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She laughed. "How about coming back to the cafe with me? You don't have to work, but Tyler's made this fantastic- lasagna special, and you should have some before we sell out."
"Okay," I said and began putting things away.
"Has Duncan Winning been here today?" she finally asked. I knew she had been dying to do so.
"No. He called. His mother was angry at him for having dinner here last night." I described her punishment f
or him. "Isn't that odd? Why would she think that would upset him so much?"
"I'm sure it's difficult for him."
"He's so accomplished in so many ways," I said as we walked out. "Mechanically talented, poetic. Why can't his mother appreciate all that and let him be?"
"You remind me so much of your mother sometimes," she said. "She used to get so angry at the way some of the parents treated their children, but she would then just pretend she was a witch and put a spell on them."
"Maybe she put a spell on her own mother, too," I said, and Aunt Zipporah looked at me strangely. She said nothing else about it, however.
The cafe was as slow as Uncle Tyler had predicted it would be. Most of the time, I sat around talking either with Aunt Zipporah or Cassie, who was suddenly surprisingly open about herself, telling me about her social life and her on-and-off love affair with a boy named Johnny Skyler. She said that whenever he became too serious with her, he would pull back, fearing that he was missing out on something.
"He's so obvious about it, too. He's a terrible liar."
"Why do you stay with him?" I asked her. I didn't want to show how hungry I was for
conversation with other girls near my age, but it was difficult for me not to cling to every word. I was very curious about the way other girls felt about their boyfriends and how they handled the conflicts and problems.
She shrugged, looking like I was the first one who had asked her that question.
-Amusement, I guess," she said.
"How can these feelings, these relationships, be just amusing?" I quickly followed, and she looked at me to be sure I was serious.
"What do you want, true love and marriage before you're eighteen? You can't date unless it's going to be forever? Maybe during your and my greatgrandmothers' time, Alice, but haven't you heard, we're liberated. Girls can be just as casual about the boys they date as boys have always been," she said with some bitterness.
With that attitude, how will she ever find true love? I wondered. But then I thought, Maybe she's right to be as she is. Maybe that was how you never get hurt. I was in the mood to believe that. Duncan hadn't called, and even though I was conflicted about whether I should continue to care or not, I couldn't help looking at whoever came in, half expecting to see him outside with his scooter.
She caught my glances and maybe my disappointment.
"You've been seeing Duncan Winning?"
"Sorta," I said.
"Sorta?"
"We haven't gone on any formal date."
"What's a formal date?" she asked, laughing. "These days, it's meeting in the rear seat of someone's car."
"I meant we haven't done too many things together."
"You don't have to do too many things, just one thing," she teased. She was beginning to frustrate me. "Well, I have to admit there's something sexy about him. However, I don't think I could be with him," she added quickly.
He certainly couldn't be with you, I thought, but I didn't say anything. She gave me a knowing, licentious smile, as if we now shared intimate secrets about each other, Then she went to take care of some summer school college students, three boys and two girls, who had come in for something to eat. I sat back and watched them laughing and joking with each other. They seemed so carefree, loose and happy. What were their lives like? Their parents? Would I ever be like them?
I tried not to be too obvious listening in on their conversations. Just like Cassie, they struck me as young people unconcerned about tomorrow. Yes, they were saying, the future was out there with its responsibilities, but who needed that now? Listening to them talk and picking up some tidbits of information about each, I had the impression that if they could, they'd prolong their college educations for years and years. One boy even said he was thinking about cutting his final exam just to extend his college life. They were all critical of their parents for pressuring them to get on with their lives.
"You're only young forever once," a boy said, and they all laughed.
Watching and listening to them, I felt like the poor waif standing outside the restaurant window watching other people enjoy their food. I was so into their conversation that I didn't hear Aunt Zipporah call to me. She had to come over to nudge me to get my attention.
