Rose leaned closer, taking out her pad and pen to make it seem as though she was writing down their orders. “The new owner’s not the owner anymore. He defaulted on his loan and the bank took it over.” She tapped the top of Jen’s menu with her pen.

Anita looked at her own menu and saw the name printed at the top: The First People’s Diner.

No.

She glanced out the window. The two men in the pickup truck were lifting the replacement sign they were going to mount on the top of the pole, and she could see the new name displayed in black letters against a yellow background. She looked toward Jen. Her friend’s face was ashen.

Rose’s voice was still low. “Oh, yeah.” She shook her head. “Big changes afoot. Half of the gals were fired the first day. Jeani quit. I’m looking for another job, but I can’t afford to leave until I find one.”

Anita had been looking at the menu. “This can’t be right,” she said, pointing. “Twenty bucks for a hamburger?”

“That’s the Montgomery Burger.”

“Nine dollars for a side order of fries?”

“Pomme frites, yes.”

“How much for a cup of coffee?” Jen asked.

“Our special blend? Six dollars a cup, no refills.”

Jen looked from Anita to Rose. “We can’t afford to eat here.”

The waitress nodded. “I know. No one can. Rafael, one of the cooks, thinks the bank’s trying to drive the diner out of business.”

“But why?” Jen asked. “They own the place now. If they wanted to close it, they could just close it.”

Rose’s voice dropped even lower. “I don’t know. But if I were you, I’d leave and never come back.”

Nodding, the two of them handed her their menus and scooted to the edge of the booth, standing.

“If you hear of any openings anywhere, let me know,” the waitress whispered. “I gotta get out of here, too.”

“I will,” Jen promised.

Walking out, they were aware that the other waitresses were watching them with hostile eyes. Anita hadn’t paid attention on their way in, but she saw now that there were no other customers.

She wasn’t aware that she’d been holding her breath until they were in the open air and she was able to breathe freely. “What…was…that?”

“I don’t know,” Jen said, looking up at the workers installing the new sign. “But let’s get out of here.”

“Juan Wang’s?”

“Juan Wang’s.”

3

The bank sprang up overnight.