I like the smell of pizza but after smelling it for eight hours straight, I'd rather smell anything for a few minutes. Heck, I'd take ruined can of sardines just to give my sinuses something else to think about for a while. Six o'clock comes early and eight o'clock doesn't come early enough. Life as a security guard isn't hard but it is a boring existence. The kids make it better. A lot of them think I'm a police officer. At least they do at first. When I explain what a security guard does, I kind of become a downgraded version of a cop. But I can't really complain.
Usually there is only one of us working at a time, but today the restaurant had so many birthday parties booked, the boss decided that it was necessary to call me in on my day off so I could back up William. So, I'm monitoring cameras while he's dressed up in the yellow Bonnie suit and playacting for the kids.
Lucky.
Speaking of which, he was supposed to give me break five minutes ago since some of the families have cleared out.
"Whoo! That suit doesn't get any better, let me tell you!" William walks into the office with his hair plastered to his forehead. "I'll take over for a while, Matt."
"Thanks," I say sarcastically.
He has the grace to look apologetic. "Sorry, I know you're past due."
"Yeah, my bladder said that thirty minutes ago," I tell him as I head for the bathroom.
Yeah, that almost got super awkward.
I decide to take advantage of my break and walk around the restaurant. The parents greet me and the kids mostly ignore me. As I stroll through the rooms I glance over everything. I do not like these animatronics. They're freaking creepy. Whoever decided these things were good for entertaining kids needs to have his head examined.
I walk into the prize room and see some of the kids gawking at the plush toys and more than one is pointing at the puppet hanging on the wall. I don't know where the boss found that thing, but I think it's the coolest item in the place.
"What's that one for?" a boy in a red striped shirt asks pointing at the marionette.
I cock my head to one side to study the puppet for a second. This kid knows all the animatronics have jobs whether it's singing or serving food so I have to give him a job for the puppet.
"He protects theses little guys," I tell him, gesturing to all the plushies. "Makes sure nothing happens to them."
He nods and wanders off, apparently satisfied with my answer. I make my way back to the office and walk in to see William staring at the screen and punching buttons.
"Have the cameras been messing up the whole time?" he asks.
"Messing up how?" I ask.
"Glitching out," he says.
"I haven't had any problems," I tell him.
"They did this the other day," he says and stands up to go. "Maybe it'll fix itself again. Well, back in the suit I go."
"Enjoy," I tell him and sit down in the chair.
Thirty minutes before closing, the boss sticks his head in the doorway.
"Can I get you to stay for another couple of hours?" he asks.
"Where's William?" I ask without bothering to hide my aggravation.
"He had to leave. Said something urgent came up."
I sigh. "I'll stay."
"Good. See you tomorrow," he says and vanishes.
Sometimes I hate this job.
When everybody's gone and the place is locked down for the night, I do quick patrols of the halls. Habit I guess. This isn't my first job as security. At fifteen to twelve, I decide to do one last round before the next shift arrives. I can't control what happens when I leave but at least everything will be set when I go. Everything's quiet until I get close to the prize room and I hear something like heavy breathing. I shift my grip on my flashlight so that it doubles as a club. I'm supposed to be the only person here until midnight.
I step into the room and my pulse accelerates until I hear the blood rushing in my ears. In the dark recesses of the room, a shadowy figure is bent double, something is pounding on the floor and I catch a glimpse of a red striped shirt in my light. I can't see his face but I slam into the guy hard enough to break bones, either his or mine.
I still can't see his face.
He's stiff, stunned from the hit and I glance down. I see the red striped shirt but there is more red than stripes now and my insides go numb.
"You sick son of a-!"
He punches me in the face and once in the stomach and I stagger. That. Punch. Felt. Weird. He grabs my jacket and slings me into the wall where I smash into the puppet. He's on me before I can recover and hits me in the side. I suddenly feel so weak, my knees won't hold me up anymore but the kid is right there. And. He. Might. Be. Alive.
I lunge for the guy one more time but there's no strength in my legs and he punches me in the chest. I hit the floor on my back and I can't get up. I can't even breathe. I can hear my pulse through my ears but it sounds off—like there's an extra, weaker beat. My flashlight's on the floor, illuminating the blood all over the tiles, the wall, that striped shirt. But not him. I fight to stay awake. The room is getting darker and I hope that's the flashlight dying. He starts dragging the kid out of the room and I catch a glimpse of him. The boy was past saving before I ever walked into the room. The last thing I see before the room goes black is the scattered pieces of the shattered puppet.
There to protect the little guys. Just not that little guy.
That was my job.