I didn’t want to think about that topic anymore today and I sure didn’t want to talk about it, either. “I could go thrift with you,” I suggested. “You have a truck and you’re strong, so we could get a lot of stuff. Maybe you wouldn’t want a used couch, though. We’ve gotten a few infestations of various vermin at Walter’s and if I were you, I’d do my best to avoid that.”
“I sure don’t want an infestation.”
“Do you want a snack? It would be on me.” That could have sent the wrong message. “Not because I think you can’t afford it—”
“Sure,” he said, and we went outside to my car. I drove a little aimlessly since it was late and I wasn’t sure what he would wantto eat. There weren’t a lot of places that sold leafy greens, just in general, and they were all closed now.
“What’s happening with Max’s business? The near-death thing,” he elaborated.
“Oh, he moved on from that already,” I answered. “His latest idea is honey. Like a multi-level marketing thing to sell it.”
“Is honey something that people are purchasing a lot? I can’t remember the last time I bought a jar. It lasts forever,” he pointed out. “They’ve found it in Egyptian tombs and it’s still edible.”
“I’m sure he hasn’t thought that through.” But now, I was thinking about Egypt. “Wouldn’t it be cool to see the pyramids?”
“It would be. I’m pretty sure they already took out the honey, though. How is your brother doing with sales?”
“Oh, Max doesn’t ever get to the point of actually selling a product. He never moves very far beyond the big idea and then a phony business plan. I wish he would get a real job.” I sighed, just like my mom had done about me earlier today. It wasn’t very fun to be the person who made others sigh and I wonder if my brother felt that way, too.
“I was thinking about you,” Shane mentioned.
“You were?” I felt myself start to smile. “What about me?”
“I was wondering what you’d do if Walter’s went under, like your sister was saying. Will you let the house go, too? Will you get an apartment and have your family live with you?”
I had lost the smile. “I don’t know what I would do. That sounds weird, because the smart thing would be to drop them all like hot potatoes. But I think it’s hard to understand how enmeshed we are. The restaurant has been at the center of our lives for, well, for forever,” I told him. “My dad grew up working there, my mom married into it thirty years ago, I was born between lunch and dinner services. It’s almost impossible to imagine going on without it. I was working on the books today, though, and…” I let the thought die off. “Tell me what happened on your last recruiting trip,” I requested.
Since there was nowhere to go for a healthy, non-saturated fat snack, I ended up driving aimlessly for a while so we could talk. I headed out into the country and went past rows of cherry trees that were still looking lifeless but soon would awaken with light green buds as the soil and air warmed around them. As we went, I heard about his trips to Iowa and Illinois. He’d also been all around the state of Michigan, to Detroit, Lansing, Jackson, Flint, and so many other cities.
“There’s a lot of talent everywhere,” he said and then yawned.
“Do you want to go home?”
“No, I like talking to you. I don’t mind being out at night as long as I’m not driving.”
“Oh, ok,” I said. I kept going, now through woods with trees that towered on the sides of the car, and he asked me about my classes and the professor who had been so mad about the group project. “She doesn’t seem to be angry at me anymore but the three people in my group are still furious. I made enemies andI don’t enjoy it, even if it is their own fault.” Going to school, where I was also still known as the drunk woman from the interview, was less fun than ever.
“But now you’re going to graduate on time,” he said and yes, thank goodness, I would.
We kept talking and I kept driving but at one point, I looked over and saw that Shane had fallen asleep. I was also yawning, so I directed my car back to his duplex. When we arrived, I didn’t feel like disturbing him. He looked so peaceful that I thought I would give him just another minute or two. I leaned back against my own seat and after not too long, my eyes also closed.
I only woke up because of the sun, and also because of being so damn cold.
“Good golly.” Shane, still upright in the seat next to mine, stretched as far as the confines of my car would allow and groaned. “We spent the night out here. Are you freezing?”
Absolutely, and I also felt as stiff as he looked. “I didn’t want to wake you up because you were so cozy,” I said.
“Thanks,” he told me and he wasn’t being sarcastic. He was sincere, despite the fact that he was also squinting and massaging the area around his eyes with his fingertips. “Do you have to get to class?”
“Yes. Probably, except I don’t know what time it is.” At the moment, I wasn’t very clear about what day it was. It felt like I’d been chewing on dry leaves or something, too. Moldy ones.
“Want to come in?”
I did, very much, because I knew that he had a clean bathroom and using that did a lot to make me feel better. When he took his turn, I searched around to see if there was any coffee (no, there was too much caffeine in it) and then I looked at his living room, trying to imagine the place with furniture and rugs.
When he joined me, he looked a lot more awake and refreshed than the person I had seen when I’d stared into the bathroom mirror at myself. That mirror was large enough to reflect more than half of my body because the bathroom was nice—this whole place was. “You’re so lucky to have this apartment,” I said. “If you’re worried about the rent, you could probably fit a roommate in that second bedroom. It’s a little tight so you’d have to find a small-ish person.”
“Or a cat,” he suggested.
