Intrigue
I found a few rarer specimens today and sold them to the science center for over $500! I used the money--or some of it--to buy a bike and a security rack to lock it to. It sucks walking everywhere, but I can't afford a car or scooter yet, so a bike will give me a little more range.
I used some of the remaining bounty to treat myself to dinner at a diner on the outskirts of the neighborhood. And I met "Alice". Or, that was what I called her in my head until she got close enough to read her nametag.
Her name is actually Jillian.
"Hey, there. Can I get you something to drink?"
"Sure. A Coke," I mumbled from behind my menu, wondering if she'd caught me staring.
It's the kind of place where the waitress plops down next to you to chat if it's not busy.
"Hi. Haven't seen you here before. I'm Jillian," she said, pointing to her tag.
I nodded. "Hi. I'm K--" I stopped myself just in time. "Matthew. Benning."
"Hi, Matthew," she grinned. "If you're having trouble with what to choose, I can make it easy for you depending on what's more important. Price or taste."
I made a face. "So, the cheap stuff tastes bad?"
She laughed. A magical sound I wanted to hear more of. "No. Our cook is a genius at any level, but if you want the best taste AND the best price, you can't go wrong with our Friday Fish Fry special."
I stared at my menu a few more minutes just to torture her. Then I closed it and plopped it on the table and said, "Cool. Hook me up with the fish, then."
"Excellent choice."
The shitty thing about making up my mind was she jotted it down...and left me to check on the guy at the table next to mine, who looked a little impatient with the wait...holding his head in his hands as if bored.
She has the prettiest smile. And she looked really young. Like she should be in high school young. But I've never seen her at Fallinger. Then again, it's a pretty big school.
I watched her work. It was sort of late. Late enough that she locked the door to new diners while me and this other guy were allowed to stay to finish. She's friendly and bubbly with everyone. The pastry counter guy, the cook, and all the other patrons I saw come and go as I took my time ordering and savoring my first hot meal in weeks. I've been getting by on my produce haul from the community garden and the cheapest school lunch I can buy: Good old PB&J and a carton of milk. I'm hungry literally ALL the time.
I listened to her talking to the guy at the next table over from mine.
"Hey, Davis. How's things on the road?"
He sighed. "Long. I swear, I need to get myself a local route to drive. This long-haul stuff is getting old fast. My kids are growing so fast. I'm going to miss everything."
"Oh, I know. My daughter, Katie, I swear she learns something new every time I drop her off at daycare. They get to see all her firsts while I'm here at the diner or at school."
He gave her a rueful smile. "Well, maybe next time I get a long break we can get together at the park with our kids for a play date."
"That would be fun! Other than the kids at daycare, I don't have time to take Katie out very much. I swear at the rate we're going she's going to be out of diapers and off to Kindergarten before I can blink!" She flashed a smile at the guy and left him to eat his dinner.
Whoa. She's got a kid??
"Can I get a cheese Danish for dessert?" Davis asked her.
"Absolutely!"
I ordered a slice of pie just to see if she'd give me some time and attention.
She stopped at Davis' table again. Clearly, he was a regular. I was jealous of their easy rapport...and a little annoyed at how he acted flirty with her. Clearly, he had a family and was at least a few years older. But he looked kinda...thirty-ish.
"Hey, Jilly," he called, half rising from his seat. "Can you warm the Danish for me?"
"Oh! Sure!"
"I'm gonna hit the head. Can you pack it to go and also get my check ready?"
"Sure! Sorry about that. I should have asked if you wanted it warmed up. Silly me."
He popped a lecherous grin. "Silly Jilly," he joked.
I had to look down at my plate to keep myself from wanting to holler at him to stop being so creepy. It was probably all my imagination, anyhow.
Cool thing was the Davis guy left shortly after finishing in the restroom. She had his Danish bagged and his check ready. He slapped a couple bills on the table, hollered a goodbye, and she met him at the door to let him out and lock back up.
"Take your time," She smiled at me. "I just have to clean up and reset the tables."
I watched her fill salt & pepper shakers, wipe tables, and even watched the cook shut down and scrape the grill. The Danish guy closed up his station, and as I forked the last of my pie, Jillian brought my check.
I saw her grin at the money Davis had left. She took the money to the register. Once she punched in his total and slid the bill into the drawer and made the change, she went under the counter for a jar and added all the cash to it, then pulled out another tablet.
"I'm gonna figure out the tips!" she called to the cook and pastry guy.
Pastry guy sat at a barstool at the counter, watching her tally. When everything was said and done, she gave him two bills and some change and started tucking money into envelopes that she sealed, scrawling names across the front. He started to rise from the barstool.
"Not so fast!" she laughed. "Sign for your tips, Dante."
He rolled his eyes at her but signed her tablet.
She grabbed my dishes and rinsed them quickly, then the cook and Dante the Danish guy filtered into the back room. "I'm going out the front so I can let Matt out!" She called as they went. When I was beside her at the front door, she said, "Hit the lights!"
It went dark except a single emergency light over the door.
"Have a nice night, Matthew!"
I nodded. "You, too, Jillian!"
I wished I could afford to eat at the diner every night just so I could see her again.
****
I went back the next several Friday nights, though I really couldn't afford it. She was just as sweet and smiley as she'd been the first time. I learned to arrive about ten minutes before she was due to lock the door, peeking in the window to make sure she was working.
The first time I did it, I said, "Look, I'm sorry to come in so late. I hope the cook isn't mad." I made an apologetic face.
"He'll be fine. Especially if I can talk you into having whatever is left. I can give you half off," she smiled.
"Sure. I mean, whatever."
She winked and trotted off.
She returned and sat across from me. "Alex is really grateful to use up the last of the fish. He said I can give you a shake on the house. What flavor would you like?"
"Chocolate," I said quickly.
She winked and bustled off to get it.
Not long after she brought the shake, she brought me a fish plate with extra fries.
She cleaned up a bit, then came and sat across from me.
"I saw you in the hall today at school."
My head whipped up and my jaw dropped open. "You go to Fallinger? I've never seen you."
She nodded. "It's my senior year, and I have a lot of credits, so I only go to school until noon."
"Wow. Sweet deal," I said.
She nodded. "It lets me work a longer shift here, if I want."
I nodded.
"Can I ask you something personal?"
I looked at her. Nothing but sweetness in her face, as usual. Still, I was wary. "Sure. I might answer."
She giggled, then leaned forward and whispered, "Are you homeless?"
I sat back in my chair and she frowned.
"Sorry," she said softly. "It's just...I've seen you walking through the bushes at the old park."
"It was a park?"
She nodded. "That's why it has that pavilion thing. It used to have several tables under it you could eat at."
"What happened? Why isn't it a park anymore?"
"Once they built the playground at the school, people stopped going there. And then...well."
"Well?"
"A woman was sort of found there. Um. You know. Assaulted. Murdered."
My eyes went wide. "I didn't know that."
She nodded. "They roped it off with all that yellow caution tape and did all that CSI stuff like you see on TV and once they took the ropes down, it was all weedy and out of control and the city announced it was closed to visitors. I think they're going to let it rest for a while and then someday they'll redevelop it."
I sat eating in silence thinking about my lot---I now thought of it as MY lot---being the scene for something so grisly. Yikes. But I hadn't seen or heard anything weird, and no one ever came to the lot. Guess it also explained why no one from school partied there.
Maybe she mistook my silence for anger or something, because she brought me a pastry bag, all closed and folded down.
"On the house," she said, sitting back down. "Did I upset you, asking?"
I shook my head. I told her my story...how I wasn't Matthew. How I was hiding from being put in a foster home.
"How old are you?"
"I'll be sixteen next month. You?"
"Eighteen next May. I can't wait. As soon as I graduate, I can work full time, doubles, whatever." Her eyes lowered. "Can I tell you a secret?"
I met her eyes in silent agreement.
"Katie and I are homeless, too." She put her finger over her lips. "I wanted to go to a good high school. I want to go to college eventually, but first I need to get us a place to live."
She laid out this crazy...but smart...plan. The diner owner, Jack, whom I've never met, had a parcel of land just sitting that he hoped to retire on one day...but not any time soon. He was sitting on the parcel, biding his time, saving his money, and in ten or twenty more years, he was going to either put a trailer on it or sell it, depending on what the market was doing when he was ready. He'd sell the diner and hopefully fund a peaceful, low-key, low-frills retirement. He wanted to have enough money that if he otherwise lived simply, he could travel around a lot but still have his "home base."
"Sounds smart."
She nodded. "And you know what? I asked if I could rent it for a while until he retires...get the sewer and electric and all that hooked up and put a portable tiny house on it. Know what that is?"
"Sure," I nodded. "You take a long car hauler trailer and build a little house on it."
"Right," She nodded.
"Where are you living right now?" I whispered after making sure Alex and Dante weren't within earshot.
"My car. It's a POS. It doesn't even run half the time. Jack said I can park it on his land behind some bushes to keep it from getting stickered and towed. He doesn't know I live in it, though, so please don't tell anyone that I do."
I frowned. "You live in it with your little girl?"
She looked embarrassed. I held my hands up. "Whoa. No. No judgement. It's just...it doesn't seem safe for a young mom and her little kid."
She shrugged. "I'm careful. And what about you? It's getting cold."
"I have a tent. And I'm going to buy a firepit soon. You know, one of those bowl things you can safely put a fire in. I cleared away a bunch of the bushes from all around the pavilion thing. I sleep under it and I'll put the fire bowl there. I can roast stuff for dinner."
"Where do you wash up? Where do you go to the bathroom?"
"Pool, mostly. Sometimes the gym. Pool's cheaper, though."
She nodded. "I'm surprised we've never seen you there. We do the same thing."
I shrugged. "I go very early in the morning before school or just before the pool closes. Or super late at night for the gym."
I wanted to offer to have her squat with me, but I doubted she'd take me up on it, so I stayed quiet. She asked if I had a job. I told her I didn't.
"Allison said I can't use his information to get credit or a job, so I have to wait until I'm eighteen to get a job in my own name. For now, I collect stuff and sell it to the science center or scrap yard."
Her brow furrowed. "Do you steal?"
"No, never. The science center pays for specimens of certain insects for their teaching programs, and they buy some types of rocks that are harder to find. I'm saving up for a guitar," I admitted. "I love music...and I used to play in this acoustic group in my old school. Before."
She reached across the table and squeezed my hand. Rockets exploded through me. Not even kidding. She showed me some pictures of Katie on her phone. Looking at how nicely dressed her little girl was, you'd never know they were homeless.
"Maybe we could meet up at the garden sometime. Or a park or something for Katie. If you ever have any free time on a weekend."
She nodded.
We exchanged phone numbers, laughing when we saw we carried the same type of burner phone.
I left floating on a cloud.
"Be careful, Matt," she said, her eyes solemn as she let me out of the diner.
"You, too," I said.
Turns out she was truly the one who needed to be careful.
I was at the diner the next Friday night. A guy I'd never seen in there before was ordering her around and being rude. When I expressed my distaste, she said she could handle it and gave me a wink, but I could tell Jillian was tense.
When he put his hand on her shoulder and she shrugged away and stepped back, I stood up from my seat. When he touched her again, I rushed in.
"Hey, dude, leave her alone," I said, even as she was telling him to knock it off.
He gave me a dirty look. "I'm just talking to her."
"No, you're putting your hands on her and she's asked you to stop."
I ignored Jillian's protest.
"No means no," I told the guy. "Don't touch her."
"Kid, why don't you leave me alone before I wipe the floor with you?"
I saw Jillian hurry away out of the corner of my eye.
"You want a fight? Bring it," I threatened, though my heart pounded. I can't get in trouble with the police. They'll learn my identity and I'll be thrown into foster care.
"Stay away from her. She said 'no', so that means walk away. Don't put your slimy hands on her shoulder or anywhere else."
Her boss Alex came to the floor from the kitchen, holding a cleaver. That did it. The guy flipped us both off, tossed a bill on the table, and stormed out.
Jillian thought it was over, but I felt uneasy. When she let me out the front and followed me out, I got on my bike. Then I realized she was walking.
"Hey," I said, stopping beside her as she stopped next to the bus stop sign. "Where's your car?"
She shrugged. "Broken down. It's just a house for us now. I can't afford to fix it."
Then headlights blinded us as someone pulled into the bus stop indentation. "Hey," said the sleazy guy from earlier. "Need a ride, honey?"
"She's good," I said.
He smirked. "You gonna ride on his handlebars?"
She gave him a dirty look. "Yes," she agreed. "I am."
"Move along," I said.
He shook his head and squealed away.
"C'mon," I said. "Hop on. I'll be careful."
She shook her head. "I only said that for him."
"Well," I said, watching as he pulled into the bus curb from the other direction this time. Now he reached through the window for her.
"C'mon, honey. I don't bite. You don't need to take the bus...or that rusty old bike."
I narrowed my eyes at him.
"I'm fine, thanks," Jillian said over her shoulder as she hitched up her skirt and climbed onto my handlebars.
I wobbled a bit at first but straightened out quickly. He roared off into the night.
I biked her all the way to her car, which was parked out on a dock lot where the houseboats are.
"Get your daughter and enough stuff to last you both a few days," I ordered. "I'll be back in a minute or two. Stay here until I get back."
I raced my bike to the super pawn and got another tent. I sprang, with my last few bucks, for a cab to the library, then we walked my bike back to my lot. We set up her tent next to the well...which had drinkable water. I tested it in the chem lab. It's okay, but I plan to get a fire bowl as quick as possible.
It was very late, so we went to sleep, but I planned to talk with her the next day about anything urgent we needed to purchase.
***
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