class.
It is lunchtime when Suzy enters. “Catch of the Day = $4.99” seems underpriced, and Suzy points to it immediately upon settling on a stool. The bartender is a grinning man in his mid-forties. She has seen him before, the same time last year, when she peeked in for a cup of coffee. Suzy remembers thinking how perfect that he should be called Bob, such a compact guy with a barrel chest and permanently tanned forearms.
“You want that poached, right?” he asks with a good-natured hearty smile.
“Pardon?”
“Lady, I told you we don’t poach our fish, just fried, plain and good!” He is still smiling, so he is not annoyed, perhaps teasing a bit.
“Fried, yes, that’s fine.”
He must be confusing her with someone else. He thinks she’s been here before, which she has, but a year ago, just for coffee, could he remember that?
“And coffee, right?” He is already pouring a cup. He then brings her packets of cream and sugar and says, “Oh, I forgot, you want Sweet’n Low, sorry, we’re out.”
Suzy stares at him awhile before reaching for the mug. She takes a sip and winces at its burnt aftertaste. The coffee’s been brewed for much too long. Black, which is the only way she takes her coffee.
“No seltzer with a straw today?” Bob taunts with a wink.
Grace it must be. Grace must have been here recently. Grace, who never touches fried food and never takes sugar, who never drinks anything without a straw—he must be confusing her with Grace. When was she here? Does she come here often?
The sisters look fairly alike. When they were young, they often
passed for twins. “Stupid fucks,” Grace fumed, “they think all Asian girls look alike!” But Suzy was secretly happy, for she knew her sister was a beauty. They had similar features, but Grace had longer eyelashes, a finer complexion, sleeker cheekbones, poutier lips, and blacker, straighter hair. At first sight, there was no doubt that they were sisters, perhaps even twins to those who did not have an eye for beauty. But upon a closer inspection, it was clear that Grace had far superior features, the sort of face a man might die for, as Suzy thought and often witnessed through high school, when the boys would steal glances at her older sister, who remained aloof and haughty, as though her beauty were reserved for far better things than a mere boy with his dad’s Toyota. The odd thing was that Grace had a reputation for being easy, but only with the older boys, the sort of boys who had cut out of school long ago, who hung in front of the local pool hall on their motorbikes, which probably did not even belong to them to begin with, who waited for Grace outside the school gate with helmets on, not for the sake of safety but to remain faceless, Suzy thought. Grace managed to hide it all from their parents. This must have been because the family moved so often. Before Grace could settle in with any of her troubled boys, they moved again, and Grace would find yet another pool hall, to which she would disappear on evenings when her parents worked overtime. Even more impressive was that Grace kept up her grades. Grace would sit by herself in the corner of the cafeteria and study furiously, while Suzy was cozily tucked in with her set of meek friends. Grace would never sit with Suzy. She said that it was embarrassing. She said that Suzy with her geeky friends embarrassed her. Everyone called Grace a stuck-up bitch, especially the girls who could not stand how their boyfriends kept looking at the new girl in the corner. All Suzy felt was distance. They must have been close once, but that seemed impossibly far away.
“So how about it, one order of fried cod!” Bob is all smiley, as though he is proud of having initiated this young woman into the art of fried cuisine. Suzy peers at the oversized piece of fish drenched in grease. She takes a bite while eager Bob dotes on her for approval. She gives him the sort of satisfied smile that makes him happy,
It is lunchtime when Suzy enters. “Catch of the Day = $4.99” seems underpriced, and Suzy points to it immediately upon settling on a stool. The bartender is a grinning man in his mid-forties. She has seen him before, the same time last year, when she peeked in for a cup of coffee. Suzy remembers thinking how perfect that he should be called Bob, such a compact guy with a barrel chest and permanently tanned forearms.
“You want that poached, right?” he asks with a good-natured hearty smile.
“Pardon?”
“Lady, I told you we don’t poach our fish, just fried, plain and good!” He is still smiling, so he is not annoyed, perhaps teasing a bit.
“Fried, yes, that’s fine.”
He must be confusing her with someone else. He thinks she’s been here before, which she has, but a year ago, just for coffee, could he remember that?
“And coffee, right?” He is already pouring a cup. He then brings her packets of cream and sugar and says, “Oh, I forgot, you want Sweet’n Low, sorry, we’re out.”
Suzy stares at him awhile before reaching for the mug. She takes a sip and winces at its burnt aftertaste. The coffee’s been brewed for much too long. Black, which is the only way she takes her coffee.
“No seltzer with a straw today?” Bob taunts with a wink.
Grace it must be. Grace must have been here recently. Grace, who never touches fried food and never takes sugar, who never drinks anything without a straw—he must be confusing her with Grace. When was she here? Does she come here often?
The sisters look fairly alike. When they were young, they often
passed for twins. “Stupid fucks,” Grace fumed, “they think all Asian girls look alike!” But Suzy was secretly happy, for she knew her sister was a beauty. They had similar features, but Grace had longer eyelashes, a finer complexion, sleeker cheekbones, poutier lips, and blacker, straighter hair. At first sight, there was no doubt that they were sisters, perhaps even twins to those who did not have an eye for beauty. But upon a closer inspection, it was clear that Grace had far superior features, the sort of face a man might die for, as Suzy thought and often witnessed through high school, when the boys would steal glances at her older sister, who remained aloof and haughty, as though her beauty were reserved for far better things than a mere boy with his dad’s Toyota. The odd thing was that Grace had a reputation for being easy, but only with the older boys, the sort of boys who had cut out of school long ago, who hung in front of the local pool hall on their motorbikes, which probably did not even belong to them to begin with, who waited for Grace outside the school gate with helmets on, not for the sake of safety but to remain faceless, Suzy thought. Grace managed to hide it all from their parents. This must have been because the family moved so often. Before Grace could settle in with any of her troubled boys, they moved again, and Grace would find yet another pool hall, to which she would disappear on evenings when her parents worked overtime. Even more impressive was that Grace kept up her grades. Grace would sit by herself in the corner of the cafeteria and study furiously, while Suzy was cozily tucked in with her set of meek friends. Grace would never sit with Suzy. She said that it was embarrassing. She said that Suzy with her geeky friends embarrassed her. Everyone called Grace a stuck-up bitch, especially the girls who could not stand how their boyfriends kept looking at the new girl in the corner. All Suzy felt was distance. They must have been close once, but that seemed impossibly far away.
“So how about it, one order of fried cod!” Bob is all smiley, as though he is proud of having initiated this young woman into the art of fried cuisine. Suzy peers at the oversized piece of fish drenched in grease. She takes a bite while eager Bob dotes on her for approval. She gives him the sort of satisfied smile that makes him happy,
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