portrait of a lunch lady

these silly doodles don't really have anything to do with today's story...which is a little convoluted and twisted...beware.

Alice Trudeaux, lunch maven at Hillside Elementary,
has been serving up wholesome meals for the school's
children for more than 30 years.
“I started here back in the 70's, when my own kids
were little. I wouldn't trade a minute of my time here
for the world!”

Lately though the schools statewide have been taking
a drastic hit from budget cuts. The tax base is shrinking
and bills just aren't getting paid. Something has got to give.

This year some Hillside teachers and much of the staff are being laid off. The big heave ho.
“I'm not bitter,” says Alice. “Just because I've been a
faithful hardworking slave to these kids for 40 years, and
with little thanks; I guess it's time I left anyway.”
Alice is washing dishes but not softly. The forks and spoons
are flying. Many years ago her youngest child disappeared
from the school yard; to this day the mystery is unsolved.

Alice reminisces. “He was a good boy, well, he was a pill,
always getting into trouble. It's no wonder Jimmy came up
missing. I ain't knowing how, ain't sayin'.” She weeps a little
tear that gets wiped away with her pinkie. “We was having
money troubles back then, too. But the kids here were never
wanting for food, not with 'ol Alice about, no way. My boy,
I miss him some; he was a giver. That was a good lunch day.”

Hillside has had a long history of tragedy. In the school's
fifty years there have been seven unexplained disappearances.
4 boys and 3 girls, all within the last 25 years.
“Those were sad days, I remember 'em all. My little Jimmy,
and then Jenny and Bobby and Jill and Craig.... You know,
they was all ornery little pills, always underfoot. It's a
shame, but every cloud has a silver lining.”

Hillside Elementary is barely hanging on these days. There
are the money woes and nightmarish tragedies; the state has
threatened to close Hillside for a decade, and if the economy doesn't
turn around soon, then the school will surely go the way of
much of its staff.
Alice isn't concerned. “I'm gonna stick around, you know,
in a volunteer type way. None of these precious little jewels
will go hungry as long as grandma Alice is here to feed 'em.
No way.”

Alice is one of the lucky ones, she'll take an early retirement
and still receive some sort of income. She isn't thinking of
slowing down.
“Oh, they're a good bunch of kids. I love 'em.” One little
urchin runs through, knocking Alice's lunch cart and
scattering a tray across the floor.
“Most of 'em anyhows. Hey you Timmy, you skunk. You get
here an' pick this mess up, and then into the kitchen with you.
I need some lunch ideas.”
She sniggers and pinches his chubby cheek.
“Oh, another good lunch day—no, none of us is
goin' hungry today. And there'll be plenty in the freezer
for a week, oh yeah.”

Who knows, maybe Hillside Elementary can hang on for
another year or two. Maybe, with good folk like Alice
Trudeaux looking over our kids, ready with the seasoning.