CHAPTER 47: Specialization

"Sorry I'm late," Amy said as Tails climbed into her car. "There was a road block a few blocks away that I had to sit through."

"Why are you, of all people, apologizing?" Tails asked jokingly, pulling his seatbelt on. "You're the boss, right? You CAN'T be docked any pay, can you?"

"Good point," Amy said with a grin, backing the car out of the parking space. "On a more serious note, though, if I so desired I COULD deprive myself in that manner and that would be kind of like a pay cut." She sighed a few seconds later, shaking her head. "As much as I like how much money we make, I hate Sundays. Such a chore."

"Well, I was thinking about something earlier," Tails said. "A new way to do things that should reduce the workload for you. Maybe for all of us."

"Do tell," Amy said, suddenly rapt with attention. She was listening so intently that she nearly stopped paying attention to the road.

"You know what the term 'specialization' means?" Tails asked.

"Kind of, but I can't really put it into words," Amy replied.

"Well, I read about it in an Economics book in Social Studies class," Tails said. "Basically, the way it works is, everyone has some kind of specialty, something that they do best. Virtually every country in the world does it, and it increases the total output of each one. I figured we could do the same thing."

"I set that up the best I could," Amy said. "I got Katie and Lance in the kitchen, Graham and me serving tables, I put you on register for the present, and I handle the paperwork. Course, if it were up to me there WOULD be no paperwork, except maybe for bookkeeping. Stupid tax forms..." She used a nastier tone for the last part. "I hate tax law."

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but you screwed up a little bit," Tails said. "What's your specialty out of all those things?"

"To tell the truth, I don't have myself doing what I do best," Amy said. "My specialty is in the kitchen."

"Alright," Tails said. "Knowing that, I figure we could do it like this: you and Katie in the kitchen; Graham and Lance on tables, with Lance just following Graham with trays; and I'm a number cruncher. I can do the register, and if you teach me how, I can deal with those tax forms and what other paperwork there is. I could probably do it in a big hurry, too. Or you could just hire an accountant to deal with it."

"I liked what I heard up until the part about the paperwork," Amy said. "I'd prefer to do it myself. Don't take that the wrong way; I don't mistrust you. I just feel more secure knowing that I did it myself and I know what went in the books. It's just a psychological thing I can't explain."

"Well, at least think about it, will you?" Tails requested, looking toward Amy. "You never know. You might decide it's a better way to go than you're doing now."

"Alright, I'll think about it," Amy promised. "But I won't promise you anything beyond that." She began to apply the brakes, groaning at length. Tails looked ahead and groaned as well.

"I wonder what holiday last night was," he muttered as they slowed to a stop: there was another road block ahead.

"Well, we can wait a few minutes," Amy said. She turned to Tails. "How's Sonic? I haven't talked to him for a few days."

"He's up to something," Tails said, shaking his head. "He told me yesterday that he had a summer cold and he was staying home, but I don't think he did. He wasn't sniffling, coughing, or anything. He's a crappy actor."

"Indeed he is," Amy agreed. "Always trying to act like I was a pest, but I KNOW he always had to have something for me. But go on."

"He was careful to mention that he'd be there all day if I needed anything," Tails said. "But seriously, I was at the beach. I had no cell phone. How did he expect me to be able to call?"

"Couldn't tell you," Amy said. "By the way, how was the beach?"

"It sucked, it blew, it did everything between," Tails said. "I nearly drowned twice, and when some dolphins swam near the shore, soccer moms congregated and wouldn't let anyone into the water who couldn't break their kung fu grip."

"Soccer moms?" Amy repeated. "Elaborate."

"Well, the term is kind of general, but they all fit most of the criteria," Tails said. He began to count on his fingers. "They're generally fat, they have kids, they think they can control everything and everyone, they try to speak for their own kids, they don't listen for crap,they're hypocrites, they think everyone below twenty-one who wears anything black is Gothic... The list goes on and on."

"Well, at the rate you were going, you might have finished before we got out of this traffic," Amy said, one eyebrow raised. "When I have kids, I'm going to remember this conversation. I'm going to try to avoid that. But, one thing. They're hypocritical, how?"

"Best example I can think of is this," Tails said. "You're in the mall at EB Games or something. You pick up Halo 2or something rated M. You'reeighteen years old. Some fat bitch walks up to you- what?" He stared at Amy for a few seconds, shrinking back. She wore on her face the most threateningI-dare-you-to-say-that-again glare the fox had ever seen. He realized what he'd said, and his eyes went wide.

"Yeah, that's right," Amy said in a threatening tone. "Keep talking like that. I'm not above turning somewhat soccer mom in the case of that sort of thing."

"Sorry," Tails apologized, his ears flat against his head. "I guess I was a little too into it. Er... do you still want me to finish?"

"No," Amy said. "I think I get what you were going to say. Someone walks up, tells you to put it down, then snatches it from you and buys it herself, right?"

"Wrong," Tails said. "You missed some stuff. She calls you goth because you're wearing black socks or something, or she just thinks you have too many piercings, even if you don't have any. She thinks you're badmouthing her in too loud a voice, no matter how quietly you whisper your apologies. THEN she snatches the game and buys it. For her five-year-old."

"People are so dumb sometimes," Amy said, shaking her head and checking ahead again. She pulled up several feet and stopped.

Can't believe I said that, Tails thought. I guess I was really about to get on a rant about it. That, or the virus was making me a little more... enthusiastic than usual. Either way, I have REALLY got to stop that. Where did I even pick up the habit, anyway? Maybe I need to punch myself in the head every time I say something like that. That should stop me in a big hurry.

"It's crazy," Amy continued. "Still, it's people like that who put the... flavor in the world. If there were no idiots, there would be no toilet humor."

"I'd like to know how they live to be that age with such low intelligence," Tails said.

"Must be lucky," Amy said. "There's an old saying: 'Everyone starts off with a bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill your bag with experience before your luck runs out.' I'd say people like that either stole someone else's bag of luck, or they got sacks."

"Amen to that," Tails said, nodding. "Still, you gotta love those videos of retarded skater punks just about killing themselves in really stupid yet funny ways." He changed his voice a little for the next part. "'Hey, let's see if I can pull this incendiary grenade pin with my balls!' What a bunch of idiots. But anyway...Now it's my turn to ask questions. Having fun catching up with that guy... what was his name again? Big?"

"Yeah, that's right," Amy said. She yawned before she went on. "Well, I don't have much to tell him about that wouldn't bore him out of his mind, but wow, he's got some stories. The jungle sounds like it can be as bad as the big city."

"Only differences between the two are that the city would prefer to take your money before your life, and you have cars to worry about," Tails said. "Other than that, no real differences."

"Yeah, I think that about covers it," Amy said thoughtfully. "Anyway, I'm letting Big stay at my house instead of at the motel he'd found. I told him about what could be a good fishing spot not far from my house while I'm at work, so he won't be bored. At least, I hope not."

"I doubt it," Tails said. "If it's the same spot I'm thinking of, he'll probably be more concerned with the jerks that hang around there than the fish. Anyway, how long's plan on staying, anyway?"

"Well, " Amy said slowly, "I think he's staying longer than he'd originally planned. I kind of told him about the robots, and I guess he thought he needed to stick around in case we had trouble with any more. He means well, but it just worries me more. If something happens to him, too..." Her voice trailed off.

If something happens to him, you think his blood is on your head, Tails thought, finishing Amy's sentence fairly accurately.

"Well, better sit up straight," Amy said, reaching down to dig through her purse for her license. "Those cops are reallylashing out for minor things lately."

"'Is that your son?' " Amy repeated, pulling into her parking space at the diner. "What kind of stupid question...?"

"You are four years older than me minus a week," Tails said, shaking his head and taking off his seat belt. "Anyone could tell at a glance that there's not much age difference between us. That cop was either drunk, or he thinks that people are having children at younger ages than ever before."

"I think he was drunk," Amy said, shutting off the engine, removing her own seat belt, and looking at Tails. "I don't see one thing we have in common."

"Well, at any rate, we got here," Tails said. "Only problem is..." He pointed down the road, which was literally packed with cars. The church groups were already arriving.

"Where's another road block when you need one?" Amy said, exasperated, opening her door. She and Tails both got out, hurried to the diner, and headed toward the counter, where Graham was waiting, irritated.

"You're the last person I'd expect to say this to, but you're late," he said, glaring at Amy.

"I know, I know," Amy said hurriedly. "I got stuck in two road blocks. Now shut up and listen. You're going to be working with Lance today."

"WHAT?" Graham yelled.

"He's just going to carry trays for you," Amy said. "You just lead him to where they need to go and you'll be serving them. If anyone tries to say something that you think might be a recipe for trouble, cut them off and explain as briefly as you can. Understand?"

"I guess," Graham said. He looked outside and added, "I'll ask why the change when we get time." Amy didn't reply; rather, she headed to the kitchen, grabbing an apron along the way. Inside, Katie caught sight of her and opened her mouth to speak.

"I'm late, I know," Amy said, cutting her off. She turned and looked around. "Where's Lance?"

"Heck if I know," Katie said. "Why, afraid he'll get lost in the pots and pans?"

"Not exactly," Amy said. "He's working with Graham today. We're changing things a little. I'm going to be working in here instead of serving tables this week, just to see if things work out better."

"You're not afraid Lance will...?" Katie asked, not finishing her thought, as she knew Amy understood.

"I think Graham can handle him," Amy said. At this point, Lance walked into the kitchen, followed by Tails.

"Look who I found sleeping on the flour sacks in the back," Tails said.

"HELLO!" Lance yelled, not really sure what time of day it was.

"Good, just the man I wanted to see," Amy said. "Lance, you're with Graham today. Just do what he tells you."

"What's wrong?" Lance asked, cocking his head to the right.

"Nothing, just felt like a change," Amy said. "Now get ready. People are already showing up."

"Come on, big guy," Tails said, leading Lance out by his hand. Lance followed him backwards.

"What's all this about, anyway?" Katie asked.

"Lance will do a better job than I will helping Graham, and I'll do better helping you," Amy said. "Lance is stronger than I am, so he can carry things better. I'm a better cook than he is, so you won't have to worry about dealing with all of the tricky stuff."

"I was wondering how long it would take you to figure that out," Katie said, leaning on the counter beside her. "I'll bet Tails was the one who ran it by you, wasn't it?"

"How'd you know?" Amy asked.

"He comes along, then not two weeks later, we have a big change in how we do Sundays," Katie said. "Even Lance could've figured that one out withno problem."

"Bad news, y'all," Katie said glumly, leaning out the kitchen door. "They finished off the last batch of soup. I can make another one but it'll be time to re-open before it's done."

"Don't worry about it," Amy said, resting her chin on her hands. She was leaned forward with her elbows on the table in front of her. Beside her was Graham, who was putting Band-Aids on his fingers (some blisters had started to pop up). Tails was across from him, resting his head on the table. Lance was beside him, staring straight ahead.

"We've got some month-old ice cream back here that might still be good," Katie reported. "Any takers?'

"What flavors we got?" Tails asked, sitting up.

"Let me go look and see," Katie said, heading into the back. A moment later, she came back. "We've got cherry, chocolate, mint chocolate chip, and blueberry. The cherry has chunks of cherries in it, and the mint chocolate chip has little chunks of chocolate mints in it. Nothing special in the other ones."

"I'll take the blueberry," Graham said, finishing his finger-wrapping.

"Nothing for me," Amy said.

"You sure?" Katie asked.

"Yeah," Amy said, getting up. "I want to make a couple of phone calls."

"Alright, suit yourself," Katie said.

"I hungry," Lance said, not even paying attention to what was being said around him.

"I guess I'll try that mint chocolate chip stuff," Tails said.

"Okay, guess that leaves Lance with the cherry flavor," Katie said. "I always hated those 'oddball' flavors, so I'm getting the chocolate." Amy stood up and stretched.

"Let me know when we re-open," she said. "I won't be paying attention to the time."

"Okay," Graham said, secretly planning not to tell her so she'd be able to just sit and do nothing for a while.

"Enjoy," Amy said, heading toward the back. In her office, she closed the door and headed for her chair, sighing as she threw herself down into it. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead with her left hand, letting her head fall back. She rested in this position for a few minutes before reaching for her phone. The first number she dialed was Sonic's: she intended to leave him a message, perhaps to see if he wanted to go out again in the next couple of days. What she didn't expect was...

"Hello," Sonic answered after the third ring.

"Hi Sonic, it's Amy," Amy greeted. "Didn't expect you to be home."

"Didn't feel like running today," Sonic said. "Feeling a little under the weather."

"Oh," Amy said, lacking anything better to say. "What's wrong, just one of those days where you'd prefer not to get up?"

"Summer cold, I think," Sonic said. "I've been staying inside this weekend. I'm hoping to get over it soon." He sniffed loudly, trying to pass it off as a 'sick' sniffle. Amy wasn't fooled, but she didn't say anything; if Sonic was up to something, that was his business. After all, there was no way he could have TWO girlfriends, right?

"You really ought to be in bed if it's a cold," Amy advised.

"Too hot," Sonic said. "The air conditioning around here just plain sucks. You want heat, best way to get it is to turn on the air. Kind of the same way that crazy shower of yours works."

"I still need to get that fixed," Amy said. "I think I'm going to switch the knobs so that they're at least labeled right."

"How many people do you think actually read those?" Sonic asked jokingly.

"That's a fairly good point," Amy said thoughtfully. Who WOULD read them? The only person who would use it enough to matter was herself, and she already knew of the defect.

"Anyway, what are you doing right now?" Sonic asked, cutting into her thoughts.

"Nothing," Amy said. She quickly added, "Thank God. I'm as tired as always, and we didn't even have as much to do today. But enough about that. I was wondering if you would mind going out again in the next couple of days. I know you're not feeling too great right now, but I thought we could maybe plan ahead."

"Sounds good," Sonic said. He coughed a few times, still faking a cold. "Soon asmy healthstarts shaping up a little, anyway."

"Okay!" Amy said cheerfully. "I hate to cut you off, but I've got another call I've got to make. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Alright, later," Sonic said. He and Amy hung up at the same time.

"Well, at least I have something to look forward to," Amy said to herself. "Wonder why he's faking that cold, though. He didn't sound even the least bit congested. Well, I'll just coax it out of him when I see him. Shouldn't be too hard to do." She picked the phone back up and dialed Vector's number. The phone rang five times and the answering machine picked it up.

"Thank you for calling Chaotix Detective Agency," the recording said in Vector's voice. "Office hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Please leave your name and a number where you can be reached, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible." The machine beeped.

"Vector, it's Amy," Amy said. "Listen, I need you to call me as soon as you get this message. You know my number. It's about that thing we talked about last time I called." She hung up, then leaned back again and said to herself, "Not a lot of businesses I know of have answering machines. Well, it's not completely weird for them to have a machine like that, I suppose. They must spend a lot of time out of the office when clients come in. I wonder what they're doing right now..."

'YOU LIKE TO BEAT WOMEN?" Vector thundered, holding in one hand a dirty man, raised off the ground, held by his shirt. Several feet away, a woman lay on the ground, one hand pressed to her face; the man had been dumb enough to strike her in public. Vector suspected he was drunk, but that didn't mean he was getting off light. "DON'T-EVER-HIT-HER-AGAIN! HEAR ME? HEAR ME? HUH? HUH?" With each word, Vector smacked the man across the face with his free arm using both sides of his hand. Finally, on the last word, he let go and the man landed in a heap at Vector's feet.

Amy leaned back and sighed again, closing her eyes. She began to slowly drift off to sleep. She made no effort to stay awake, either. She was so comfortable... and tired... Maybe a nap would help... just a short one... a short one...a few minutes...She jumped. She'd been startled by a loud bang outside her door.

"Lance, you did it again!" Katie was saying in a rather loud voice, almost yelling. "No wonder we spend so much on flour around here!" Amy sighed, then got up to go see to the mess, also wondering why Lance always chose to drop things outside her door. She suspected it was because he didn't know the difference between flour and flowers, and thought she might appreciate the "gift".

Well, I'll say this for myself: I didn't take AS long... did I? Anyway, I know what you're probably thinking. "Why IS Sonic faking a cold? And why so poorly?" You'll see, I promise you that. One thing, too... I'm going to graduate high school in sixteen days from the time this is uploaded(that is, on May 26), and I'm going out of state to visit my dad. It might be a little while before the next chapter is uploaded, depending on whether or not I can access a computer while I'm away. So, if I don't get another chapter uploaded before I leave, I hope you enjoy this one enough to last a little while.