Annie
“This is what you get if you leave it up to me to pick where we’re going restaurant-wise,” I said back. “Anyway, this is a place I used to work. I know anonymity is a guarantee here since most of the people who work here are over fifty. Even if they do know who the band is, they wouldn’t be able to see what was wrong with the picture, if you know what I mean.”
“Oh,” he said, nodding.
“Does it look any better on the inside than it does on the outside?” Zac asked carefully from behind me.
“Uh...not the last time I was here,” I said. “Maybe we’ll be lucky. Maybe they’ve done some remodelling since then.”
I chose not to add that, knowing the guy who owned the place, this was not a very likely scenario. I almost feared going inside as much as the rest of them seemed to, seeing the air conditioner hanging way out, dripping some type of environmentally unsafe fluid onto the pavement of the parking lot. The thirty year old sign bearing the restaurant’s name was in need of a good paint job. I could only imagine what the inside was like.
But as I had said before, it had seemed like the best place to go for the anonymity I knew they would have there. Even on a summer day it was unlikely to see any of the “under twenty” waitresses working since the older women were more willing to work during the day as long as they didn’t have grandchildren to take care of (and most of them didn’t). No one would recognize them and no one would recognize the fact that Parker was not supposed to be with them.
“Shall we?” I said, gesturing toward the door.
“I don’t know. Should we?” Taylor said from behind Parker.
“Why don’t we?” Parker said, unlocking his door and pushing it open.
We all followed suit and the four young men followed me into the restaurant. I had the ironic thought that if two of them weren’t my sons and I was about fifteen or twenty years younger, I’d be counting myself pretty lucky by now. Instead I was dragging four teenage boys into a restaurant whose sanitary merit was questionable.
As soon as we entered, I noticed the quiet of the place. A few old women were sitting in the booths in the smoking section, drinking coffee and complaining to the waitresses (the youngest of which looked to be in her thirties). Some old men sat at fast counter, talking politics as usual. Nothing had really changed since I had been there last. Not even the old overhanging lights, most of which hadn’t worked right since the seventies, the slightly leaky ceiling and the ripped red leather of the seats in the booths.
I led the way to one of the booths, one near a window. I slid in with Parker on one side, Taylor, Zac, and Isaac squeezed themselves into the other side.
“So,” Parker spoke up, “is this an improvement over the last time you were here or is it worse?”
“It’s generally the same,” I said.
“I see,” he said. “And when was the last time you were here?”
“About ten years ago,” I admitted.
He nodded, turning toward the window until the waitress came with the grease-stained menus.
“Oh, except the menus are nicer,” I said, noticing the menus that could only have been the product of some kind of print company. Before they had all been typed on some ancient typewriter owned by the wife of the man that owned the restaurant. Finally it seemed they had sprung for something a little nicer.
We all remained quiet as we glanced over the items on the menu. Still knowing everything that was on there, I reflected on how things had gone so far with the unexpected outing. Taylor had pretty much volunteered them all and I was secretly glad that they had all decided to come no matter how potentially hostile things with Zac and Isaac could get. Isaac had remained silent the entire time, though, seeming to be very far away into himself. I couldn’t help but notice that he kept glancing at Taylor worriedly, but he never said anything and I wasn’t about to prompt him to do so. Zac had so far been polite and relatively friendly, though when joining whatever conversation there was to be had, he usually joined from Taylor or Parker’s side. He was always responding to what they were saying. Taylor had been the same as always, though I could see his discomfort at having his brothers there with us. He knew better than I did how they felt about me and I took that as a signal to be thankful that no scenes had been made as of yet.
And then there was Parker. I was surprised at first how easily he fell into conversation with me, a complete stranger to him. It was really the first time I had talked to him. Ever. I had seen him very few times in the hospital in Rochester but obviously had never spoken to him. He had always seemed quiet and reserved to me before. Maybe it had only been the atmosphere of the hospital. Either way, now that he was out of that setting, he was much more talkative and seemed to have a dry comment about everything. What he talked about most, though, was Gina. It wasn’t hard to see that he was a little homesick, even on his second day away, as he incorporated her into almost every conversation. I wondered for a moment just what that spelled for my fate. If I ever gave that part of fate a chance.
The waitress shuffled back over to us about ten minutes later with our drinks and asked us our orders. We all gave them to her and she walked away only to be stopped by an old woman complaining for a fresh cup of coffee. Memories.
“So, Parker,” I began the conversation since no one else seemed willing to, “what do you think of Tulsa so far?”
“Uh...The weather’s nice? The airport’s efficient?” he tried. “I don’t know. I haven’t really gotten to see too much of it yet.”
I nodded.
“I can’t guarantee that your opinion will be any different by the time you’ve seen more of it. Tulsa’s not the most exciting city you’ll ever visit,” Taylor said.
“Well, Rochester isn’t exactly barrels of fun either. At least you guys have some claim to fame with the famous people that have come from here. Garth Brooks. S.E. Hinton. We don’t have many famous people from where we are,” he replied.
“Garth Brooks fan?” I asked carefully, knowing the question to be a sensitive one to most people. Everyone either seemed to hate him with a passion or love him like a deity.
From the look of horror Parker gave me after I asked the question, I knew which side he was on immediately without him having to say what he said next.
“God no,” he said. “Are you?”
I shrugged. “He’s not bad, I guess.”
He raised his eyebrows but said nothing more on the subject except, “To each their own, I suppose.”
I wanted to ask him what type of music he did like, but was interrupted when the waitress came back with our orders, setting them as carefully as she could before us.
“Is that all?” she asked.
“Uh...I believe so,” I said. “At least for me.”
“All right then...enjoy your meal,” the waitress replied, waving her hand carelessly before disappearing back into the depths of the small diner.
We were about halfway finished with our silent meal before one of the waitresses walked up to our table. We all looked at her questioningly as she stood before us, a pensive look on her face. We had already been given our check so none of us had any idea why she was standing there like she was.
“You know...you look familiar,” she said.
I stiffened slightly, dismayed. I had counted on nobody recognizing the three band members while we were there. All of a sudden, all three of their faces grew apprehensive. Even Isaac seemed to come back from wherever it was he had gone as the waitress’s statement registered.
“Yeah, I seen you before somewhere,” she said. “Gosh, I cannot for the life of me think of where!”
Taylor opened his mouth, presumably to tell her who they were, but she went on without waiting for him to get whatever it was he was about to say out.
“Is your name Betty, by any chance? Betty Bridger?” she asked.
For a moment I was confused. Then I realized she was talking to me. Not the band.
“Uh, no. It’s Annie Lawrence,” I said.
“Annie Lawrence,” the waitress repeated. “Hmm...No. Sorry. I must have the wrong person. I just could not work it out in my mind who you looked like. Sorry about that.”
“Well, I did used to work here,” I said. “About ten years ago.”
“Really?” she said. “I just started working here the other week. But I did used to come in here a lot as a regular with my husband and daughter. ‘Course, my husband’s passed now and my daughter’s all grown up and living on her own so that tells you how long ago it was. Maybe that’s where I seen you before. Hm.”
“Probably,” I said.
“Well, sorry about that again,” she said.
“No problem,” I replied as she walked off.
Parker was the first to start laughing as soon as she was out of earshot. Taylor and Zac quickly followed and I began after them. Isaac never really joined in, only let out a hesitant chuckle before going back inside himself.
“Anonymity, eh?” Parker said.
“That was scary,” I said back. “I thought we were busted there for a minute and a some hidden group of screaming teenage girls was going to be allowed in to attack you all.”
“Thank God for small favors,” Parker said. “I don’t especially like the idea of having to hide under the table if that happened.”
“Honey, I’ve cleaned under these tables,” I told him.
“You poor thing,” he said.
We all calmed down momentarily and about fifteen minutes later we were finished eating. Everyone argued with me for a minute about who was going to pay the bill but I quickly won, saying that I had brought them out as my treat. They all settled for chipping in on the tip as I paid for lunch. We quickly walked out of the restaurant before there were any other mishaps.
“I can take the front seat if you want Parker,” Taylor said from where he was standing with Zac by one of the back doors.
I subtly looked across the top of the car at Parker.
“Nah, I’m okay,” he said.
I smiled a little to myself as I unlocked the doors and we all piled in, Parker once again beside me in the front seat.
The drive home was much quieter than the drive there. It seemed like everyone was content with the lack of conversation, having nothing more to say. I got a little uncomfortable halfway there, almost asking Isaac what was wrong just so I could break the silence.
Instead, I asked, “Does anyone mind if I turn on a CD?”
“As long as it’s not Garth Brooks,” Parker said with a grin at me.
“It’s not,” I said.
Zac and Taylor gave their consent I pushed the play button. The sound of October Project’s second CD quickly encompassed us. But it wasn’t long before the gentle melody of one of the slower songs was interrupted by an exclamation from Parker.
“No way!” he said.
“What?” I said back, turning the sound down a little.
His eyes were wide with amazement.
“You like October Project?” he said.
I hesitated for a moment. “Yeah,” I replied.
“Oh my God!” he said. His excitement was clear. “I’ve never even met anyone else who knows who October Project is besides Gina! I can’t believe it!”
His grin was now almost wider than his face and I found myself grinning back. As far as I was concerned, this had to be a good sign.
“This is too weird,” he said, settling into his seat contentedly. “You know Annie, I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
“I hope so,” I muttered quietly to myself. He didn’t hear me.
Elated by the fact that he was so thrilled by our similar taste in rare bands, it seemed too soon that we pulled into the driveway of the Hanson’s once more. I pulled to a stop in front of the house and everyone opened their doors intent on getting out.
“Thanks for lunch,” Parker said with a smile. “By the way, do you have their first CD?”
“I did,” I said. “But it got stolen.”
“I have it. With me, I mean. I can lend it to you if you want.”
“Oh no, that’s fine,” I said. “Knowing me, I’d probably never get it back to you.”
“All right. Just thought I’d offer,” he said. “Bye.”
“Bye,” I said back. I watched him file into the house behind Isaac and Zac. It took me a moment to realize that Taylor was still in the car with me, obviously waiting for everyone else to leave before saying anything. “How’d I do?” I asked, glancing at him in the rearview mirror.
“Fine,” he said. “I think he likes you.”
I smiled and let out a deep breath.
Just as Taylor was getting out of the car, Zac came out of the house. He was shouting something, but I couldn’t hear what it was. Taylor leaned back into the car with a worried look on his face.
“Zac says there’s a call for you in the house,” he said.
“For me?” I said, confused. I got out of the car, wondering who could possibly be calling me at the Hanson’s.
As I entered the house with Taylor, Diana was holding the phone out to me with a raised eyebrow. She didn’t seem too happy that someone was calling me at their house.
“Sorry about this,” I said.
“It’s okay,” she said as she walked away.
“Hello?” I said into the receiver.
“Hi,” said the voice on the other end.
“Lawrence!” I said. “How the heck did you get this number?”
“Taylor told it to me once,” he said, sighing. He sounded anything but happy.
“What’s wrong?”
“Look, Annie, I’ve, um, got some bad news for you.”
My heart fell to my feet. A thousand things ran through my mind.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Look,” you knew he was serious when he started everything with the word “look.” It was his way of saying, “put this in perspective and don’t freak out.” “Um, your Dad called a little while ago.”
There was a pause while I digested that. My father. I hadn’t talked to my father since the day I had handed Taylor over to the Hansons. What would he want?
“Is it my mother?” It was the first thing that came to mind.
“I don’t know,” he said. “He didn’t tell me. He just said that he he wanted you to call him. He left his number. He said it was pretty important and sounded pretty grave about it.”
“Okay, well,” I said. “I’ll be home in an hour.”
“Why don’t you just call from there?”
“You know why,” I said quietly, not wanting to have to say, “Because these people hate me” aloud in their home. “I’ll be there as quick as I can.”
“Okay. Bye,” he said.
“Bye.”
We hung up and the worst kinds of thoughts were now running rampant. I grabbed up my purse, said a quick good-bye and rushed out the door to my car, no explanation.