“Don’t go doing anything I wouldn’t do!” She said, bursting into a fit of laughter. It was odd and out of place.
Greg nodded then stepped outside. The weather was amazing. The sky was blue. The birds were chirping. A cool breeze blew past, but wasn’t chilly. It was the good kind. Warm and calm like spring. The smell of honeysuckles filled his nose as he crossed the yard and onto the Main Street sidewalk. As he walked, he passed the two men who happened to still be sitting out in front of the barber shop. They didn’t even acknowledge him. Thinking he had made eye contact with one of them, Greg nodded and waved. He got nothing in return. As he passed, he couldn’t help but feel like he had eyes burning a hole in the back of his head. He couldn’t blame those old farts. They probably were locals. All these old small town types were the same, afraid of change and a discouragement toward new-comers. And when he thought about it some more, he was like a double threat. Not only was he an unfamiliar face, but probably an oddity. These old crows had probably never heard of metal or punk music before. His chain wallet and black metal looking shirt probably told the natives to stay the hell away. He was fine with that. If any of them were anything like Teddy, he’d end up with a migraine if he had to handle more than one of them at a time. Teddy was a nice kid, but he was way too excited all the time. Stressful.
All of the shops on Main Street were the same. From first glance, most of the businesses looked like a dilapidated mess. Reaching the end of the first block, the corner store on the left was vacant. The building was small and nothing special, but intrigue got the best of him and Greg decided to cross the road and have a peek through the window. The tile floor was busted out and it looked like some of the local youngsters had a field day with it. Long florescent bulbs lay shattered on the floor and a pentagram was spray-painted on one wall in red. A sign leaned against the wall by the door inside. Jodie’s Pharmacy. The paint on the sign was cracking and faded by countless years of sun exposure. He didn’t know why, but his imagination soared.
It’s a bit small, but this would be sick as a music venue. He peered in, eyeing the size of the building.
The thought passed and he was on his way.
Sure enough, Teddy had been spot on. One more block up stood the ugliest looking mini plaza that Greg had ever seen. A town like this was terrible for touring the music scene. It was too small. No small town ever has great shows, but this plaza was another thing all together. If shows were bad for a town like this, then this plaza was even worse for this town. It was an eyesore. As much as Greg was ready to get on the road and back to Monroe, he enjoyed the seclusion of Grayson and this plaza just made the small town seem like it was trying too hard to cope with that seclusion.
Jodie’s Pharmacy had apparently relocated to this new location along with a few other small mom and pop stores. They had Gold’s Gym, a diner which was actually called The Diner, and a Subway. At one end it looked like one of the shops might be a bar, but it was closed. Made sense to him. Bars get things started a little later than one o’clock.
And Doc said no fast food, he thought, shaking his head. “Subway counts as fast food to me.”
He pulled out his wallet and looked at how much cash he had. Not much. Then he thought about how much money he had in the checking account. Probably not much there either. But, he was in a good bit of pain. If he didn’t need the pain killers, he would just skip out on getting them. But he needed them. He was thankful for the few that Doc had given him already. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure he would have been able to sleep last night. He cringed at the idea that he was about to spend what little money he had on the script, but there wasn’t much else he could do. Cracked ribs were no fun at all.
He stepped into the pharmacy, got what papers he needed, and then made his way to the diner. He cowered at the price he had just paid. Twenty bucks for a script wasn’t a lot, but damn, that was a lot to him. Maybe Teddy’s sister could give him the hook up on something to eat. That would soften the financial blow.
Stepping inside the diner, one of Buddy Holly’s song’s from the early 1950’s was playing on an electric jukebox. Posters of Elvis and a few other famous people from the era were plastered on the walls. The floor was black and white checkers. Classic.
“No wonder they got good burgers,” Greg said, taking a seat at the bar. “This is a freaking soda-pop shop.” He looked around admiring the vintage décor.
“What’s that?” An oddly familiar looking guy asked, taking a seat next to him.
He was a scrawny little guy in a black baseball cap. He had on a white undershirt and an unbuttoned long sleeve plaid shirt. The plaid shirt was gray, the chest pocket torn. The white shirt was tucked into his blue jeans and he was wearing a pair of White Chuck Taylor All-stars. The shoes were no longer white, but stained and faded to a gray from years of wear and tear. And then, when the young man smiled, Greg recognized the almost nonexistent blond mustache. His brow lifted with confusion.
“It’s me. Teddy.” The off duty cop grinned, patting Greg on the back.
Greg winced at the slap and rubbed his sore shoulder. “Yeah, just took me a second. Almost didn’t recognize you without the five-o costume.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m going to be honest, dude. Based on the way you look right now, I don’t take you for the law enforcement type. What made you decide to be a cop? You look kind of young to already be settling on a career.”
“My dad . . . .” Teddy looked down at his shoes, defeat in his voice. “Gotta follow in my and your grandfather’s footsteps, boy!” He said with a deeper voice than normal. “Or so my dad says.”
“I take it that’s not what you want to do. Sorry, man, that sucks. Got to do what you love in my opinion. Speaking of that, weren’t you working last night? Shouldn’t you be asleep or something?”
“Well, yeah. I’m fine, though.”
“Shouldn’t you be burnt out or something? You sure do got a lot of energy for being up all night.”
“Who, me? Heck naw.” Teddy boasted. “Sure, my shift ended at 7, but I got some rest. Hell, I couldn’t sleep anyway. Not with the Greg Teeter staying in town. Are you crazy? Hey, everybody,” he announced, waving his arms to get the diner’s attention. “This here’s the guy I was talkin’ bout. This here’s Greg Teeter. He’s famous!”
The people sitting around eating and watching the weather channel on the small T.V in the corner turned to look. Not at all as enthused as Teddy, they went back to what they were doing, seemingly more irritated than before. Greg rubbed the bar softly, suggesting that Teddy give it a rest. The people were just starting to glare at them as Teddy stood to his feet waving for all to look.
“You’ll have to excuse him. He’s a little high strung,” a female voice said from behind the bar.
Greg chuckled, looking up. He started to agree with the waitress, but stumbled across his words. His words got caught in a tangled mess, his tongue moving to the beat of its own drum. Nothing came out except for an umm and a few the’s, uh’s, and yeah’s.
Hands down, she was officially the prettiest thing he had even seen. Her hair was sandy brown and pulled back in a bun. Bits of her bangs that were too short curled up and popped loose from the pulled back hair. Her skin was like silk, a tanned peach, and her cheeks were round atop her slender neck. He got lost in her eyes, which burned a hole through him like lava. Greg couldn’t look away. They were dark green which happened to be his favorite color. Her work uniform was something out of the 1950’s. The paper hat set it all off. The dress was fluffed out, cut just shy of the knees.
“What ya drinking?”
The freckles that lined the bridge of her pudgy little nose sent goose bumps up his spine as she smiled at him. Then she laughed. The sound of angel’s wings flapped into his ears and down into his heart. He felt his senses melting away. She was just so cute.
“Greg . . .” Teddy grinned, shaking the rock-start on the arm. “What ya drinkin’ pal?”
“Huh?” Greg said, finally being pulled from t
he daze.
“I said what do you want to drink, kid?” She asked, a pot of steaming coffee in one hand.
“I…uh…um…coffee. Yeah, coffee would be just fine.”
The waitress turned away grabbing a coffee cup. She topped him off and handed him a menu. She smiled, revealing two pin-sized dimples.
“Be back in a sec to take your order.” She said, walking over to a few other men at the end of the bar to fill their coffee as well.
“You all right, man?” Teddy asked with concern as he sipped on his straw.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just been a crazy last few days. Hell, I trashed my truck. Remember?”
Teddy laughed.
“Plus…” Greg continued, wrapping his hands around the warm mug. He hated coffee. He was a Dr. Pepper drinker. Realizing he had been staring at the waitress like that, he just said the first thing he saw. “I didn’t really sleep that well last night. Had some really crazy dreams.”
“Oh?” Teddy leaned forward with sincere interest.
Greg shook his head and took a sip of the bitter coffee. “It’s nothing. Really.” Changing the subject, he said, “Went to the pharmacy. Should have my order filled in an hour or so.”
“That’s good. So, now that you’ve met Peggy Ann, what’d you think?”
“What? The sandy brown bomb shell over there is your little sister? No way!”
“Yep,” Teddy grinned proudly. “But she ain’t my little sis. She’s a bit older than me. Just always call her that. Always wanted a little sister.” They sat quietly for a second and then Teddy cleared his throat. “Now, don’t you go gettin’ any ideas either, you hear? You’re cool and I talked you into comin’ cause I want ya to meet her. But not to ‘meet’ her. You got that? It’s my job to go on lookin’ out for her. You understand?”
“Ha. Yeah, I hear you, man. I do have to say that she is cute. How old is she?” He asked, watching her take someone’s order.
“Frankly, I don’t much see that’s your business.” Teddy folded his arms.
“All right, man, I’ll back off. I’m sure you’ve got your hands full keeping the boys away from her as it is.” Greg licked his lips, flipping through the menu.
“Damn straight, I do.” Teddy agreed. “So, you been over to the tow truck place yet?”
“Can’t say I have. Don’t even know where it’s at. Didn’t see it on my walk over.”
“It ain’t that far from here. I can take you by after we eat if you want.”
“I’d appreciate that a lot, Teddy. Thanks.”
“What your insurance say about it?”
“Nothing . . . I haven’t called them yet. Don’t really want to either. My insurance is high enough as it is. My cell doesn’t get a signal in this stupid town anyway.”
“Tell me about it,” Peggy Ann said, passing by from behind the counter headed toward the kitchen. “I hate this town.”
“Eh . . .” Teddy waved her off. “She’s always been like that. I don’t much mind it. I don’t need a cell phone anyway.”
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.” She shouted from somewhere in the kitchen.
Teddy ignored her. “Well, you need to use the phone?”
“Yes, actually. I was supposed to work today and my roommate is probably wondering where I am.”
“Well, you should’a said so.” Teddy jumped to his feet from the bar. The excited boy that Greg was getting to know returned. “I can make that happen. No reason you can’t use this here phone at the diner. Peggy Ann don’t mind. I doubt the cook does either.”
“Awesome.” Greg applauded with relief.
“Be right back.”
Teddy scooted around the counter like he owned the place. The expression on his face was nothing but a boastful one as he grinned at Greg. His eyes said, ‘yeah . . . that’s right, I can get away with what I want. I’m a cop’. Greg just shook his head, a sheepish grin hidden behind his mug of coffee. Teddy disappeared into the kitchen allowing the sounds of muffled conversation start to stir as the door swung opened and closed.
Should have asked for a soda, Greg thought to himself sipping on the brown, bitter water.
Teddy returned moments latter smiling ear to ear, his eyebrows rose. His forehead crinkled at the top as he nodded. Reaching under the bar on the other side, he pulled a phone out for Greg and then rounded the bar again taking his seat next to the famous Mr. Teeter.
“Awesome, man. You’re the best.”
Teddy puffed with excitement at the remark. “Just had to step into the kitchen to okay it.”
Greg glared down at the phone in awe. He hadn’t seen one like this since he was a little boy. His mom had one. The spindle-case dialer and the swirling cord that extended from the receiver. Shaking his head, not in disbelief, but at how silly this town had been so far, Greg dialed work first to let them know he wouldn’t be coming in. He hadn’t remembered the number, so he pulled the cellphone from his pocket to get the number. Bob, his boss, was going to be pissed. It was one thing to call in and another to call in just before your shift was supposed to start. Greg gritted his teeth explaining to the irate employer his predicament. The phone call ended shortly with Greg slamming the receiver down on the hook, irritated. His boss was a dick. There was no ‘are you okay’ or anything like that. Just bickering and complaining. Next, he called his roommate, but only got the voicemail. Greg left a message informing him of the accident, where he was and that he would work on getting a ride home before the day was over. If he had trouble getting a ride, he would call back and see about getting picked up. That was it. He hung up.
Still flustered from the talk with his boss, Greg ran his fingers through his hair and scratched at his chin.
“What about the insurance company?” Teddy asked, eyeing the phone.
In truth, Greg didn’t want to make the call. Didn’t want to think about any of it. His policy wouldn’t cover any of the damages. That much he knew. His coverage was as basic as basic gets. And hell, while he sat there thinking it over, he wasn’t all that sure he had paid the last two months’ worth of payments. In short, he was fucked in the truck department. Resting his elbows on the bar, Greg buried his face in the palms of his hands wondering what would go wrong next.
“You’ve hardly touched that cup of coffee.” Peggy Ann’s soothing voice called out.
Greg pulled his hands away finding the attractive young waitress standing in front of him on the other side of the bar. He looked down, the pot of coffee in her hand ready to pour a refill.
He smiled. “Actually, can I get a Dr. Pepper?” His voice was almost sympathetic.
“Sure thing.” She laughed. “You want something from the menu?”
He nodded.
As she walked away gathering up the drink and some silver wear, her laugh lingered in his head a moment. Her smile, her laugh, her looks . . . it was all infectious. He couldn’t look away. Couldn’t not listen. With Teddy on one side babbling away, Greg easily drowned him out listing to Peggy Ann making small talk with other customers at the other end of the bar. She was so pretty. He choked up as she returned with the new drink and utensils. As he looked up, struggling for words, he caught a stern look out of the corner of his eye from Teddy.
“Thanks,” was all Greg was able to muster beneath the eager smile.
Teddy was just going to have to grow up. Although he had made his point, Greg was still going to make his move. At least find out how old the waitress really was. It had been middle-school since he’d been messed up by a girl like this. As much as he wanted to believe it was how she smiled or talked or smelled, it was possible it was something else. She was the first actual girl he’d met in this little town. Maybe that was it. Or maybe it was that so far she was the only person he had come across in Grayson that didn’t have a ridiculous redneck accent. Between Teddy and Doc, even the people across the bar slurred with heavy familiarity. She wasn’t like that. In a place full of coal she was a diamond. And as Teddy sat there still going o
n and on about the punk underground of yesterday, Greg couldn’t help but watch her work.
Greg’s face instantly turned red and he almost choked on his Dr. Pepper. Peggy Ann noticed him staring. The reaction she gave wasn’t at all what he expected. She blushed, eagerly returning the smile.
The jukebox switched from a song Greg had never heard to something a little more familiar. He didn’t know the name of the song, but he recognized the singer. Elvis sang his heart out, filling the small diner with a euphoric sense of what his era might have felt and looked like. It made Greg feel good.
“So, Teddy,” Greg asked. “What are you getting into for the rest of the day?”
“Well, I work tonight . . . obviously.” He shrugged. “Why?”
“Just wondering. I still need to wait on my script to be filled next door. Since we’re just waiting around, you should go get what Swindlers stuff you have. I’ll sign all of it for you if you want. I wouldn’t mind actually seeing that shirt you mentioned. I haven’t seen one of those in a long time.”
Teddy jumped from his stool nearly out of breath. “Wow. Really? That would be so cool!”
“Yeah, man.” Greg said between sips, his soda making the empty slurping sound. “Let’s do it.”
Teddy slapped the bar with an open palm then started to scurry toward the door. “I’ll be right back.”
Peggy Ann stepped over. “Need a refill?”
“Yes ma’am,” He smiled.
His plan had been perfect. Having gotten rid of Teddy at the same moment that he needed a refill was well worth a self-indulged pat on the back. Peggy Ann returned with the replenished cup. Teddy was no longer hovering over his every glance at Peggy Ann.
“So, Peggy, what time do you get off?”
“Well…” She blushed.
“I guess the right question is,” Greg grinned, “what are you doing tonight?”
“No real plans yet.” She smiled, pushing a strand of sandy brown hair behind her ear.
Greg Teeter’s heart fluttered. Maybe he wouldn’t be in a hurry to leave town after all. He picked up the phone to call a co-worker named Shelby. Maybe she’d cover his shift the next few days. After finishing the phone call, happy with its success, he hung up and ordered something from the menu.
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