Four Orders of Garlic Knots

“Why do they keep hanging up? I want your pizza, take my money!” I dial again. It’s one in the morning, this is the only place open late enough for those of us who have the late night munchies. Pizza World is open until three every night, even weeknights. It’s Monday, well, Tuesday now, and my friends and I have just smoked our first bowl. As you could imagine, we’re in dire need of food. I wandered outside by myself after my third attempt at calling Pizza World, thinking maybe my reception was poor, but my phone keeps hanging up as soon as the call goes through. I’m not giving up that easily, worst case scenario I’ll just drive down to Pizza World myself, we’re only one bowl in, anyways. Yeah, it’s not the best idea, but what other choice do we have? We’re broke college students, there’s not a crumb in our apartment that someone hasn’t already eaten. 

Someone answers the phone, and it doesn’t hang up immediately. Before I can say anything, I hear a woman’s voice, but it’s muffled. 

“If I don’t answer the phone, they’ll keep calling.” Yeah, I’ll keep calling. It’s Pizza World, I want Pizza. I don’t get the chance to chastise her rude comment. “Thanks for calling Pizza World! I’m Chelsea, how can I assist you today?” She recites the prompt without missing a beat, unlike most people who answer the phone there, though Chelsea’s voice sounds strained. 

“Um, yeah. So, I’ve been calling nonstop trying to order some delivery. Are you guys, like, busy or something?” I hear someone gasp in the background, I think? Now that I think about it, other than that one noise I just heard, the background is silent. No phones ringing, no bells dinging, no tickets printing, no hustle or bustle. Did they close early? Maybe it’s so dead there that they resorted to closing up shop. That would explain the rude comment Chelsea made when picking up the phone, but why not just answer the first time and tell me Pizza World’s closed early? Why waste my time? 

“We’re actually not busy at all, sir. We’ve been having a problem with our phone lines tonight, but luckily they’re up and running now.” That makes sense, but why did she answer the phone the way she did? Sure, she likely assumed I wouldn’t hear, but if the phones weren’t working, she should’ve wanted to answer when they started working again, right? Well then again, If I were working at Pizza World, I would’ve been annoyed that I had to stay at work after thinking I’d be able to go home if there was no business. She didn’t sound too happy stating that the phones are working again, but it wasn’t like she sounded annoyed either, she sounded kind of… Scared? I shake my head, what’s the point in thinking about this? It doesn’t matter why they weren’t answering before, but that they’ve answered now! I have to order my pizza before the phone stops working again.

“So, does this mean I can place an order for delivery?” She doesn’t answer right away, I hear a deep voice speak up, but it’s too far away to distinguish what he’s saying. Maybe it’s her boss telling her whether or not it’s okay to take orders.

After the deep voice stops, Chelsea’s resumes. “Yes, delivery, that works. Um, I…” She trails off. 

“Hello?” I’m trying not to sound as irritated as I am, I don’t think it’s working.

“Sorry, sir. I think the phone must’ve cut out for you. Can you hear me again now?” The phone didn’t cut out, I heard her breathing during her pause, it was uneven and heavy. Maybe she has asthma? Questioning would be a waste of time, I want food.

“Yeah, I can hear you now. I’d like to place an order for delivery.” 

“Of course, sir. Can I start with your phone number?” 

I recite my phone number to her. It takes her longer than it would take the average Pizza World employee to input it into her system, maybe she’s new. That would explain her comment and the nerves. But I feel like I’ve spoken to a Chelsea at Pizza World before. She reads me the name and address saved in their system to ensure it’s accurate, I confirm it is, and after another long pause, asks me what I’d like to order.

“Shit, I already forgot what we said we wanted.” I’ve been so focused on getting to this point that what my friends and I’ve decided to eat has been wiped from my memory. “I’m just gonna run inside real quick, my friends will remember.” 

Chelsea says nothing, I think someone says something in the background, but the creak and slam of our screen door overpowers what’s being said on the other line. 

“Yo Matt,” I yell from the front door. The TV is blasting the movie that Grant told us we just had to watch, I can’t remember what it was called but it was something to do with salt. Matt takes his time sauntering over, of course. “Matt, just tell me what we wanted from Pizza World again, I finally got a hold of them but forgot what we wanted to order.” 

Matt chuckles. “Bro, you’re that high already?”

“Nah man, I just forgot. Just hurry up and spit it out before Grant notices you left the room.” Grant is serious about us watching his weird movies, if he catches you escaping, or on your phone, he freaks out. Thankfully, I was made responsible for food, exempting me from his patrolling. Matt finishes citing our order for me just as Grant starts screaming for him to come back. 

I make my swift exit to the quiet outdoors, and begin to recite what Matt said to Chelsea. “Alright, so we’re gonna need six orders of garlic knots, two orders of hot chicken bites, two orders of barbeque chicken bites, two meat lovers pizzas, and two plain pizzas.” I realize I might’ve said that all too fast, but Chelsea doesn’t ask any questions. Maybe she isn’t new?

“Is that all for you today, sir?” I hear shuffling around the restaurant. 

“No, it’s not all for me,” I joke. “I’m sharing with my friends.” 

Chelsea giggles, I smile. “Right, you usually only order four orders of garlic knots when it’s just for you.”

Now it’s my turn to laugh. “That’s not true and you know it.” When I order for myself, I get myself two orders of garlic knots. They’re so scrumptious I can fall to my death in a hole filled with them and die happily. I guess she isn’t new if she remembers my order.

“Okay, fine.” She surrenders, it sounds like her nerves have eased. “Maybe it’s only two.” I hear rustling and clanging, Chelsea gasps.

“Are you alright?” I ask. 

Chelsea mostly sounded serious throughout the call, but now she’s crying.

“Everything is fine here, don’t worry! I just dropped the phone!” I don’t know what I heard, but I know that isn’t the truth. Sirens creep up in the background. “We’ll see you in forty-five minutes to an hour, Nick.” No one at Pizza World has ever called me by name before, do I know this girl?

“Wait, how do you know my name?” 

She laughs, it's a small, damp laugh. I don’t think she’s okay. The sirens don’t wash away, but crescendo. 

“Nick, your name is in the system. If I can remember your order, surely I’d know your name. You order here at least twice a week. Don’t you remember me?” I hear the deep voice again, closer now, screaming at her to hang up the phone. I don’t know whether it’s safe for me to acknowledge it, so I continue our conversation, so that deep voice doesn’t catch onto me.

“Well, I know your name is Chelsea, right?”

“Yes. Thank you, Nick. Please don’t ever forget that.” Before I can ask Chelsea what’s going on, I hear the beginning of a loud bang just as the phone hangs up. 

“No!” I yell. Is Chelsea okay? I scratch my head, recalling the entire phone call from the beginning, but none of the dots seem to connect. I know I’m not the brightest, but something went wrong there just now. What was that bang? Did someone get hurt? Did Chelsea get hurt? I think I need to call the police. I know I heard sirens there already, but what if they weren’t at Pizza World?  Just as I’m about to press nine, the screech of our screen door makes me jump.

Our screen is being opened by Matt. “Nick, I don’t think we’ll be getting our delivery tonight.” He brings his phone to my eyeline, showing live footage of Pizza World being encompassed by police cars. 

The headline bolded on the screen: Armed Robber holds Pizza World Hostess Hostage

I collapse to my knees, knowing now the last thing I heard on that phone was a gunshot.