Twenty Grand Read Online Free PDF Page A

they’d been, and the sacrifice would forgive them. I saw the strategy’s merits but lacked the resolve to do it myself, and as a result I was flustered a lot.
    By the end of June, Boris said things had to change. Did I know how many complaints he’d had about me? Did I want to guess?
    I don’t know, I said. Three?
    Keep guessing, he said.
    I don’t want to, I said.
    Then consider this your warning, he said.
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    O NE WEEKEND the twins’ parents showed up at the house and held a barbecue for their friends. I met the twins’ parents in the kitchen, where I’d come to get a snack. They hugged me, welcomed me, and told me to help myself to whatever was in the fridge. The door to the wide deck was open and I could see the friends outside, playing croquet on the lawn. I was about to thank the twins’ parents, when Mrs. Serrano turned and said that while they were here, why didn’t we settle up on the rent?
    I must have looked confused, because Mr. and Mrs. Serrano said, more or less simultaneously: the summer’s rent. Mr. Serrano named an amount. Then he put his hand on my shoulder. He seemed embarrassed for me. It’s a modest rent, he said.
    It wasn’t. But I went up to my room, opened my tip box, and piled up my tips. When nothing was left, I brought the pile down. Mr. Serrano stared at the stack and said he’d been expecting a check. Then he said he’d make do. He took the pile and went back to the sunroom, where he’d been eating a peach cobbler, to count. I walked down to the beach. The twins were resting on it. Their long brown bodies were shimmering on one huge purple towel and the gold ends of their dark hair were flicking at their chins. I sat down and stuck my hands in the sand. I said I hadn’t known I was paying rent.
    You weren’t, Jean said. I mean, we didn’t want you to. But when we were presenting the idea to our parents, of you living with us, we threw it in, like, to sweeten the pot.
    Jessica’s eyes were wide. To make the pot a little sweeter! she said.
    They must have seen a sour look on my face. Not only would I not make a killing, I realized, I might not break even. And then I realized something that shocked me: the twins would become investment bankers, after all.
    Jean touched my shoulder. You would have paid rent anywhere else, she said.
    So, Jean said. Do you want us to help you a little bit, with the rent?
    We didn’t know it would be a problem, Jessica said.
    Jean poured some oil on her stomach and rubbed it in firmly. Maybe we can talk to our parents, she said. To get them to lower the rate a bit, for the second half. She looked at me. How about that? she said.
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    I STARTED WORKING lunch shifts in addition to dinner ones. This meant I spent my days with Dina. I didn’t mind working lunch, because Dina refilled my customers’ waters and bussed my tables. I told her not to, but she did it anyway. I’d realized she wore the same black shorts every day. They said “Tiger Wear” in a red triangular logo on the back, and had pleats in the front that accentuated her hips. When I asked how she kept them clean, she said she washed them at night in her bathroom sink. But I didn’t feel bad for her, because she liked her job and was good at it. She had a lot of regulars, old people who tipped her ten percent. Her favorite was a Swedish couple. They must have been seventy-five, but they came in every day at noon, ordered six scotches and two prime ribs with pilaf, and ate the whole thing. Occasionally they ordered veal as a third dish, and offered Dina the chunk left, and Dina said she looked forward to eating it. They tipped her five dollars no matter what. I thought that was good, until I found out what their bill was. Then I thought it sucked.
    Dina shrugged. They’re old, she said.
    But they drive a Mercedes, I said.
    She stared at me. They’re my customers, she said.
    The next day Dina