Title: Washing Dishes

Author: Eáránë Serágon

Rating: PG

A/N : For my creative writing class, we were assigned to write a story about two people doing the dishes. Well, I decided to take it a little further than that. It has characters from one of my previous stories, "Romance", but you don't have to read that.

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“YOU DO DISHES. NOW. GO.”

These words were spoken forcefully, and angerly, by a short, stout chinese woman in an apron and a long, polka dotted dress. She was speaking to two boys, who were looking shocked and rather exasperated.

“But, ma’am... we have to go to our prom....” One of the boys spoke, running a hand through his dark black spikes in confusion, “Really, we promise, we didn’t know....”

“NO.” The woman interrupted, pointing her rather sharp-looking spatula at a large sink filled to the brim and above with filthy, greasy dishes, “YOU DO DISHES. NOW.”

The boy’s eyebrows furrowed, and he glanced at the blonde boy next to him, who’s expression was very much the same as his own. What the heck were they supposed to do?!

“NOW! ”

Well, that question was answered for them before it had even been voiced.

---

“....I can’t believe you left your wallet at home...”

“Aw, come on Darren, it was an accident!”

“....I can’t believe you left your wallet at home...”

“I didn’t mean to!”

“...I can’t believe you left your wallet at ho-“

“I GET IT!”

There was a soft splash as the blonde boy threw the dish he had been washing back into the soapy, greyish-brown water, his eyes glaring hatefully at the boy next to him. Darren, too, put down the dish he had been washing, leaning against the sink as he turned to face his companion, his gaze equally as hateful.

“Daniel, LOOK at us.”

Indeed, they did look like quite a pair. Strait, neatly pressed black pants, and perfect, shiny black shoes adorned their bottom halves, now smeared with whatever had been on the dishes they were now scrubbing to death, for the angry woman had not bothered to give them aprons. Their top halves were adorned with the lovely attire that a three-piece suit would offer, complete with cummerbunds for their perfectly ironed shirts. However, the cummerbunds had long been abandoned, being soaked with water in their first half-hour of this grueling work, and their shirts were slowly but surely beginning to become stained with grease and food.

Truthfully, they looked a mess.

“You know, this isn’t all my fault, Darren.”

“Well, it certainly isn’t my fault, is it, Daniel? I’m not the one who was supposed to pay for dinner, you were! I was supposed to pay for the limousine, which I did, which is the only reason the Stacy and that other girl aren’t here doing these awful dishes with us!”

Daniel bristled and huffed, going back to washing dishes and looking like he was about to cry.

“...I feel really stupid, Darren.” The words were soft, and wavering, as though he were holding back tears just to speak them. Darren’s eyes softened, and he put down the dish he had picked up, reaching over to put a delicate hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“Hey, come here.” He pulled Daniel into a secure hug, letting Daniel rest his head on his shoulder, rubbing the other boy’s back in a comforting manner. “Hey, baby... I’m sorry for being angry... I didn’t mean the things I said, I’m sorry. It’s not your fault, it’s not anybody’s fault, okay?”

Daniel hid his face inside Darren’s shoulder, the next words he said coming out muffled, but understandable.

“Okay, Darren.”

Darren smiled, removing his arms from the other boy and turning back to the dishes, picking up his dish that had yet to be finished. He watched as Daniel did the same, drying his own dishes, just as he did. He opened his mouth to say something, just to start friendly conversation, but was interrupted by a rather loud voice.

“Chang! Chang, where are you?!”

Both boys eyes widened, and they turned around, not even bothering to hide the fact that they were blatantly staring at the man in question. The kitchen around them, which they had failed to notice before, was dingy and damp, the dim light above them doing nothing to illuminate the cleanliness that was supposed to be had in a restaurant. The man, whom was very large, and obviously, very American, stood on the edge of the kitchen, dark sunglasses covering his eyes as he bellowed, not bothering to be discreet.

“CHANG!” The voice rang through their eardrums, causing a ringing to go through them. Darren knew they should be getting back to their dishes, if they wanted to make it to prom even remotely on time, but he couldn’t help watching, his eyes glued to the attention-grabbing man before him.

It was then that a small, rather pathetic-looking Chinese man scurried forward, seeingly coming out of nowhere. Nervousness was clear on his thin, grungy face as he stared fearfully up at the mysterious man, his eyes glossy and wavering as he did so. His mouth opened, and he sprouted something in a language, some foreign one that sounded like Chinese, his words fast and frantic, as though even i he /I wasn’t sure what he was saying.

“You don’t have it?!”

It was clear the large man spoke whatever language the man was stuttering out, however, felt he was above actually speaking in such a language to the man before him. The small man let out an audible squeak of fear, backing up one or two steps, as though getting ready to bolt at any given moment.

“Mr. Chang, I’d like you to step outside with me.”

The man, “Mr. Chang” as he was called, shook his head ferverently, his eyes wide and unbelieving as he backed up a step more in a vain attempt to escape the other man. This man, this large, frighteningly large man, wasted no time, grabbing Mr. Chang by his collar and visibly dragging him out of sight, the squeaks and mumbled pleads of the small Chinese man being lost as they got further down the small hallway outside the kitchen.

Darren’s eyebrows were raised, and he glanced at Daniel, who, he was glad to see, looked equally intrigued. Their eyes met, and mischievous smiles flickered to their faces, nodding in unison to each other. Putting down the dishes that they had been working on, they scurried out of the room after the pair, all the while trying to be silent while pursuing.

“What do you think that guy wanted?” Daniel inquired to Darren as they half-walked, half-jogged down the hallway after the two interesting characters. Darren shrugged, his eyes sparkling with curiosity as they continued onwards.

“The question is, what is that big guy gunna do to the puny little Asian dude?”

Daniel nodded in agreement, face contorting into a look of confusion as they reached the end of the hallway. In front of them, there was a large emergency exit door. Casting slightly nervous looks to each other, they leaned in, opening the door just slightly, if only to peek out and see if there was anything truly exciting happening.

“You wanna look, Darren?” Daniel asked, pushing the older boy towards the small crack, “Go ahead, you can do the honors.”

Darren rolled his eyes, creeping towards the small opening in the door, managing only to have vision in one eye, due to the fact that the crack was so small. He looked around in his line of vision, his eye widening when he saw the scene that was right in front of him.

Apparently, Mr. I’m-gigantic-and-scary wasn’t alone in being gigantic and scary. He had quite a lot of friends in the matter.

“Now, Mr. Chang. I’ve given you an extension on the money that you owe me. I think that one month is a very good extension for such a vast amount of money. Don’t you agree, boys?”

There were a few grunts, enough, apparently, for the man to be satisfieded with his follower’s agreement.

“Now, Mr. Chang... me and my boys, we don’t like waiting for things. And we’ve already waited a month too long for this money you claimed would be in the bag by tonight, exactly.” Mr. Big, as Darren was now going to call him, stepped to the side, revealing a sitting Mr. Chang, who looked more than a little worse for wear. It was clear Mr. Big’s followers had roughed him up more than enough to be considered punishment, however, Mr. Big didn’t seem satisfied with just that.

“Mr. Chang, you owe me quite a bit of money. Now, for situations as this, I would normally, being the nice guy that I am, give you an extension and that would be it. However, in case you have forgotten, Mr. Chang, your extension has already passed, and it ends tonight.” Mr. Big got rather close to the smaller man, so close that their noses were practically touching, “Do you know the price for not getting me my money on time, Mr. Chang?”

Mr. Chang said nothing, instead choosing to try to stand up. Not a wise decision, it seemed. As soon as the man moved to get into a standing position, a pistol appeared in Mr. Big’s hands. Darren supposed he must have blinked, and missed the drawing. In other blink, the pistol was fired, and Mr. Chang was sitting once again, this time on his knees, clutching his chest in obvious agony.

Darren’s eyes widened once more, and he backed away from the door, his hand over his mouth in obvious surprise. Daniel gave his boyfriend a curious look, moving to the door in place of the other boy and looking through the opening.

Upon seeing the scene before him, Daniel let out a rather loud gasp of shock, only to be shushed and pulled back by Darren. Daniel glanced Mr. Big’s eyes moving over to the door in which they inhabited, before Darren quickly pulled closed the door, his eyes wide and fearful.

“Dude... they just killed Mr. Chang!” Daniel exclaimed, his voice unbelieving and slightly frightened. Darren nodded, but said nothing, instead choosing that it was a better idea to get the hell out of there and back to the kitchen before either of them were discovered for spying. If Mr. Big did that to Mr. Chang, who knows what he would do to two dirty teenage boys wearing tuxedos.

The two of them moved silently back to the kitchen, taking their places at the sink once again. Daniel picked up his discarded plate, and Darren grabbed a rather disgusting-looking pan, and they started to wash, neither wanting to discuss the scene they had just witnessed, but neither being able to get it off of their minds. They worked in silence for what seemed to be an eternity, neither saying anything, but washing, the piles of clean dishes getting larger as they worked, more productively than before.

“You two.”

Darren’s hand froze in the midst of trying to get a particularly nasty grease stain out of a large, black frying pan, and Daniel dropped the plate he had been drying, causing it to fall back into the dirty water, lost for another eternity until he found it again. Neither turned around, and neither said anything, instead choosing to stay perfectly still, as though the slightest movement would cause the large man to attack.

“What are you two doing here?” The man asked, stepping forward closer to the pair. Trembling, Darren was the first to turn around, his eyes wide as he fearfully glanced up into sunglass-covered eyes, trying to look brave and failing miserably.

“W-we couldn’t p-pay the bill.” He managed to stutter out, his hand clutching the edge of the sink, as though he would collapse from fear if he didn’t. Mr. Big’s mouth seemed to flicker with a smile, before going back to morbid seriousness, his head inclining in obvious understanding.

“You boys sure do look gussied up. Where were you headin’?” It was a casual inquirey, but one of fierce questioning, needing to be answered but still with an air of calm confusion. This time, Daniel spoke up, trying to be brave as well and following Darren’s example of failing miserably.

“W-we were going t-to the Prom, sir.” The ‘sir’ had naturally come out after the answer, and he cursed himself for sounding too formal, daring to glance over at Darren, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the larger man’s face since he had entered the room. This time, Mr. Big’s face did break into a smile, albeit a flickering, almost non existant one.

“And where are your dates?” He inquired, his questions seemingly innocent, with a dark purpous underneith it all. Feeling it was his turn to answer, Darren did so, his hand still clutching the sink behind him.

“We sent them to prom without us. We...we didn’t want their d-dresses to get dirty.”

At these words, the man let out a small, soft chuckle, his large shoulders shaking silently along with the amused laughter.

The two looked up, their eyes trying to hide the fear they felt as Mr. Big’s face looked deep in thought. A large, muscled hand reached towards his pocket.

Darren and Daniel visibly cringed.

This was the end.

He was going to shoot them.

There it was. His hand was retreating from his pocket, his shiny, expensive looking rings gleaming in the dim light, his knuckles looking hard and callused, as he pulled out....

A rather large wad of hundred-dollar bills.

“I’ll tell you what, boys.” The man stated, his deep voice catching their attention, which never left him, “You don’t tell... I don’t tell. Kapishe?”

The two boys nodded, unsure of what the man meant, but deciding to go along with it anyway.

“WHY YOU NO DO DISHES. DO DISHES. NOW!!! MANY MORE COME LATER!! GET GOING!! DO DISHES!!”

The tense, suspenseful atmosphere was broken as their slave laborer, the woman from the beginning of their sad dish washing escapade, returned, her spatula still in hand. She glared daggers at the two boys, waving her spatula this way and that, before spotting Mr. Big. Her eyes did not change, and instead she looked annoyed, waving her spatula at him as well, looking as though she might hit him.

“WHO ARE YOU! YOU NO DO DISHES WITH THEM, THEN YOU GET OUT!” She screeched, her voice high enough to call dogs. Mr. Big did not flinch, his face remaining passive even when the spatula came in direct contact with his lower arm. Instead, he began to speak in a language that neither Darren nor Daniel knew, most likely Chinese or some Asian language, to the woman, gesturing towards the money in his hand and giving her a charming smile that sent shivers down both of the younger boy’s spines.

The woman, who’s face before had held a mean scowl, now held a rather large, delighted smile, and she gratefully took the money, waving her spatula towards the door as she counted, her face delighted as the numbers in which she counted became higher and higher.

“YOU GO. YOU ARE DONE. LEAVE NOW!” She screeched, but her voice did not hold the anger it had before, instead holding a carelessness as though she couldn’t care less what the boys did now that she had her money. Mr. Big glanced towards the boys, giving them a soft, eerie smile, and a mock salute, gesturing towards the door of the kitchen as well.

“You should hurry. I can imagine Prom won’t wait for you.” There it was - that charming grin once again. Darren and Daniel both nodded, and began to book it out of the kitchen. Before they left, however, they heard clearly the warning of the man that had bailed them out.

“Remember boys. Tell no one.”

Darren shivered as the words rolled over and over in his mind, taking Daniel’s hand in order to calm himself. Gracefully, he led the two of them to the emergency exit in which they had been spying at, escaping from the door and gasping for air, the night air never feeling quite as refreshing as it did at that exact moment. Instinctively, he glanced over at the spot in which Mr. Chang had previously been sitting, and saw nothing.

Truely, what had he expected to see?

“Well....” Daniel started, unsure of what to say, “That sure was interesting....”

Darren nodded, his head swimming as he tried to figure out what the heck to do now.

“....What should we do now?” Daniel voiced his thoughts for him, and Darren shook his head, glancing down at his disgustingly dirty tuxedo as he did so.

“Well... I guess we go to prom.”

Daniel nodded in response to this, his own eyes surveying his clothing in undisguised disgust.

“Yah... let’s go to prom.”