The Morning After

Eddie looked at the door as Derek finally entered. The restaurant was quieter than usual before opening up.

"Hey, Derek," he said, "you're just about late, that's a bad precedent for a Mighty Weenie employee."

"Sorry, man," Derek shook his head as he took off his jacket, "won't happen again."

"I certainly hope not, I'd hate to have to lose one of my best Mighty Weenie workers," Eddie replied, then added, "so how was your date with Laura at the drive-in last night?"

"It was fine," Derek answered as he donned his Mighty Weenie shirt and cap.

"Well that's great, maybe we can double date sometime," Eddie said, "any chance you got a fine sister you can hook me up with?"

Derek shook his head, "Uh, no, I'm an only child."

"Oh," Eddie nodded slowly, "so I guess you weren't aware that sisters tell their big brothers things...like when a guy that said brother set said sister up with, turns out to be a pushy, handsy creep who doesn't know when to take a hint."

Derek turned towards Eddie with eyes bulging with terror.

"Oh man..."

"As it turns out," Eddie told him, "I was getting home from a date of my own, and I just happened to wonder why Laura left with you in your pickup...and came home with Steve Urkel and his date, with the three of them packed into his Isetta. Steve and Laura both filled me in on what happened."

Derek raised a hand in gesture, "It was just a misunderstanding, Eddie, nothing happened."

"Oh, I know it didn't," Eddie responded, "because if it had, I would've already exposed your internal organs to daylight." Eddie's eyes narrowed slightly and the fury was more evident in his voice as he added, "What did you think, Derek? Did you think I wouldn't find out? Or that I'd approve? This is my little sister we're talking about, any guy that messes with her, or who even thinks about messing with her, has to answer to me."

Derek raised his hands defensively as Eddie drew nearer to him, "Eddie, I'm sorry, man, please don't fire me for this, I need this job."

"Oh!" Eddie did a 180, "I'm not gonna fire you, Derek."

He exhaled. "Thank you."

"I wouldn't dream of firing you, Derek," Eddie told him, "see, a couple of the other workers are currently out sick with the flu, so you're going to take on their jobs today."

Derek swallowed nervously, "Happy to help, Eddie."

"That's Mr. Winslow to you," Eddie replied firmly.

Derek slowly nodded. "Mr. Winslow."

"I'm glad to hear that," Eddie said, "because you're going to mop the floors, scrub the grills, take out the trash, bus the tables, and oh yeah, the bathrooms need cleaning, thoroughly."

An initial look of dread formed on Derek's face but he nodded and answered almost automatically, "Yes sir, Mr. Winslow."

"And don't you forget it," Eddie told him. "Oh, and you might just pass this piece of information along to any other scuzzy friends you have. That if any of them think they can mess with Laura Winslow...then they are going to answer to," Eddie gestured to himself, "Eddie Winslow!"

Derek nodded uneasily, "Understood, Mr. Winslow."

"Good, now let's get ready to open," Eddie said, "it's half price weenie day, gonna be a lot of customers today, those bathrooms are gonna need lots of cleaning."

Derek stared straight ahead and sighed and answered, "Yes sir, Mr. Winslow."

"It is good to be manager," Eddie said to himself.

Chaos. That's what Mighty Weenie was on half price day, total and utter chaos, and Eddie was loving every minute of it. He rang up another order for the drive-thru and took it over to the window just as Laura pulled up in her car.

"Hey, Eddie," she said.

"Hey, Laura, two In-Betweenie Weenies as requested," Eddie said as he handed her the bag, "on the house."

"I can't let you pay for them," Laura told him.

"I'm not," Eddie said, and chuckled, "I'm deducting it from Derek's paycheck."

"Speaking of which," Laura leaned forward to gaze in through the drive-thru window, "how's it going?"

"Oh I'm loving it," Eddie smirked, "he's running around doing the work of three people and it's always 'yes sir, Mr. Winslow'."

Laura smiled but didn't give into the laugh that was threatening to rise up her throat.

"Hey, Laura, I'm real sorry about Derek, I thought he was a decent guy or I wouldn't have fixed you up with him," he told his sister.

"That's okay, Eddie, all that matters is you were there for me when it counted," she said.

Eddie held his hands out at his sides, "That's what big brothers are for."