Page 29 of Break for Me

This was going to be amazing.

She already looked horribly impatient. She just had one of those faces that said she’d spent way too many years working in the service industry, she hadn’t felt her feet in a good decade because she was always on them, and men who looked like this one were nothing but the kind of trouble for which she had no time. And he smirked because he could see that too.

“No ma’am. Just hungry,” he said, picking up the menu that she’d slapped down on the table in front of him before she placed one directly into my hands.

“Thank you,” I said and smiled at her with the most pleasant face I’d ever given to anyone.

She nodded at me, but looked back at Jersey. “We don’t have any beef thawed. So don’t order it. Soda dispensers haven’t worked for almost two years. I’ll bring you both lemonade.”

I managed to keep my giggles trapped inside until she walked away.

“I don’t think she likes you very well, Jersey Boy.”

“At this point, I cant imagine adding one more woman to that list won’t change much,” he said, still scanning the menu. He sighed when I heard his phone vibrating in his pocket, but he smiled when he looked at the screen.

“What’s the word, hummingbird?” He asked into it.

“You can’t be serious,” I mumbled.

He laughed and waited for another few moments, listening to whatever was being said. He glanced across the table at me.

“I’m looking right at her, Memphis. She’s fine. I’m fine too, by the way. Thanks for asking,” he said and laughed. “I just stopped to get gas and eat.”

Another pause to listen.

“I’ll let you know beforehand next time,” he said and smiled again. “We’ll be right back on the road. Less than an hour. Promise.”

He rubbed his eyes again when he hung up the phone.

“Why all the names?” I asked.

“It started as a joke. Now, I do it because she’d be devastated if I ever stopped.”

I didn’t even know what to do with such an honest answer. I figured I was better off just accepting this one moment of genuine conversation for what it was and letting him exist in the silence he seemed to prefer in my presence. He ordered his food as politely as anyone could have and our waitress, who still hadn’t offered her name, remained just as hostile. We ate in continued silence while I considered whether the cranky waitress would be able to do any damage to Jersey herself if I’d simply told her that I needed help. She could probably disable him permanently if she caught him by surprise. She’d probably enjoy it even. The door that opened behind Jersey interrupted my thoughts with a lightning bolt of panic. My eyes stayed glued on the man who walked in but I reached across the table with the speed of a fucking snake to squeeze Jersey’s hand.

“He’s here,” I whispered. “He swapped for a cowboy hat, but it’s him.”

Jersey didn’t even move. He sighed like he’d never been more annoyed by anything in his entire life before he rolled his neck from side to side. He pulled a single hundred dollar bill out of his jacket and laid it next to his plate.

“You can let go of my hand now, Fancy Face.”

“He’s got a girl with him,” I whispered.

That got his attention.

“Is he watching you?”

“Kind of. Not directly. He’s —.” I couldn’t figure out how to finish the sentence. I didn’t doubt that he was the same man from the motel, but now that I was looking at him in the light of day, he seemed familiar. I couldn’t place why, but I was absolutely certain in that moment that I did know him somehow. If he’d just stop hiding under the stupid cowboy hat, I’d have my answer.

“You know him, don’t you?” Jersey asked.

“I think so. He’s familiar. Not the girl. I can see her face. I’ve never seen her before.”

twenty-three

JERSEY

I was too fucking tired for this right now.

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