I used to work as a bus boy at this restaurant on the beach that was known simply as “The Burger Bar” because we never really had any formal name. Like every successful waterside restaurant, we had our old mean owner who we simply called “Crusty”. He’s a small yet intimidating man, and for some reason one of his eyes would never ever look at you, no matter what. I asked him if he had a lazy eye, to which he replied “No, I’m just always watching”. I thought it was weird for sure, but I always saw it as this weird intimidation thing. After all, Crusty was one of those asshole owners who would fire you for the smallest reasons. The turnover there was always so crazy I couldn’t believe he managed to stay open as long as he did, among other reasons.
Another thing about Crusty, and most importantly, is that he absolutely HATES seagulls. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan either. They steal your food, squawk and squeal, and are just a nuisance in general. But, Crusty absolutely despises the birds. He would hire people solely to scare them off the property, usually the homeless and lost teenagers that were looking to make some money, but he seemed to always fire them the most. Was it weird to me? Yeah, of course it was, but it was his restaurant after all, who was I to say anything?
He had this “private office” behind the actual restaurant. It was this big shed that he kept the safe, cameras, and other personal stuff and he lived in the upstairs of it as well, and used the basement for storage. The thing is, he got the most frantic when the seagulls would poke around there. I get it, it was his house and I wouldn’t like seagulls near it either, but he would drop everything to get them away from it. He could be talking to a customer, cooking a burger, or anything else and he would just abandon that task to get rid of the seagulls. He also wouldn’t let any of the seagull scaring kids around there either, only around the restaurant. The birds always congregated near the basement window and would just chill there, squawking and what Crusty would say “singing their vermin song”.
I began to notice over time that every time someone would get fired, the seagulls would appear in much larger groups around Crusty’s “private office”. I always saw it as nothing but sweet karma, and never really paid it any attention. That is, until Crusty fired one of my friends who I will call Jared. He started out as a “seagull scarer” I guess. He was a pretty nice kid, but had been abandoned when he was young and was trying to make some money. He was always telling me how Crusty creeps him out and how he thinks that Crusty has some secrets. I never listened and always told him,
“Hey, what old man doesn’t?”
One morning however, Jared didn’t show up for work and I asked Crusty if he forgot to schedule him. He was old after all, and he would sometimes forget. He replied simply with,
“I fired him. He didn’t watch the gulls well.”
I went into work as usual the next day, and that is when I noticed the seagulls congregating around the office again. Seeing that Crusty couldn’t stand them, I figured I’d do some good and scare them off for him. I scared them off but I eventually heard more coming from inside the office, especially in the basement. That is when I peeked through the window of the basement, and my life was turned upside down completely.
The window was cracked slightly, and all I could hear were the sounds of these seagulls in cages, and what smelled like a mix between spoiled beef and a sceptic tank. I turned on my phone flashlight, and saw seagulls all locked in cages, screaming and squawking. However, through all of that, I could hear the screams of people that were being covered up by the noises of the seagulls. That is when I heard footsteps coming from the office, and before I could run I saw Crusty come around the corner and he spotted me. He tried to chase me, but the feeble old man wasn’t able to catch up. I hopped on my bike, heard him yelling incoherently, and simply kept pedaling until I couldn’t anymore.
I was in a very bad position at that point, I needed that job to help me pay for college once I graduated high school, and it paid really well. I also wasn’t sure if there were human screams, or simply just seagulls making weird noises. They were in cages after all, and I am not exactly adept on avian noises or anything. I bit the bullet, and decided the Crusty was mad I invaded his privacy and I could explain it all the next day.
I biked to work and noticed the entire restaurant was shut down and boarded up. All of us employees were in the parking lot trying to figure out what was going on, so I went back over to the office to investigate. The seagull noises had stopped completely, Crusty’s truck was nowhere to be found, so I went back to the window for a peek. The basement was completely empty, and not a single noise came from it. As I was leaving, I saw a strange piece of paper on the door, and I knew I should have gone with my gut as soon as I read it. I should have called the police. It was a poem by the old man himself, and it read.
Someone saw what I have to hide
And so I must take them all and run
Be free my gulls and ride the tide
While I make sure their lives are done
I will go with the ones that had failed me
The ones who couldn’t scare a thing
I have finally now been forced to flee
But they will die when the seagulls sing
I knew right then and there, that the “ones” were the people he had kept in that basement. I don’t know what he means by “when the seagulls sing”, but I want them to be safe and away from the twisted owner. I knew I should’ve called the police, and I have to bear that burden for the rest of my life. So to Jared, and all of the other “seagull scarers” that have been taken by Crusty…I’m sorry.