Stillness Part V, Chapter 48

It was a shabby little diner. And it was the wrong part of town for four kids to be in at this time of night. Or any time, really. But it seemed that I was the only one aware of these kinds of details, the others having lived their whole lives in the home.

I, of all people, was the only one with any experience living in the outside world.

We sat in a booth near the back door. The seats were shiny fake red leather; the table top was speckled Formica. There was a juke box in the corner flashing orange and red and green lights. Next to it was a pinball machine, with flashing red and yellow lights of its own. The two sets of flashing lights were slightly out of sync with each other. If I had been so inclined, I could have watched them both for hours, and drawn out some intricate analysis of the relationships between the different colors. Actually, we had been there long enough for me to make a good start: almost three hours.

In that time, Todd and Grace had ordered and eaten twice. After the pancakes that morning and the greasy French fries I had with my initial order at the diner, I couldn’t stand the thought of another bite. And based on her horrified expression when the other two announced that they had decided to order more food, I could tell that Judy felt the same.

The waitress, a bedraggled dirty blonde of indeterminate age, had lost whatever patience she might have once had with us. I don’t think groups of kids were a common demographic for that diner. And I wasn’t sure whether Judy was causing some other kind of problem for her, more along racial lines. Todd waved her over to the table after a prolonged battle for her attention. She flipped her little notepad open with a snap and glared at us.

“Something else?” she said curtly.

“Yes, ma’am,” said Todd. “We’d like another cheeseburger please, with French fries…”

“They come with fries,” she said with deadpan impatience.

“Yes, of course. And we’d also like some ice cream, please.”

She looked at him.

“What kind?” she said after a moment. “I don’t have all day.”

Todd turned to Grace, who was studying the menu. Which of course she could not read.

“What will it be, Grace?” Judy prompted.

“I wonder…” she said.

“Yeah?” the waitress pressed.

“I wonder if you have any…pink ice cream.”