Page 38 of Pooh

“Chubs found out about a favorite restaurant of his that now has a dinner buffet and invited us to join him and Lucy for dinner. I accepted for both of us. You okay with that?”

“Sounds good to me,” I reply.

“I should probably warn you ahead of time that Chubs has a food addiction. He loves food and he’s not shy about eating just about anything, anywhere.”

“Really? He doesn’t look like he eats too much,” I say, a little stunned.

“When Chubs and Lucy were injured a while back, they both had to go through a lot of physical rehab. Chubs realized then that he could eat more if he worked out so he comes to the gym often and works hard at it so he can throw down on food anytime he wants. It’s hilarious because he’ll do a set of pushups and then ask one of us how many burgers he burned off. The man is a menace to food but he’s the best guy you’ll ever know. Just don’t be surprised at the amount of food he’ll devour. Especially at the all you can eat buffets. He gets his money’s worth, is all I’m saying,” Pooh explains with a chuckle.

“Okay, I have to see this. Let’s go.”

-*- -*- -*- -*-

When Chubs leaves the table to make his fourth trip through the buffet line, I turn my eyes toward Pooh. He’s silently laughing at me and I know my mouth is open and my eyebrows are at my hairline. WTF? Pooh wasn’t kidding when he said Chubs would get his money’s worth. I’m almost positive Chubs has already eaten half a cow, five chickens and a few pounds of potatoes. I glance toward Lucy to find her quietly eating her meal and smiling Chubs’ direction. There is clear love shining in her eyes and it warms my belly knowing that Chubs has that in his life.

“Chubs is a medical mystery. No one understands how he can eat so much but we’ve become accustomed to it,” Pooh informs me. “You will too.”

“I’m just grateful for Ava because I’ve never cooked a meal in my life. She loves cooking for him and he loves her food. Match made in heaven and I don’t have to feel guilty for not feeding him enough,” Lucy adds.

The curly headed man of the hour sits back down at our table with two more plates full of food and digs in. I’m staring at him in awe when his eyes meet mine. His are smiling.

“You’re jealous, huh?” Chubs laughingly says to me when I continue to stare at him and his plates.

“Yes! I want to know your secret! I would bathe in chocolate and live on chocolate no-bake cookies and coffee loaded with cream and sugar. German chocolate cake and rhubarb pie. Mackinac Island fudge and peanut butter cups. The list would be endless but if I ate half of what you have tonight, I’d have to butter my hips to fit through a doorway. So not fair!” I tell him.

The occupants at the table dissolve into laughter. I’m serious though–I want to know his secret! It would be worth millions.

Dinner with these people is fun. Pooh and Chubs keep the conversation flowing and lively and I am finding that I really like Lucy. She is shy but comes out of her shell with Chubs nearby. She has been talking with her dad in hopes of finding some government funding for New Horizons and I’m very grateful for her efforts. I exchange phone numbers with her and Chubs, after we all eat an obscene amount of dessert, we part ways with smiles, hugs and waves.

Pooh

As I walk into the main room of the clubhouse, I notice it’s pretty full of people. I spot Gunner at the bar with Ava and Mac so I head in that direction. Before I reach them, I’m intercepted by Trigger. And it is not my club brother, friend and partner in crime Trigger. It’s pissed off, angry as fuck, ready to rip my head off Trigger. Well, fuck. I knew I was going to have to pay the piper eventually. Guess it’s going to be today. Might as well face his wrath like a man. I stop in front of him and cover my junk. Yep, just like a man.

“Gay? Gay? You told her I was gay? What the fuck, Pooh?” he roars, drawing the attention of every person in the room.

“I can explain, Trigger, but I still deserve whatever you hand out to me,” I tell him.

“Oh yeah, you do, fucker! Go ahead and explain first. I want to know why you would cockblock me like that! I want to know the reason I’m going to hand out a beatdown to a brother!”

“It was Pippa who asked me for your number. I thought she was the one interested in you so I said you were gay. I’m…”

The first punch lands hard on my jaw. For an older guy, he packs a wallop. It rocks me back on my heels and just as I regain my balance, the second punch lands on my ribs. Son of a bitch, that hurts like a motha!

“Rocky Balboa his ass!” screeches Mac.

The third punch is an eye shot and I stumble back a few steps.

“That’s going to leave a mark,” chortles Mac. That fucking traitorous bird will never receive another cashew from me.

When I can see out of both eyes again, I see Trigger standing in front of me grinning from ear to ear.

“You thought it was Pippa that wanted me? Fuck, Pooh, that’s priceless! Oh my God, you’re a fucking idiot! That’s funny shit, you cockblocking asshole!” Trigger gets out before bending over in laughter. He’s got one hand on a knee and the other on his stomach. Yeah, real fucking funny.

I give him a minute to calm down and then ask, “We square, old man?”

“Are you going to mow my lawn for the rest of this summer?”

“Yeah, fucker, I will,” I concede, grinning a little at his shady ways.

---