Pie in the Sky – Rosalia Scalia

“It’s on your website menu.”

“Maybe you called another place.” 

She was certain she’d called this place, Vinny’s Pizza Palace. “I paid for it over the phone.”

“Not here,” he said. 

“Yes, here. I called it in. I paid for it. You said twenty minutes. It’s twenty goddamned minutes. What the fuck do you mean, ‘not here’?” Alice surprised herself, slapping the counter, shouting at the man for something as dumb as a pizza. She couldn’t stop the tears either—crying seemed to be happening too much lately. She had stepped into an alternative world where everything looked familiar but felt different, where she wanted to slap the man behind the counter.

“Pizza Pie in the Sky,” the man said, pointing toward the south wall.

“Stop mocking me,” Alice shouted.

“Pie in the Sky Pizza, down the street. Sells those froufrou vegan pizzas.”

She’d come to the wrong place. Face flushed, she yelled an apology and fled, realizing how ridiculous she sounded. 

At Pie in the Sky Pizza, she picked up her order and hurried home, grateful for a night free of a vending run. She had not yet decided to keep or sell the machines. Ever prepared, Rudy had long ago outlined his arrangements and registered his will, providing a road map of what he wanted her to do with his stuff. There was too much of it. She’d inherited his house and plumbing business, but she wanted to preserve everything as if he’d return. Before she could open the pizza box, her doorbell rang. Through the peephole, she saw a man wearing a red bandana overtop long, curly black hair. He held a large cardboard box. His cheekbones jutted against his surgical mask, and he was humming a sea shanty. He looked suspicious.

“Who is it?” she yelled, sounding mean, without opening the door. 

“Andre,” he said. “I have something from Rudy.”

“Rudy who?” she said, testing him.

“Rudy Oliver, the plumber,” he said. “Your dad, right? Months ago, he paid for what’s in this box for you.”

Alice opened the door. Andre, dressed in cycling clothes, slipped off his shoes before entering and walked straight into her house carrying the box, which he set on the living room floor. He stepped six feet away from her. She put on her mask. Tall, lean, and muscular, she guessed him to be about her age.

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