AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Todd shrugged and made the changes on the register. He gathered the scoop of fries for her.
After paying, which included counting out four quarters, she was on her way.
My heart went out to her. I’d once been that girl, the one with barely two nickels to rub together, who had the discount menu memorized.
I chose a bacon cheeseburger for myself, and then had a thought. “Todd, make that two bacon cheeseburgers, one with no onions, a Coke, and an order of onion rings.”
“Anything else?” he asked.
“She’s a little young for you. You might want to check out somebody older.”
His face lit up as he scanned me for a second.
“Not me. I have a boyfriend,” I clarified. “And I hear she has a real mean father.”
His gaze drifted to Tallulah at the condiments station.
I grabbed his attention again. “Ya know that guy Lee who disappeared?”
“Yeah?”
“They say he asked her—” I nodded toward Tallulah. “—Out the day before he…you know…” I spread my hands suddenly like an explosion. “Poof.” I handed over my money. “I wonder if they’ll ever find the body.”
He gulped, and the visible shiver that ran through him said I’d made my point.
When my food was ready, I added ketchup to my plate and carried the tray around the corner to find Tallulah had chosen a table close to the water.
“May I join you?” I asked as I approached.
“Sure,” she answered with a nod. “It’s a free country,” she added, looking pointedly at two empty tables nearby. Her chip-on-the-shoulder attitude hadn’t softened.
“Angela,” I offered as I sat across from her.
“Tally,” she countered as she dipped a fry in ketchup. Recognition bloomed in her eyes. “You’re the lady who changed our water heater.”
“One and the same. I helped.”
She cocked her head slightly. “Why?”
I pulled an onion ring out of the basket and held it up. It was twice the size of what I was used to in Boston. “Because neighbors here help neighbors, right?”
The answer didn’t seem to satisfy her. “But that’s like…plumbing.” She said the last word with disgust.
“So? You think because I don’t have a penis I can’t do it?”
She nearly choked on one of her fries. Maybe the wordpeniswas too grown-up for her. She took a long pull on her straw to compose herself.
“I may be a woman, but I can do anything a man can do, except a very few things that require more brute strength than I’ve got,” I told her. “Like hauling lumber on my shoulder all day.” I dipped the ring in my ketchup. “You can do anything too, Tally.”
After stuffing the very large onion ring in my mouth, I took the second burger from my plate and slid it across to her. “Sounded like you forgot to bring all your money with you,” I told her while chewing.
“I’m not gay,” she said as she pushed it back.
A piece of onion ring I hadn’t swallowed yet landed on my plate as I laughed. That wasn’t the response I’d expected. “Neither am I. I’m just doing a neighbor a solid.”
She eyed me skeptically.
I unwrapped my burger. “I remember times I’d have appreciated a little help.”
