I walked down
Two blocks down
To the local diner
Where I sat at the counter
Two down from
John the Hobo
And Cindy
The Prostitute
I ordered up a hamburger
And their biggest set of fries
And Wendy the Waitress yelled it back
I sipped some coffee
A little water
A baby started to cry
And a young woman
In booth seven
Threw a milkshake on her boyfriend
Her ex now
Two cops were at booth one
Eating a donut or two
And some construction worker
Grabbed a two cream coffee and sub
The diner seems small
But it is full of life
Smell the bacon
Eat your tomato soup
Listen to the old fashioned jukebox
It all tells a story
Significant
The small town’s gossip center
Lovers fall in love
Friends are made
Money is collected
Drop-offs
It’s all a day’s event
I picked up my spoon
Looked in it as I brushed
My hair back from my face
This was a home away from home
For a traveler like me
I wouldn’t be here forever
And neither would they
But as we come together now
It all tells a story
$3.50 was the bill
$1.00 was the tip
It was priceless in my mind
This was the movie I loved to rent
The best actors ever
The reality show of a lifetime
The Stop and Grub
Faith L. Hampton (Boone) -- 6/27/2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor's Note: The Stop and Grub is a novel I began writing over a decade ago. I hope you enjoy reading the sections I have written so far. I'm posting them in no particular order to how the novel is structured.
“Thanks for doing this for me, Wilson. I was probably going to walk back to my car and sleep in it if I couldn’t find a place to stay.”
I was surprised Wilson agreed to take me in for the night. But it was only for the night. I was going to have to find somewhere else to stay for the rest of my time in Halcyon.
“It’s no problem. Glad you felt you could let down your guard with someone. I heard those things you said about Cindy and Johnny. What were you raised in a barn or something? You shouldn’t judge people you don’t know.” He didn’t look at me while he scolded me like I was his teenage daughter. I wanted to slouch in my seat and keep my mouth shut. What a great bonding experience.
“I just didn’t understand what Wendy was doing letting those types of people into her restaurant.”
“Why? Did you see them harm something? Were they being rude to someone? Or, were they keeping to themselves and minding their own business like you should’ve been?” He still didn’t look at me. He just stared straight ahead. I, clearly, had offended him indirectly.
“Look Wilson, I’m sorry for what I said. Why are you letting me stay at your place if you’re upset with me?”
“Ah, you’re just a stupid kid. You’ll learn.” He smiled, but he still didn’t look at me.
It seemed like we were in the car for only a few minutes before Wilson turned onto a dirt road off the highway. After we got past a cluster of tightly packed trees, I could see Wilson’s home in the distance. It wasn’t big; a small cottage-like home fit for a bachelor. I immediately assumed Wilson never married or had any children. He was just a loner. Like I was about to be. Like what I’m experiencing right now.
“Do you have any family living with you,” I asked him, curious to know if my assumption of him being a loner was actually incorrect.
“No, it’s just me. Parents are gone. Only child. No wife. No kids. Just me.”
“Do you wish you had family?” I wanted to know if our feelings about family were also similar.
“I wouldn’t mind having a wife look after me and a kid to be proud of…why not? But, it’s not something I ever went out to get. That’s not the kind of man I am, missy.”
“What kind of man are you?”
He laughed at me with that Wilson laugh. It always felt like his laugh was just a way for him to repeat his “stupid kid phrase,” but I also picked up on some father-like qualities with that laugh.
“I traveled. People say my picture should be next to the word ‘drifter’ in the dictionary,” he smiled, but mostly to himself—a sense of pride beaming from his face. “I have definitely traveled the word.”
“Where have you been?” I was honestly curious. I felt like he was the grandfather I never met and possibly even the father I never really knew.
“Lots of places where the people don’t ask so many questions.” He pulled the car in front of a dark house, all wood and dust. It looked solid, but it also looked very, very old. “Come inside. I can show you where I’ve been.”
He began to get out of the car and I froze. This just didn’t seem safe. But, I was already here. Half of me felt like that didn’t matter and I should run for my life, and the other half really wanted to see what Wilson was talking about. For once, I pushed down the worry and fear and took hold of the curiosity and risk.
More Stop and Grub to come!
Follow @proseweekly on Facebook & Twitter for the latest postings.
Commenti