to the bin and placed the bag carefully on the top. Judas tried to jump up at it, but she said “No” firmly, and then kept him at heel as she walked back to where Louie stood. The woman never moved. Louie made a face at Willa.

“Come on,” Willa replied, frowning. “Keep moving.”

For the second time that night, Louie admired Willa’s behaviour. Why didn’t she ever have the poise to offer something to tramps instead of just feeling bad? Louie hopped back on her bike and paddled it along with her feet beside Willa.

“That stuff with Kevin,” she said, trying not to make a big deal of it, “that was cool.”

Willa gave a little sniff, and scuffed a stone in front of her. They were both on the pavement now.

“You reckon?”

“Yeah. He had it coming to him. I wish I’d done it ages ago.” Louie mentally kicked herself for saying so much.

Willa turned her head and looked up at Louie, a delighted smile like a new moon on her face.

“I guess I won’t be Employee of the Week, eh?”

As they approached the Duke Street intersection they hit another bunch of people spilling out onto the street. Three men had their arms around each other, singing, “Love me tender, love me do, all my dreams come trewww…” Someone else yelled out from a ute, “Seeya in sexual. Seeyin Sexual Targa,” by which Louie worked out he meant Central Otago. She was just about to tell Willa what she thought he’d said, when her companion stopped and called Judas to heel again.