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“Yes, I got you a burger and fries. For me, I got a tuna melt.” She said as she leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands. “Who brought you here today?”
“Santa.” I replied just as the waitress brought us over some tea.
She looked at me weirdly after I said that, but I smiled and didn’t explain. Viddy knew I was talking about Dixie, and that was all that mattered.
“The waitress gave me a dirty look. What’d you say to her?” I asked when the waitress glared at me from across the room.
Viddy shrugged. “I told her the table was sticky, and the floor under the table felt gross.”
“What’s the big deal with that?” I asked, studying my sister’s features.
She looked different. Tired. She had bags underneath her eyes that showed she wasn’t sleeping very well again.
“She tossed a rag at me earlier thinking she’d just leave it there for me to clean up, except I hadn’t realized it was there, so she did it herself, but then went to complain to Martha, who then told the woman that I was blind. Needless to say, she’s mad at me now because Martha gave her an ear full.” She said before taking a sip of her tea.
I snorted. Martha was a good woman. She was a mother of four, and her husband was a firefighter at the fire department with Kettle and Sebastian. I’d met them a few times at different get togethers that the fire fighters had every couple of weeks. She was a busy woman, and I got along with her well.
“Dumbass. How would she not know you were blind? I mean the glasses...” I trailed off. “Hey! You’re not wearing your glasses!”
I felt stupid for not noticing that right away. No wonder she looked different. It wasn’t very often that I didn’t see her with them.
Viddy grimaced. “They make my head hurt.”
I understood that all too well. I hated wearing anything on my head whether it be sunglasses, a headband, or even a tight ponytail. Although I hadn’t been aware that Viddy had ever had that problem.
“Is there something else going on?” I asked warily.
“Not really, no. But I’ve been seeing things lately. Shadows. Some lights. Movements. It’s really quite weird. Yesterday I woke up, and I swear to God I could see. Not great, by any means, but I could make out my dresser and the window. But then it was just all gone, and I haven’t seen anything like that since. A couple of days ago the pressure of the glasses on my head started to really hurt, and I haven’t worn them since.”
“Have you called Dr. Robbins?” I asked, trying my hardest not to show the excitement I was feeling.
She was shaking her head. “And tell him what? That my glasses give me a headache and I thought I saw something the other day?”
As I opened my mouth to reply, the waitress interrupted us, dropping our plates down in front of us, making them clatter.
“What is your problem?” I asked, alarmed.
“I was told to tell you this meal is on the house, and I’m sorry for your loss.” She ground through clenched teeth.
I watched her walk into the back of the kitchen before turning to Viddy. “What the fuck?”
Viddy was shaking her head, confused as well. “I don’t know.”
It wasn’t until Martha came over with the tea pitcher that we understood. “I’m sorry to hear about Shannon, Adeline. I still can’t believe she won’t be here anymore.”
Then I realized that this was where Shannon worked. This was also where Kettle and I had had our first meal together.
“Oh,” I breathed. “Thank you.”
God, just when I thought I was doing pretty well, I had to be reminded that I had a funeral to go to later for Kettle’s sister, and my good mood shot out the window.
Martha smiled sadly. “Yeah, it’s going to suck working with Tillie over there all the time. Shannon always had a smile on her face. Tillie, on the other hand, can’t stand people. Especially you.” She said, tilting her head in Viddy’s direction.
“Viddy?” I asked in surprise. “Why Viddy? Viddy doesn’t even know that woman.”
“Oh, you sure did. Viddy talked to her ex, and she hates her on principle.” Martha snickered.
“Her ex?” Viddy asked perplexed.
