The Wayward Child (Part II)

“Good morning, Alyssa,” said Todd, glancing at the name badge pinned to the waitress’s light blue uniform as she set a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast onto the table. Alyssa. He liked the sound of her name. “If it's not too much trouble, I really have to ask you an extremely serious question."

  Immediately, Alyssa retracted, stiffly crossing her arms in front of her. She eyed him warily, puzzled, but didn’t say anything. She was listening, though, and that was cue enough for Todd. “It's just... Well, see... Could I please have a stack of blueberry pancakes on the side? If it's not too late to add it to my bill.”

  Alyssa’s brown eyes widened slightly, and then a small, relieved smirk lifted the corners of her mouth. It was the first time he’d seen her without a severe frown plastered on her features. The semi-smile made her look even more attractive than usual, but Todd wisely kept this opinion to himself.

  “Sure, no problem. I can bring them out in a jiffy," Alyssa said, scratching down a note on her pad. Then she paused for a split-second before going on. "It will cost extra, though, and I’m not sure if you have enough to cover it.” She glanced at him with a smirk.

  Todd was surprised at the playful sarcasm which saturated the last sentence, but he kept his face straight. “Well, it might be a little tight, but I think the fifty in my wallet should be enough to cover it.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” said Alyssa matter-of-factly. “We’re a pretty upscale restaurant around here. Y'know, our pancakes are some of the best for miles around, and taste like that doesn’t exactly come cheap.” She gave a sort of half-laugh and started fiddling with the pen in her hand.

  Todd, who was feeling extremely pleased with himself at the progress he was making, laughed as well, and was about to say something else when a shout interrupted their banter. “Hey, Princess, I’d appreciate it if you’d stop flirting with the man and get around to some of your other customers!” Todd watched with growing misery as Alyssa’s face turned back to stone. Her features grew impassive and unreadable again, although she couldn’t hide the wells of pain that suddenly flooded her eyes. She rushed over to the rude man and took down his snappy order, then hurried back behind the counter. Todd turned around to glare at the man who had spoken. The culprit was a grizzly-looking man sitting a few booths over, wearing a plaid shirt and a red skull cap. Todd guessed that he worked as a logger in the town a few miles up the road. They made up a large part of the diner's circle of customers. The mountain man caught Todd's stare and gave a squinty glare of his own, but neither said a word. Todd turned back to his large breakfast and began picking at the bacon. He’d never really liked the stuff all that much.

***

  Alyssa barely looked at the rich man as the dumped his blueberry pancakes unceremoniously onto the table and headed to the rude mountain man. She still felt the heat flushing her cheeks, but did her best to ignore it. She had a job to do.

  The man didn’t say a word as she plopped down his plate of bacon and eggs. “More coffee?” she said, not even attempting to hide her contempt. She would do her job, but that didn’t mean she had to be nice about it. This man was even more of an asshole than the rich guy had been.

  The logger simply grunted and gave a curt nod, but his gaze didn’t quite reach her face. She hurriedly poured the coffee, and then headed to the next table, where two of her favorite customers sat. “Hello Sadie. Good morning, Rob,” she said with a genuine smile.

  “Good morning, Alyssa dear!” Sadie’s clear, cheerful voice never failed to make Alyssa’s mornings at least a little better. She was glad to see that they were still sitting on the same side of the booth, their worn and wrinkled hands clasped together on top of the table.

  “Alyssa.” Rob’s dirty ball cap bobbed up and down as he gave her a friendly nod. It was funny how different lively Sadie and stoic Rob were, and yet they still loved each other, even after all these years.

  “The usual?” asked Alyssa.

  “Of course,” giggled Sadie. “Y’know, Rob, maybe we should switch it up a bit every once in a while, just to throw Alyssa off of the trail. This girl’s getting too good. We may just have to start coming here every time she’s working!”

  “Oh, I’m sure that Alyssa would just love to see my mug in here all of the time,” said Rob in a sarcastic tone.

  “I wouldn’t mind at all, Rob,” said Alyssa with a laugh. “You two make this job bearable, and I'm always glad to see you.” She scribbled down their orders on her pad. “I’ll be right out with your orange juice.”

  As she made her way back to the kitchen, Alyssa noticed that the rich man had left. Some apparently dysfunctional part of her was disappointed, but the other normal, rational part was highly upset with him because he had left the whole fifty dollar bill on the table. The meal, including his barely-touched pancakes, had only been $7. Who did the rich bastard think he was? She didn’t need charity! She was a hard-working, independent woman who didn’t need the scraps of some mightier-than-thou piece of scum, who had tricked her into... into flirting with him, of all things! He, who was not, and would never be, her Brian. Anger and shame mixed in her chest, but Alyssa quickly stored the money in her apron and busied herself with pouring two glasses of pulp-free orange juice. Rob hated pulp. He said that it got stuck in his throat and he felt like it was trying to choke him.

  She spent the next several minutes rushing around the tiny diner, pouring drinks, greeting a few late-breakfast customers, and putting in orders to Mike in the kitchen. After a little more unwelcome and rather disgusting flirting, the mountain man finally left. Sadie and Rob soon followed, promising their return the next morning. Eventually there came the normal pre-lunch lull, and Alyssa could relax a little bit. Only a couple more hours and she could go home for the day.

***

  “When… the… moon hits your eyes like a big pizza pie, that’s amore. That’s amore!” Todd’s deep - if not slightly off-key - voice rang through the inside of his tricked-out red Chevy truck as he wound his way through the curves of the Tennessee back roads. He grinned as he flew by an elderly man riding a John Deere lawn mower back down his long driveway, mail bundled in one hand. Yup, he was definitely in redneck country. It was perfect, just where he had always dreamed of living from the time he was a little boy, when his father would taken him and his mother on day-trips to the country. He loved the dirt roads, the run-down, ivy-covered barns that looked as though they were full of memory, and the abundance of trees that lined the winding roads and shed their orange and brown leaves in a shower of bursting color.

  It had definitely taken some getting used to, though. After all, he had been born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, the Hollywood of the East Coast - a city of concrete and iron that was constantly alight, in which the dreams and hopes of hundreds of people were every day either fulfilled or crushed beneath the feet of money-grubbing record companies. It was a city of smoke, traffic, and a never-ending stream of people, nothing like the beautiful, slow, and isolated scene of the eastern Tennessee mountains.

  Todd felt his phone vibrate on his belt. It was another call, probably from another recording company. Slightly annoyed, he reached over and muted the radio, then flipped on the Bluetooth in his car. “Todd Baker,” he said curtly, in his practiced business voice.

     “Todd, honey? This is Mom!”

     “Mom?” Todd couldn’t help but let the surprise creep into his voice. “What – how – how did you get my number?”

     “How are you honey? I’m so glad I got a hold of you! Oh, I’ve missed you so much!” Todd’s heart lurched slightly at the sound of his mother’s voice. How long had it been since he’d seen her last? A couple of years, at least.

     “I’m good, Mom. I’m really good.” She obviously wasn’t going to answer his question about the phone number, so he decided to drop it. His mom was sweet, but she could be stubborn as hell when she chose to be.

     Her voice continued to pour through the speaker in his ear. “So where are you living now? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, of course. Hopefully somewhere nice!”

     “Well – yeah, Mom. It’s a pretty nice place. Are you guys still living in Nashville?”

     “Of course! Where else would we go?” His mom gave a small chuckle, but he couldn’t help but hear the edge of bitterness in the laugh. He knew how much she hated Nashville, how much she had always wanted to get away. That was why his dad had sometimes taken her into the country, just to appease her.

     “So – are you guys okay? Is Dad alright?”

     “Oh, honey, we’re fine, we’re fine! Just going along as normal. Your father’s been having another record year, we’re very comfortable. We even had dinner with the mayor again last week!”

     “That’s nice,” said Todd shortly. There was a pause.

     “Well, I- I just wanted to remind you that we’re still having Thanksgiving dinner this year, and your grandparents and Aunt Millie’s family are coming over. You’re still invited, honey, if you can make it. I’m planning to bake some pumpkin bread this year.”

     Todd laughed. “Mom, you always know how to hook me in.” He hesitated and then said, “Listen, I’ll let you know when it gets closer.”

     “Alright. That’s all I can ask. I really hope you can make it, and so does your father.”

     “Okay, Mom.” Todd didn’t believe that his father wanted him to be at Thanksgiving dinner, but he decided to go along with the lie for now, for his mom's sake. “I’ll call you when I make a decision, all right?”

     “That sounds fine, dear,” said the voice on the other end. “I’ll be looking forward to your call! I love you so much! Be safe!”

     “Love you too, Mom,” said Todd. He hung up, pulled out his earpiece, and turned his radio back on at full blast.