A visit with a friend

I hadn't seen anything like it in years. The fog was so thick you could barely see in front you. Driving was never something I never did well, It's even harder on the curving roads that surround the area. I carefully made my way through the streets, once in town. Very few cars were on the roads. After parking I walked through the streets trying to find him.

I found him in front of the pizza place talking to the owner. Even though he could not work anymore he was always curious about whether business was good and if people were making good money. I came from behind him and stood to his side, waiting patiently for him to finish his conversion. The man who runs the pizza shop excused himself to answer the phone. “ Have a good day,” he said to the man.

“Where have you been?” I asked “Nowhere really just waiting.” he said, smiling at me. I knew he had not just been waiting around for me. He was always into something or talking with someone he just met. “Would you like to go somewhere and talk?”

“Sure why not.” I smiled back.

We walked around the corner to Jay’s Diner, he knew everyone who worked there too. The hostess showed us to a corner booth. I smiled looking around the place. It made me think of all the times he would convince me to go out to eat. I was constantly trying to get him to eat better. It never worked. I wondered how he knew about this place, we had never gone here together before.

“ I'd go here with my grandpa.”

“ Really, your mom's dad?”

“Yeah, I never really knew my dad's family that well.” I had forgotten about his biological father. He was a rough character who had been in and out of trouble nearly all his life. His mother had left his father in the middle of the night when he was 3 and his sister was 6. His mother even changed their name to prevent them from being found. He spent a lot of time with his grandpa growing up. “ Have you ever seen your grandpa here?", I asked.

“ I saw him this morning before I came here”

“ Aww, how is he?”

“He’s great, working in his yard.”

“ How’s he doing that with the fog like this?”

“ He's out there cutting grass, I don't know how he does it.”

I had laughed but I really admired his grandpa for getting out there and still and taking care of his yard. A pretty waitress came up to us in an old fashioned uniform.

“ Hi, can I get you anything to drink?”

He responded “Sure I’ll take a coke”.

“Uh, diet coke please.” I said

“Jenn, they have the best chocolate cake, you got to have a piece.”

“ Oh ok, you're getting one too right.”

“Definitely”, he said smiling.

The cake and coke came and talked while we ate. The chocolate cake was the best I had ever eaten. He wanted to talk about Mare. I told him how she was doing in school, who her latest boyfriend was, all her latest dramas and how she was dealing with life.

“ I miss her so much.” he said

'`Well she misses you, she writes you letters quite a lot.”

“ I know, I get them, let her know I love her always.”

“ I will, I promise.

We sat at the diner for an hour after we finished eating. Just talking about everything that had happened since we last saw each other. How his family was doing and how all of mine were doing. Eventually it was time to go.

“When will I see you again?”, I needed to know.

“ I don’t know, but I will see you again, I promise.”