The Green Lantern

Carl and the crew approach a two-story olive green stucco building. It has a red fabric awning over the outdoor patio with plastic roll-up windows rolled up and ready to be unfurled for inclimate weather. Pulling into the plaza’s freshly resurfaced asphalt parking lot, they find a spot close to the entrance under the green, red and white awning that goes along the side of the building.

Everyone exits the vehicle and walks up to the glass door, which Eddie holds open for the gang. Carla is waiting at the hostess stand for them and says, “Welcome to the Green Lantern. How many in your party?”

“Seven,” replies Kat, who is the first one to the hostess' stand.

“Follow me.”

They all line up single file behind Carla and follow behind her as she weaves through some square tables to take them out to the patio where there’s a rectangular wrought-iron table with a green glass inlay. “Here you go,” she says as she places the green framed plastic covered menus on their table. “We have our pizza buffet for nineteen ninety-nine and that includes the dessert buffet. Shelley will be with your waitress.”

They all choose a seat and sit down. “Is anyone not getting the pizza buffet?” AJ asks. Everyone shakes their head no.

“Hello, my name is Shelley. I am your waitress today. Can I take your drink orders?”

“I’ll start, I’ll take a Mist,” Kat tells her.

Eddie adds, “Same for me.”

“Same for me too,” Anna says.

Shelley asks, “Does everyone want Mist?”

They shake their heads affirmatively.

“Ok, I will bring glasses and pitchers. Does everyone want the pizza buffet?”

“Yes,” they all respond at the same time.

“You can go up to the buffet. The plates are all there for you. Each time you go up, just grab a new one.”

She walks away and everyone gets up from their black wrought-iron chairs. They approach the river rock bar. It's black marble countertop surrounds the hot griddles the pizza pies are placed on.

“Can you believe all of these flavors? We have pepperoni, meat lovers, vegetarian, Hawaiian, BBQ chicken, chicken Alfredo, margherita, Italian sausage, double cheese, and that is only a few of their several options.. I can’t wait for the dessert buffet,” Carl says, reading off all the cards by the slices.

Eddie replies, “These are great, and we get to try them all.”

“This solves the age-old question of what does everyone want on their pizza,” Anna adds in with a snicker.

They all smile and chuckle. Then one by one they fill their plates and walk back to the table. When they get there each place setting has a glass of Mist and silverware wrapped in a napkin. Three pitchers of Mist are in the middle for them to refill whenever they please.

The table is quiet as everyone is eating and drinking. Shelley comes up to them, “How is everything?”

They all nod in response, as their mouths are all full.

“I’ll be back in a few to see if you need anything. Also, there is the dessert buffet available to you.”

A few minutes later, “Ok, so which pizza was your favorite?” Carl asks, “Mine is the pepperoni. I love that it was a hundred percent covered with no spaces. Plus it had a bit of a kick.”

“I love the meat lover pizza. I don’t have to choose just a couple of meats,” Eddie comments.

Vicki says, “I loved the vegetarian.”

“I can’t decide between the Hawaiian and the Italian sausage. They were both very yummy. I love the spice of the sausage,” Kat adds.

Johann joins in, “I loved the BBQ chicken one, but now the question is, who wants to go up to the dessert buffet?”

The group stands up and walks to the Malachite stone dessert bar. “There are so many choices here. I think I need a smidge of each,” Kat says.

“Oh forget a smidge, we just had a great morning workout. I want way more than that,” Eddie replies.

Carl looks up and down the buffet and says, “I am going for the banana pudding and the brownies.”

“There are multiple kinds of brownies, which one?” Anna asks him.

“All of them.”

“I am with Carl, all of them,” Johann adds.

After choosing their desserts the group returns to their table. Carl looks out across the street where the city recreation center is and sees a person get out of a black Ford Ranger. They have on a red hoodie, with it up and a pair of blue jeans. “Guys, you see that?” he asks.

“See what?” AJ asks.

Carl answers, “See the red hoodie across the street!”

“I think you are seeing things,” Johann tells him.

Anna joins in, “Yeah he keeps seeing red hoodies all over the place.”

“I just find it odd that I keep seeing a red hoodie and jeans all over the place. This is not the time of year to be seeing anyone wearing a hoodie, let alone with the hood up where you can’t tell who it is.”

Eddie says, “I believe you. I just didn’t see it.”

“I saw the red hoodie go into the rec center,” Kat adds.

AJ suggests, “I would imagine there are many people with red hoodies. Let's just enjoy dessert and see if someone with a red hoodie and jeans comes out. Then we can get a description.”

They continue eating while watching the Rec Center. Shelley comes up to the table, “How is everything?”

“Great,” Johann answers.

Kat says, “Awesome.”

“Mmmhmmm,” Carl mumbles.

The others nod with their mouths full.

“How do you want the check? All on one or separate?”

AJ replies, “You can put these two together,” pointing to Kat and Eddie. “These two,” pointing to Carl and Anna, “Then the three of us are separate,” pointing to herself, Vicki and Johann.

“Thanks. I’ll be right back,” she says, turns from the table and walks away.

“So let’s think about this. Why does a person wear a hoodie during the day in June? I could see if we were out by the water in the evening, but in the middle of the day?” Carl says.

Kat answers, “That is a good point. Now over at the Rec Center, don’t they have a skating rink?”

“Yeah, but it’s an indoor skating rink, not a frozen pond outside,” Vicki adds.

Kat responds, “True, but maybe this one is preparing to go into the cold. I don’t know about the others. It does not make sense.”

“I know, this person has a great imagination and is pretending that they are out at a frozen pond and need the hoodie,” Anna chuckles.

Carl says smiling, “You are funny.”

They all chuckle, but are still watching for the person to come out. Shelley walks up, “Here are the checks. No hurry. I will take them when you are ready.” She continues on to the next table handing them their checks.

Carl, Eddie, Vicki, Johann and AJ all put cash on their bills and set them on top of each other at the end of the table.

“Well, whoever it is, they are still inside. I do not think we need to wait. Who knows how long they will be. Plus, we can’t go around reporting every red hoodie. I mean, we could, but it’s not that unusual to own a red hoodie,” Eddie says.

Carl replies, “Yeah, I guess so. I just keep seeing them all over the place.”

“The thing we need to figure out is who it was at the expo. If we had a description of the person and not just their clothing, then we could eliminate some of the ones we have seen,” Kat adds.

Shelley walks up to the table. “You’re all set with these,” Vicki says, handing her all the bills and cash.

“Thanks, have a great day.”

They all get up from the table and walk through the patio exit to their vehicle.

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