It was after school on Thursday. Sandy was just stepping out of school with Ariel.
"I still can't believe you talked me into this," Ariel said.
"Oh, but you'll get a story while eating something nice," Sandy told her, "It'll be fun."
"Yeah, but it's just a rumor, right?" Ariel argued, "That man may not even be there." She adjusted her schoolbag.
"That's what we're going to find out," Sandy said.
"Okay, but if he isn't there, I'm going home," Ariel decided.
"He'll be there," Sandy stated with baseless confidence.
The girls used the pedestrian crossing in front of school to cross the street. Their destination, the diner Greasy Aunt's, was just a short walk away. They walked briskly, for it was really cold.
Once they were inside the warm confines of the diner, Ariel asked, "So where is he?" She undid a few buttons of her coat.
As it usually was after school, the diner was full of students. Many were seated at tables or occupied with the various games. There were a number of teenagers standing or walking up and down. These students, along with the waitresses busy with their jobs, obstructed Sandy's view of the depths of the diner.
"We'll have to look around," Sandy said.
The girls made their way through the diner. They easily spotted a customer who was obviously not a student seated at one of the tables at the back. He was, as Sarah had described, an old man. He had gray hair and mustache. He wore a faded brown coat and a cap. Sandy had expected to find him smoking some cigarette or pipe but the man did not.
He was not alone. There were already three teenage boys seated opposite him, listening to him talking.
"Let's go," Ariel said, "Looks like he's busy today."
"Aw, but I really wanted to hear his stories today," Sandy grumbled.
"Hey, girls!" one of the boys, a black-haired fellow, called, "Want to join us?" The other boys and the old man too were looking at the girls.
"Let's go!" Sandy was already at the old man's table before Ariel could object.
The boys occupied the long seat opposite the man. The only free space left at the table was right beside the old man. The girls stood beside the table, next to where three schoolbags sat at the foot of the table.
"C'mon, have a seat," the old man invited. He moved deeper along his long seat to make space for the girls.
Ariel nudged Sandy. "You go first." When Sandy hesitated, Ariel whispered in her ear, "I'm not seating next to him. Either you go first or I'm leaving."
Sandy dropped her schoolbag with the other bags at the foot of the table and reluctantly sat next to the man. He did not smell as bad as she had feared. There was no trace of smoke or sweat. Rather, she could not sense anything but his solid arm, which was covered with the smooth leather sleeve of his coat.
Ariel put her own bag beside Sandy's. Then she took off her coat and placed it over the bag. When she was done, she squeezed in next to her classmate.
"Why don't we introduce ourselves first?" the old man suggested.
"Sure," agreed the black-haired boy opposite Ariel. He was the one who had called out to the girls earlier. He looked to the girls. "I'm Brad. That's Paul and Kamal." He gestured towards the stocky brown-haired boy beside him and then the lanky dark-skinned boy seated next to the wall. He repeated Kamal's name when Ariel prompted him. "We're sophomores," he added.
"Um, I'm Sandy," Sandy introduced herself. She glanced at her blond friend. "And this is Ariel. We're freshmen."
"You can call me Old Man Jake," the old man concluded, "Nice to meet young fellows like you."
"So, what story are you going to tell?" Paul asked eagerly.
"I've got a story from round here about the Jacobson brothers. But I'm feeling a little hungry right now," the old man hinted, "A beefburger would be nice."
Brad signaled for a waitress. When the pink-uniformed waitress arrived, she took the old man's and the student's orders. Sandy decided to go light and ordered herself a glass of soft drink. Ariel ordered a whole double helping of strawberry and vanilla ice cream.
Once the waitress was gone, Old Man Jake asked, "Have any of you heard of the Jacobson brothers?"
The boys opposite shook their heads. "No," Paul said.
No comments:
Post a Comment