The place sat beside a
forgotten north-south state highway at the outskirts of a town of about fifteen
hundred souls. Pine woods ran to the east and yellow dry-grass hills to the
west. Neon in the window really did say “EATS .” The tires on Alec's truck crunched gravel
as he pulled into the small parking lot. Where else in the U.S. can you walk
into a place after camping for three days -- unshaven, no shower, just a splash
of creek water, sweat stains on a t-shirt from driving all day, a spattering of
dried chocolate mocha on khaki shorts, hat-hair – and not risk being under dressed?
He chose a stool with vinyl less cracked than its neighbors and brushed a few crumbs off the seat before sitting down. He did have standards. He slid a menu out of the chrome holder. The waitress, a heavy woman of indeterminate age, had a tangle of loose curls that obscured one eye and a smile that needed one more tooth to complete the set. She muttered a listless “Hi, hon” and plopped down a glass of water and silverware and a packet of slightly crushed soda crackers.
He chose a stool with vinyl less cracked than its neighbors and brushed a few crumbs off the seat before sitting down. He did have standards. He slid a menu out of the chrome holder. The waitress, a heavy woman of indeterminate age, had a tangle of loose curls that obscured one eye and a smile that needed one more tooth to complete the set. She muttered a listless “Hi, hon” and plopped down a glass of water and silverware and a packet of slightly crushed soda crackers.
“Hi, yourself. You
Cindy?” – this being “Cindy’s Kitchen.”
“Heck no, hon. Done
for today.” She turned to the pass-through behind her and reached for two side
salads. She balanced them on one arm and grabbed a bottle of A.1.™ with the
other hand. Off she went.
