As Stony raced to the luncheonette, all the electricians except Malfie congregated on the twentieth floor to drink the coffee they had bought and sneaked upstairs before Stony took their orders.

Stony walked carefully out of the luncheonette. He held a rectangular gray cardboard box bottom containing twelve Styrofoam cups of three blacks no sugar, three blacks with saccharin, two regulars, one cream no sugar, two teas with lemon and a Pepsi. In addition, he had three cheese Danish, one English muffin, one ham and egg on white, one Drake's cake, and a salami and egg on an onion roll. The cups were capped with plastic tops that spurt liquid from the center. Code letters were penciled on top. After dropping off the trailer orders. Stony cautiously climbed the stairs. Coffee and tea dripped from the slightly soggy bottom of the box, soaking his chinos, but he was proud of himself. He got back in ten minutes flat. He was sure it was a new land speed record for gofers. His first stop was fifteen, but Tommy and Blackie weren't there. Eighteen was devoid of electricians too. Nervously he hit twenty where he found all of them.

"Where the fuck you go. Queens?"

"The fuckin' kid prob'ly stopped for breakfast."

"He's holdin' up the whole goddamn show."

"Stony, this ain't the way to start off here," Tommy said.

Stony's armpits started to sweat. He was mortified.

"Whatta you talkin' about! I ran!"

"He ran. My dead gran'mother woulda had it up here faster."

"I don' wanna talk about it."

Griping and bitching they picked out their orders. Stony stepped back, close to tears. He looked pleadingly at Tommy, who only shook his head sadly.

"This fuckin' coffee's cold!" Augie dashed his cup to the ground.

"I ast for no sugar, you cocksucker! I got fuckin' diabetes! You wanna see me go into a coma?"

"I ast for Seven-up, this prick got me Pepsi." One by one they threw their cups to the ground.

"This fuckin' kid gotta go!"

Stony spluttered, three notions away from suicide.

"Hey, kid." Vinny, a fat, gap-toothed thirtyish guy, squinted at him. "When you left the Greek's, you feel a tap on the back a your head?"

"Huh?"

"That was your change."

Stony, open-mouthed, had no idea what the fuck he was talking about. Then Augie cracked up. Tommy stifled a laugh. In seconds, they were all howling. Stony stood there like a schmuck with earflaps, rivers of tea, coffee and soda at his feet.

"I don't get it."

This comment redoubled the laughter. Jimmy O'Day fell to the floor, curled up on his side, tears of laughter threatening him with a coronary.

Stony sensed the worst was over. Tommy grabbed him and kissed him on the side of his head.

"I don't get it."

One by one, the electricians shook his hand, welcoming him into the clique. Stony smiled uneasily, still trying to put two and two together. As they filed back to work, laughing and eating their Danishes or sandwiches, Stony felt like a jerk for not seeing what the hell was so goddamn funny.