Chapter 4
“We ran out of meatballs.” Carlita grabbed the empty serving dish and trekked toward the kitchen. “I figured the first thing to go would be the manicotti.”
“Your creamy Alfredo is gone too.” Mercedes hustled to keep up with her mother’s quick steps.
Arnie circled the prep station. “They polished off the rest of the meatballs? Nothing wrong with a party filled with hearty appetites.”
“We have some good eaters, for sure.” Carlita set the tray on the counter, noticing that the kitchen was empty. “Where is everyone?”
“I figured we could start cleaning up soon and now would be a good time for the workers to take their break.”
Carlita glanced at her watch. “Sounds like a plan. We can remove the entrees and maybe leave a small table with a few snacks. I see we still have plenty of bruschetta. We’ll leave what’s left along with the red velvet cake.”
“I was thinkin’ the same.”
The door swung open. A guest appeared, abruptly stopping when he realized he was in the kitchen. “Which way to the restroom?”
“Back up about ten steps and take a right,” Mercedes said.
“Thanks.” The man disappeared.
“That’s the fourth person who has gotten lost,” Arnie said. “I think it’s time to replace the bathroom sign.”
“I agree,” Mercedes said. “At least once a day a customer stops me, looking for the restroom. Maybe if we add strobe lights it will stand out.”
“I’ll work on finding a new sign.” Carlita made a mental note to track down a more prominent sign and returned to the main dining room. She hosted the trivia, all about the couple, and awarded the prize to Elvira, who answered almost all the questions correctly.
Despite her fear the biker group would cause trouble, all the couple’s friends appeared mellow and to be enjoying themselves.
All too soon, the first guest said their goodbyes, thanking Carlita before leaving. With the party on the downhill swing, she started gathering up the gifts and carrying them to the bench near the exit.
Turning back around, she nearly collided with Elvira, who came barreling through the doorway, an unreadable expression on her face. “We have an issue. It’s Sonny.”
“What about him?”
“He’s slumped over on the bathroom floor, complaining about not feeling well.”
“How do you know…” Carlita waved dismissively. “Forget I asked. I don’t want to know how you came across this information.”
“I haven’t been in the men’s restroom,” Elvira indignantly replied. “One of my employees told me about it.”
“I’ll have someone check on him.” Carlita tracked down Tony, who stood talking to Luigi. “Elvira said a guest is on the floor in the bathroom, claiming he’s not feeling well. Can you go see if he’s still in there?”
“Jerry, one of my friends, is a paramedic. I’ll have him check on the guy.” Luigi, with Tony by his side, hurried off.
After they left, Carlita finished moving the gifts to the front. Concerned Tony and Luigi hadn’t returned with an update she hurried to the hallway where the restrooms were located.
Elvira and Dernice stood nearby, talking in low voices.
“How is Sonny?”
“We don’t know. Tony, Luigi and Jerry haven’t come out.”
“This could be a good sign or a bad sign.”
Finally, the door opened. Tony appeared. “Sonny is throwing up and in a lot of pain. Jerry called for an ambulance. He thinks it might be food poisoning.”
“Food poisoning…from Ravello’s?” Carlita could feel the blood drain from her face. “I haven’t heard of anyone else getting sick.”
Mercedes strode down the corridor, catching her mother’s eye. “We got a woman in the restroom complaining about not feeling well.”
Carlita rushed past the others. The woman, an employee of Elvira’s, stood in an open stall, her head hanging over the toilet.
“Blargh.” She heaved, coughing loudly as she vomited.
“What happened?”
“I…uh…think I ate something bad.”
Elvira appeared. “Yvonne. You got it too?”
“I feel like my insides are coming out,” she groaned. “I’ve never been so sick in my life.”
Mercedes reached for the door handle. “I’ll go wait for the paramedics.”
“Thanks.” Carlita grabbed a stack of paper towels from the dispenser and handed them to the woman. “Can I get you some water?”
“No. I…” The woman ran back into the stall.
A terrifying thought popped into Carlita’s head. What if there were more?
Heavy footsteps echoed. A paramedic appeared.
Carlita briefly explained what had transpired. “I believe the other guest, the man, is in worse shape.”
Yvonne leaned against the stall wall, dabbing at her face with a wet paper towel.
“I hope it was nothing you ate here, but if you don’t mind me asking, what did you have?”
“Mostly the fettuccine Alfredo. I went back for more and someone had taken the dish away. Based on how I’m feeling right now, it’s probably a good thing.”
Carlita motioned to Mercedes, who stood hovering in the doorway. “Keep an eye on her. I need to check on something.”
“Sure, Ma.”
She hustled to the kitchen where she found an employee loading the dishwasher. “We have two guests who might have gotten food poisoning. Where are the leftovers?”
“In the fridge.” The woman led her to the storage refrigerator in the hall. She opened the door and showed her the stacks of leftovers. “All of these on this side.”
Carlita carefully removed the nearest stack. “Let’s put these in our walk-in fridge until I can figure out what’s going on.”
Arnie, realizing what had happened, began helping Carlita move the leftovers to the other refrigerator, one used to store ingredients not yet prepped. She taped a “do not touch” sign on the front. “I had better go check on the guests.”
Reaching the main dining room, Carlita was relieved to find only a handful of guests still there. The ambulance sat parked on the street with its lights flashing. A group of onlookers had gathered on the sidewalk.
Dernice made her way over. “Sonny is in rough shape. Luigi said they’re gonna take him to the hospital.”
Carlita clutched her gut. “I wonder how Yvonne is doing.” She made a move toward the hall when a stretcher appeared. A pale Sonny Skidz lay on top, his eyes closed, as the paramedics wheeled him through the restaurant and out of the building.
She held her breath, watching them load him into the back of the ambulance. Moments later, with lights flashing and horns blaring, it sped off.
“How is the woman?”
“Yvonne?” Dernice asked. “I checked on her a minute ago and gave her some water. I think she’s feeling better.”
“Thank God.” Carlita strode to the bathroom where she found Mercedes and Elvira standing next to a pale Yvonne. “How are you feeling?”
“A little better. I heard the other guy isn’t doing so well.” Yvonne told her that the paramedic checked on her, offering to take her to the hospital. “I told him I thought I would be okay. The water is helping and the dry heaves stopped.”
“You mentioned you ate a lot of the fettuccine Alfredo,” Carlita prompted.
“Me and the guy the paramedics carted off,” Yvonne said. “I noticed him chowing down on a big bowl of it. It was delicious, although I have to admit I’ll probably never eat pasta again.”
“What happened when you went back for more?”
“The dish was gone, and now I’m glad it was.”
Tony appeared carrying a chair. “I thought this might come in handy.”
“Good idea, Son.” Carlita helped the woman get settled. “Mercedes will stay with you. Let her know if you need anything at all.”
“I will.”
She had a brief word with her daughter and returned to the walk-in fridge where she found the pan of fettuccine nearly untouched.
Working her way from top to bottom, she inspected each of the containers, finding most of the food was gone with only a few leftovers. Had an employee suspected there might be an issue and pulled it from the serving table? If so, who and why?
“How are the guests doing?”
Carlita turned to find Arnie quietly watching her.
“The woman is feeling better. The man is on his way to the hospital.”
He made a choking sound. “The hospital?”
“Both became ill after eating the fettuccine.”
Arnie frowned. “No kidding. That’s weird.”
“Why is it weird?”
“Because the fettuccine went missing. I finally found it.”
“Found it where?”
“Under the buffet table and behind the curtain, barely touched.”