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mother or this weird guy to hear over all her “Matthews.” Kurt gestured with his head in the direction of the door, and then wondered, Why do people do that? Because he was just going to get up and walk out the door anyway. And then his cronies would know what he wanted them to do, although that was perhaps overestimating their powers of cognition. Kevin and Tyler stared at him blankly for one beat, then another. They were fraternal twins, and also wrestlers, and wore that perpetually dopey look of people who are always trying either to starve or to stuff themselves. Also, they were often high. Anyway, they looked at Kurt, then at each other, then shrugged before returning their attention to their soup, which they were now drinking directly from the bowl. Jesus, maybe his mother was right to call them cronies.
    In any case, he got up and walked out of the bar, daring his mother to notice. She didn’t.
Matthew,
she’d been saying to the guy.
No one calls him Matthew
. Once outside, Kurt leaned against the building, waiting for Kevin and Tyler so they could go do whatever. A few minutes later, the stranger walked out of the bar. He looked one way, and then the other, before crossing the street and entering Doc’s. In his fifteen years on earth, Kurt didn’t think he’d seen anyone over the age of four actually look both ways before crossing the street. In fact, by the time he’d finished this thought, Kurt himself had already crossed the street, not having looked.
    The stranger was standing just inside in the diner’s doorway. Kurt watched the stranger from outside, watching him wait for Crystal, the waitress, to notice him standing there. There were no customers; it was the kind of place that almost never had any customers, and still, somehow, it stayed open. Crystal was standing behind the counter, reading the
Broomeville Bulletin,
but otherwise not doing anything, including noticing the stranger standing there. But still, the stranger didn’t do anything. He just stood there. Like an idiot. Finally, Kurt couldn’t stand it anymore. He crouched down so that no one in Doc’s could see him through the window and bellowed, loud enough for the people inside to hear him, “Hey!” Kurt then waited a second before standing up. When he did, he saw that Crystal had come out from behind the counter and was standing next to the cooler labeled LES DESSERTS . She blew a stray piece of brown hair off her brown eyes, but then it just fell back to where it’d been. She didn’t look happy. But then again, she never looked especially happy. Was it possible that no one Kurt had ever known had ever looked especially happy?
Matthew, Matthew,
he heard his mother say. As for the stranger, his back was to Kurt. His back gave away nothing: it looked neutral.
    â€œCounter?” Crystal said to the stranger.
    â€œYes?” he said. It really did sound more like a question than an answer, as though he really weren’t sure after all that he wanted to sit at the counter. In any case, the guy didn’t move. He just stood there. Crystal had turned and walked back behind the counter. Still, the stranger just stood there! Kurt started to itch all over. Is there anything more embarrassing than someone who doesn’t seem to know that he should be embarrassed? Please move! Kurt thought, and just then Crystal, seeing the stranger still standing there, took a menu off the stack, bowed, presented the menu with a little flourish before letting it drop
smack
on the counter, as though to say, Here’s your frigging invitation. Only then did the stranger walk to the counter and sit on one of the stools. Kurt could see his face now. He didn’t look embarrassed at all, although he did offer Crystal a baffled little smile.
    â€œCoffee?” she said.
    â€œYes, please,” the stranger said, although Crystal was already pouring it into a white mug.
    â€œBlack?” she said.