Full Moon
Clyde wouldn’t slow down. She became a horse to the water. The old biddy counted
down to seeing her crush again.
“Can’t wait to see ‘im!” she shouted. “Wait for me, Nicky!” Muriel, Aisha, and
Lewis all looked at each other.
“If only we can get her to be like this in life,” the leader muttered under her
breath. Clyde glanced over her shoulder.
“Wha?” she asked.
“Don’t think this is harassing Nick?” Aisha asked. Clyde broke into loud
laughter.
“Nope!” she said. “‘e’ll be ‘appy to see meh!” The dirty old biddy broke into
loud singing. Aisha rubbed her forehead.
“You are hopeless,” she muttered. She turned to Muriel and Lewis. “Say
something,” she mouthed to them. The other two old biddies shrugged and shook
their head. Aisha threw back her head and groaned. Clyde grinned to herself the
whole time.
----------
The Sunday Rush began at the Sunny Plum. Chris walked into the crowded café. He
whistled to himself. The man walked through the glass doors. Chris could barely
get into the building. He stood on his tip toes and waved his arms back and
forth.
“Oi! Oi!” the man shouted. “Oi! Oi!” From the counter, Annie looked up and
rolled her eyes.
“Tucker!” she shouted.
“What?” her husband asked.
“Go deal with your friend at the door,” she said. Tucker looked up with his eyes
narrowed.
“What friend?” he asked.
“Who do you think I’m going about?” Annie asked.
“Hey!” Chris shouted, jumping up and down while flailing his arms. Tucker sighed
and rolled his eyes.
“Now, I’m starting to remember why we all tried to avoid him,” he muttered under
his breath. Annie put her hands on her hips.
“Well, do something,” she said. “I can’t have him staying here disturbing the
peace. We need days like this to make ends meet!” Her husband groaned and threw
down the dish rag.
“Fine,” he said.
“Thank you,” Annie said.
“Whatever,” Tucker muttered. His wife raised her eyebrow.
“Excuse me?” she asked. The man rolled his eyes and shook his head before making
his way over to the entrance. Chris smiled as Tucker made his way over to him.
“Hello, friend,” he said.
“What are you doing here?” Tucker asked. “Don’t you see that we have a busy day
today?” The men looked around at the crowd in the café.
“I came here to see you, of course,” Chris said. “Can’t I visit my old school
friend? This is a public place, after all.”
“Then get yourself a table if you can find one,” the other man said. “You’re
going to annoy Ivy if you keep showing up and ordering nothing here.” Chris put
up his hands.
“Okay, okay, I understand,” he said. Tucker shook his head as Chris looked
around for a free table. He would have to try and get rid of him again.
---------
Evan walked up the steps to William’s porch and knocked on the door. His ex’s
neighbor opened up with a confused look on his face.
“Evan? What are you doing here?” he asked. The other man paced around as he
laced his hands together.
“I don’t know how to put this,” he said.
“What?” William asked. Evan looked him in the eye.
“I think my son fancies your niece,” he said. William raised his eyebrow.
“Which one?” he asked. Evan pressed his lips together.
“Clover,” he mumbled. “I’m just letting you know.”
“Okay,” William said. “Thank you. Listen, can I ask you something?” Evan tilted
his head.
“What?” he asked.
“How long are you going to stay here?” William asked.
“Excuse me?” Evan asked.
“She can’t stand you, you know?” the neighbor said. “She thinks you have
overstayed your welcome, all of you. I have to agree with her.”
“She hasn’t told me that,” the ex said.
“That’s because she’s too nice to say so,” William said. He turned and walked
back into the house. Evan was standing there, looking confused.
“What does that mean?” he asked. The door closed.
--------
The old biddies finally made it to Nick’s factory around three o’clock. Clyde
spotted Nicholas taking a smoke outside. Her eyes lit up as she ran over to him
with her arms wide open.
“Nicky, ‘oney!” she shouted. Nick looked up when he heard his name. He didn’t
get time to react. Clyde jumped forward and hugged him wildly. The poor man
tried not to look at her dirty, crooked teeth.
“What the hell are you doing here?!” Nick shouted.
“I came ‘ere to see ya, ‘oney!” she said. The factory worker looked at the crazy
woman’s friends for help. Lewis and Muriel shrugged and shook their heads as
Aisha pressed her hand against her forehead. Nick sighed while Clyde broke into
a huge grin.
Trip Well Spent