until something comes up.”
They fell into silence. It was so loud in the place that it was hard to hear anyway. Kyle would have pressed Lewis for more information, but today, his mind was elsewhere. He stared out the window, watching as bits of loose garbage picked up by the growing wind went tumbling and bouncing across the street and into the gutter.
“You doing anything this weekend?” Lewis asked.
“Not really.” Kyle knew Lewis was just trying to jump-start the conversation, but he wasn’t in the mood for small talk. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to get their food. The place was so small that it had to “turn ’em and burn ’em” in order to make any money.
“Ah, here we go,” Lewis said and smiled as Kathy returned. She set the red-and-white paper-lined, plastic baskets down in front of them along with a bottle of the espresso sauce. Lewis smothered his sandwich with the stuff. It was thick and black and looked like used coffee grounds in molasses to Kyle. Lewis then picked up the squeeze bottle of ketchup from the table and covered his fries. Kyle just shook his head.
“Man, what’s wrong with you today?” Lewis asked. “You’re acting like a puppy that got whipped for pissing on the rug.”
“Sorry, I just … never mind.”
“Come on, man. Spill it.”
Kyle sighed. He knew Lewis wouldn’t let it go until he told him. “It’s Angela.”
“Your girlfriend, right?”
“Ex-girlfriend.”
“Oh—” Lewis grimaced.
“Yeah,” Kyle said and nodded. “She finally called me back last night. Told me she had been seeing someone else for about a month now. Some doctor she works with at the hospital.”
“Damn. That sucks.”
“Yeah,” Kyle said. “You know what really pisses me off is I should have seen it coming. I thought everything was fine, but I should’ve known when she stopped calling as often as she used to.” It was something he had been afraid of for weeks, but even suspecting that it was coming had not prepared him for the devastation he had felt when Angela had told him it was over. He hadn’t slept at all last night. He had just laid there, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out what he had done wrong.
He had felt like a kid again, bounding downstairs with one of his finger paintings to show Janet while she gossiped endlessly over the phone about an affair one of the ladies at the club was having with the tennis pro. A cigarette in one hand and a vodka soda in the other, she had casually dismissed him with a wave and a: “That’s nice, honey. Why don’t you stick it on the fridge?”
“I know it may not seem like it now,” Lewis said. “But things’ll work out for the best in the end. You wait and see.”
At least Lewis seemed to care enough to try to cheer him up. Kyle had never felt close enough to either of his parents to have a real conversation about things that were going on in his life. His father had always been gone somewhere, building his dams and superhighways, while his mother had always been more concerned with the country club’s social scene and what time happy hour started.
“You know,” Lewis said around a mouthful of food. “I got dumped once by this girl I just knew I was going to marry, and I was determined to win her back, so you know what I did?”
“What?”
“I took flowers to her place every day for a week. I didn’t have them delivered by the florist. I took them myself. Every day for a week straight. And every day, she refused to come to the door. She kept sending her roommate to tell me she didn’t want to see me anymore. But I was young and dumb and full of cum, so I just kept on going back for more, and you know what happened?”
Kyle wasn’t really in the mood, but Lewis was just trying to help, so he humored him. “She agreed to go out with you again?”
“Hell no, she still didn’t want to have anything to do with my ass, but her roommate did. On the seventh day, she handed me a note that said,
They fell into silence. It was so loud in the place that it was hard to hear anyway. Kyle would have pressed Lewis for more information, but today, his mind was elsewhere. He stared out the window, watching as bits of loose garbage picked up by the growing wind went tumbling and bouncing across the street and into the gutter.
“You doing anything this weekend?” Lewis asked.
“Not really.” Kyle knew Lewis was just trying to jump-start the conversation, but he wasn’t in the mood for small talk. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to get their food. The place was so small that it had to “turn ’em and burn ’em” in order to make any money.
“Ah, here we go,” Lewis said and smiled as Kathy returned. She set the red-and-white paper-lined, plastic baskets down in front of them along with a bottle of the espresso sauce. Lewis smothered his sandwich with the stuff. It was thick and black and looked like used coffee grounds in molasses to Kyle. Lewis then picked up the squeeze bottle of ketchup from the table and covered his fries. Kyle just shook his head.
“Man, what’s wrong with you today?” Lewis asked. “You’re acting like a puppy that got whipped for pissing on the rug.”
“Sorry, I just … never mind.”
“Come on, man. Spill it.”
Kyle sighed. He knew Lewis wouldn’t let it go until he told him. “It’s Angela.”
“Your girlfriend, right?”
“Ex-girlfriend.”
“Oh—” Lewis grimaced.
“Yeah,” Kyle said and nodded. “She finally called me back last night. Told me she had been seeing someone else for about a month now. Some doctor she works with at the hospital.”
“Damn. That sucks.”
“Yeah,” Kyle said. “You know what really pisses me off is I should have seen it coming. I thought everything was fine, but I should’ve known when she stopped calling as often as she used to.” It was something he had been afraid of for weeks, but even suspecting that it was coming had not prepared him for the devastation he had felt when Angela had told him it was over. He hadn’t slept at all last night. He had just laid there, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out what he had done wrong.
He had felt like a kid again, bounding downstairs with one of his finger paintings to show Janet while she gossiped endlessly over the phone about an affair one of the ladies at the club was having with the tennis pro. A cigarette in one hand and a vodka soda in the other, she had casually dismissed him with a wave and a: “That’s nice, honey. Why don’t you stick it on the fridge?”
“I know it may not seem like it now,” Lewis said. “But things’ll work out for the best in the end. You wait and see.”
At least Lewis seemed to care enough to try to cheer him up. Kyle had never felt close enough to either of his parents to have a real conversation about things that were going on in his life. His father had always been gone somewhere, building his dams and superhighways, while his mother had always been more concerned with the country club’s social scene and what time happy hour started.
“You know,” Lewis said around a mouthful of food. “I got dumped once by this girl I just knew I was going to marry, and I was determined to win her back, so you know what I did?”
“What?”
“I took flowers to her place every day for a week. I didn’t have them delivered by the florist. I took them myself. Every day for a week straight. And every day, she refused to come to the door. She kept sending her roommate to tell me she didn’t want to see me anymore. But I was young and dumb and full of cum, so I just kept on going back for more, and you know what happened?”
Kyle wasn’t really in the mood, but Lewis was just trying to help, so he humored him. “She agreed to go out with you again?”
“Hell no, she still didn’t want to have anything to do with my ass, but her roommate did. On the seventh day, she handed me a note that said,
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