8. Chapter 8
Frank
Damn if that woman didn’t feel good in my arms. I made my way to the bathroom to talk my dick down.
I haven’t had to fight with my body this hard since puberty.
Once I could walk without pain, I went back out to take my place at the counter.
There was something about this family and how they worked together. There’s a saying, aces in their places , and this team had that down in spades.
Evelyn snarled at Edith each time they passed each other, which made Edith smile.
Damn, that’s a beautiful smile.
The young man kept pace with Evelyn, but she did her best to ignore him. When they were behind the counter, I caught a comment he made about lace, which caused her to spin and pin him with a glare.
“Stay here.” She growled and went out to check on her tables.
“You got a thing for her?”
He looked at me and smiled conspiratorially. “Her skirt came off at a huge ensemble competition and we all saw her sweet pink lace panties. My friends dared me to get her to give me a pair. I think I’m close.”
I shoved down the laugh that threatened to come out. “What you’re close to is her shoving them down your throat.”
He shrugged. “Still a win, right?”
“If you think so.” I barked out a laugh.
Idiot.
When Evelyn came back, she smiled sweetly. “Now, take the tub over there and you can bus the empty tables. I’ll show you what to do with the dirty dishes. Don’t forget to wipe them down, and all the condiments and shakers or Edie will kick your ass.”
“On it!” He almost bounced off to work.
She spun to face me. “Need a warm up, Frank?”
“No need to ask.”
She refilled my cup and smiled as Edie came to join her behind the counter. “What do you want for dinner?”
“A beer and a cigarette.” She grumbled.
“Oh yeah. That’s a good dinner.” Evie rolled her eyes and walked away.
Edie looked at me and I could see how tired she was. “Frank, have you eaten?”
“Not yet. I thought I’d wait and see when you take a break.”
“You’re not gonna give up are you?”
“Nope.” I winked at her and chuckled when she rolled her eyes. “I did rescue you.”
“That’s dirty.” She frowned. “Fine. Pick a booth. We’ll make Evie serve us.”
Taking my coffee, I picked the circular booth in the back corner where she could still see what’s going on and waited for her to join me.
There’s a sway in her hips as she walked towards me. She slid in across from me. “Good choice.”
“I figured it would be. You can keep an eye on everyone and keep your finger on the pulse.”
“Service!” she called out and knocked on the table.
Evie walked over with menus and silverware. “Welcome to That One Place. I’m Evie and I’ll be your server. I see you have drinks. Is there anything I can start you with?”
“What do you recommend?” Edith asked, brushing her bangs from her face.
“I suppose a bag of dicks is out of the question. So maybe some cheese sticks or jalape?o poppers?”
“You got any nachos?” I asked, confused when both girls looked shocked.
“You got it.” She bounced off and yelled at the window. “Need the Edie to start, then walk two cows through the garden and make ‘em cry.”
“Frog sticks?”
“You know it. On the fly!”
“On it!”
“I love the old diner lingo.” I took a drink of my coffee and smiled at Edie.
“That’s all Big E. Since he was a kid, he knew he wanted to be in a kitchen and with the diner? He’s home.”
“You seem at home, too.”
“I am. I used to think I wanted to do something else.” She looked around. “But I can’t see being anywhere but here.”
“I’ve been a lot of places.” I took a drink of my coffee. “Never been anywhere where it all feels homey.”
“It can be.” She took a drink. “Where you from?”
“Wisconsin. Born and raised. Joined the Marines right from high school.”
“Are you on leave?”
“Nope, got my walkin’ papers after I did twenty in.”
She looked up at me, her hazel eyes filled with nerves. “Wow. A lifer.”
“The Corp was good to me. I learned a lot.” I gave her an easy shrug.
“That where you learned to be patient?”
I chuckled. “Nah, my dad taught me that. He was a good man. Patient, caring, teaching.”
Her voice softened. “How long has he been gone?”
Scratching my beard, I count back. “Been about six years.”
“Both?”
Nodding, I held on to my mug. “Drunk driver after Christmas midnight mass.”
“Damn, Frank. That … sucks.”
“Yep.” I nodded. “I don’t mind alcohol; I just don’t drive impaired. Never have. I will be a DD for those who need it.”
The door rang and Miss Cora came in with a couple of other ladies and they took a seat a few booths away. Evelyn swung by, dropping off the nachos, a side of sour cream and some plates.
“It’ll be out soon.” She smiled and went to take care of the ladies.
We dug in and ate in comfortable silence. Evie was a hell of a server. She kept our drinks full and brought out water and extra napkins.
“She’s damn good.” I nodded towards the younger sister.
Edie sighed. “Don’t say that too loud. She’ll get a big head and we’ll have to grease her up to get her out of here.”
I laughed and watched as she picked up a chip, making sure to have a bit of everything on it.
“So what brought you here?” She wiped her mouth.
“Romeo said it would be a good landing place to start.” I shrugged. “He wasn’t wrong.”
The new kid came out from the back with a coffee pot of water and walked over to one of the plants in the diner, watering it. Then he moved to the next plant and watered it.
Edith pressed her lips together tight.
“Edie?”
“Hmm?” She looked at me with wide eyes.
I dropped my voice low. “Are the plants around here real?”
“Pfft. No.” She laughed.
We both watched as Miss Cora tapped him. “Sweetheart, I don’t think you need to water them.”
“Oh, I do. I’m trying to impress someone, and she told me to water the plants.”
Edie slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Miss Cora shook her head. “But, sweetie, the plants aren’t real.”
“Huh?” The kid stopped and looked confused. “They’re not?”
All the ladies shook their heads, and his face fell right before he got angry. “She. Owes. Me.”
The boy went storming in the back and all you heard throughout the diner was laughter.
Later that night, as I was kicked back in bed, I thought about Edie.
Hey. You awake?
Yep
Busy tomorrow night?
Yep
How about Friday night?
Washing my hair
Saturday night?
Changing my guitar strings
You play guitar?
Nope
Is that from an old country song?
Yep
You are a woman of many words
Haha
I know
We had dinner together tonight
That wasn’t a date. I was paying you back for being kind
Why don’t you date?
Who says I don’t?
I haven’t seen any proof you do
Maybe I’m a lesbian?
Nah, I saw how you watched me climb on my bike
Maybe I like the male form?
But not enough to date?
When are you leaving Port Stella?
Maybe I’m not.
…
Hmmm
Hmmm what?
Just thinking.
About?
Why would you stay?
Better question. Why wouldn’t I? I like it here.
Guess time will tell
You busy next week?
Do you ever give up?
Not when I want something
And what is it you want?
You.
Goodnight Frank
Sleep sweet Edie
I’ve made it a point not to ask Big E about her and why she’s hellbent on not dating. That’s something I want to hear from her. There’s a story there, and it’s hers to tell.
Rolling to my side, I set my phone on the nightstand and stretched out to sleep. Tomorrow I’m officially employed and need to be ready to take on the munchkins.
My job went from subbing to a short-term gig. And that suited me fine.
All the kids I met in the park were all in my gym classes. They all had strong personalities and most of them worked together.
There’s always one or two that upset the balance or end up as outcasts.
Except, there was one kid who tried to include everyone. And he was walking over to me with a strange look on his face.
“Hey, Doc.”
“Hey, Matthew.” I glanced at him and then blew my whistle for them to line up.
“We were talking, and we’d like to keep you as our teacher.”
“Huh?” I looked down at his bright face.
“Yeah, we took a poll and voted, and we want to keep you.” He shrugged. “We don’t like Mr. Jones.”
“Well, I appreciate that. But I don’t have control on it.” I walked towards the lines, and he fell into step beside me.
“Doesn’t matter, Doc. We know we want you.”
“Just like that?” I snapped my fingers.
One of the other kids shouted out to me. “We wrote letters to the big school people.”
I stopped and looked down at Matt, and then looked at all the kids in line. “You what?”
“Yeah, Doc!” Grady yelled out with the rest of the class applauding. “We want to keep you!”
Pride swelled in my chest. I’d love to be their teacher.
Guess we’ll wait and see what happens with Jones and his medical leave.
“Calm down!” I waved my hands. “We’re gonna play kickball.”
The kids went crazier, and I smiled at them. I wished school would’ve been this fun when I went, but you know what they say. Be the adult you needed when you were younger.
Here I am.
I finished attendance and then picked team captains so we could get some aggression and energy out before lunch.
The kids played hard and when the class ended, I walked them back to their homeroom. Principal Woods fell in step with me.
“Let’s go to my office.”
“You got it.” I high-fived the kids running to get in the lunch line on our way there.
Once we got there, he closed the door and took a seat at his desk. “Have a seat.”
“Am I getting fired?” I joked as I took a seat on the hard chair.
“Quite the contrary.” He laughed. “Jones isn’t coming back, and the position needs to be filled. You have the degree. The experience.” He pulled out a fat stack of paper. “And the recommendations.”
“What’s that?”
“The kids wrote to the board wanting you to stay in Port Stella.” He set them down. “The board is also impressed. So wha’d’ya say, Frank?”
I nodded my head. “I say I need to find a house.”
“Welcome to the Port Stella Pirates.” He held his hand out to shake.
After we finished talking, I smiled realizing my decision to stay in Port Stella solidified. I liked the area, my job, the people, and I really liked Edith Malone.
I’d asked her out a dozen times over the last month, and she turned me down every damn time. That woman had resolve.
But so did I.
I’d eaten at the diner twice a day and made a friend in Enoch. He knew I planned to stay, and he introduced me to the local realtor, Layla Kennedy.
My plans after school were to meet with her to see what’s for sale in Port Stella.
I looked at the picture of my parents on my desk and smiled. “You both would love it here. And you’d be rooting for me to get the girl.”
When I looked online, there were two houses I really liked.
One was across town, the other was close to the school. Not that getting around was hard, but the one close to the school would allow me to walk to school.
Jerry poked his head into my office. “Would you mind helping police the playground?”
“Not at all.” I stood up and walked with him through the school to the play area.
I stood near the basketball court and watched as the kids were playing a game of horse.
“You know, them monkey bars have been a whole lot busier since you became the gym teacher.” Rhonda nodded at me.
“Why’s that?”
“You encouraged the kids to do what they can.” She smiled. “You are all my little Abigail talks about. Doc is the bestest teacher ever.”
Shaking my head, I blew my whistle at two boys trying to pull Matt down in the middle of crossing the monkey bars. “On the fence for five.”
They stomped over. “That’s not fair.”
“Neither is trying to derail someone’s work.” I pointed to the fence. “That wasn’t sportsmanlike conduct.”
Their faces drooped, and they muttered, “Yes, Doc.” as they made their way to stand against the fence.
“See. You’re good.” She nodded and walked over to the swings.
“Hey, Doc!”
“Hey, Matt.” I nodded at the young boy.
“Do you have a dad?”
“Odd question.” I shook my head. “What’s up?”
“Well, I need to know if you have a dad first.”
“Why?”
“Because then I’ll know if you can help me.”
“Yes. I had a dad.” I smiled down at him.
“Had?” His eyes narrowed. “Did he leave you?”
“No. He was in a car accident.”
“Ah.” He stroked an imaginary beard. “I think you might be able to help me.” He motioned between us. “Man to man?”
“Sure, kiddo, what’s up?” I looked up to check on the kids playing before looking back at him.
“Well, here’s the thing.” He twisted his lips. “I really want a dad like Frankie, Dillon, Charlie, Tyler, and Peter have.”
“What’s wrong with your dad?”
He shrugged. “I don’t have one.”
“Have you asked your mom about it?”
“No.” He tilted his head. “That’s a good idea!”
“Start there, little man.”
“Thanks, Doc!”
I watched him run off to rejoin his friends. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but I have a feeling it’s not good.