Slice of Heaven

Slice of Heaven Diner, Chicago, January 1988

“I’m sorry Sir, I’ll be right back!”, Jenny called, as she ran to grab the lukewarm chili dog sat on the counter.

“Here’s your chili dog, Sir. Any sauces?”. The pot-bellied man sneered at Jenny, dismissing her with the wave of a hand. One day, I’ll be quitting this job, she thought to herself.

Growing up in Chicago with her mom and stepdad, Jenny had always thought herself quite lucky, despite losing her father before she was born. She had food on the table, a roof over her head, and intelligence to boot, which had gotten her accepted into Harvard University. However, there was one thing missing in her life, which kept her working this lousy job – money, and her lack of it. And, as her parents kept reminding her, Ivy League colleges don’t come cheap. So here she was, every single day, praying she could earn enough – or that someone would walk in with a $20,000 tip. Though on the worst days, she had to question if it was worth it. Little did she know, her answer was about to come walking through the door.

The gentle tinkling of the doorbell was the antithesis of the man who stormed in. Dishevelled and scowling, complete with an eyepatch, he sat at the nearest table, took out a pen and a little black notebook, and furiously crossed something out on the page.

“Can I help you, Sir?” Jenny asked, but he ignored her. Instead, he pulled out a dog-eared map of Chicago, and spread it out on the table. Jenny fetched the coffee pot, ready to pour.

“Are you alright, Sir?”

“No. And I don’t want coffee. This won’t work…” his words trailed off.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Just go awa-" As their eyes met, he froze open-mouthed.

“You’ll catch flies like that!” Jenny joked. Suddenly, as if snapping from a trance, he smiled.

“Maybe I’ll have that coffee after all”. As she poured, surprised by his abrupt change of heart, he continued.

“I’m Ron, by the way. ‘scuse my rudeness. And I didn’t mean to stare, honest – just takes me time to adjust, with the eyepatch an’ all”. A Southern drawl hung on his words.

“So where are you from?” Jenny was intrigued by this mysterious man.

“Tennessee. Whatta’ bout you? Chicago, by any chance?”

“You ‘betcha” Jenny grinned. “But I’ll be outta here and straight to college before you know it. Call if you need anything!” She walked away, leaving Ron to sip his coffee.

It would be the first of many hellos and goodbyes between Jenny and Ron.

From then on, Ron visited Slice of Heaven every day. After chatting, Jenny found out he was a medical salesman on a business trip, was happily married, and had a pet Labrador – but that was all he revealed. Jenny found herself wanting to know more about him, and he about her. They especially bonded over their love of science, and Jenny found herself waiting for his visit – but more than anything, she wanted to know what was in that notebook. She wondered if, one day, he’d let her read the secrets tucked away between the pages.

Weeks later, on a cool Friday evening, Ron was enjoying his usual slice of cherry pie when he called Jenny over, a curious look in his eye.

“I’ve never asked you before, but what’s a college-type girl like you working in a place like this?”

Jenny grimaced. “Well, Harvard’s my very expensive dream, and something my family can’t …”

Cut off by the sound of raucous cheers, Jenny rolled her eyes – College boys.

“OH WAITRESS?” Childish giggles followed, and Jenny reluctantly directed them to a booth. After racing through a gargantuan order, which had Jenny scowling behind her notepad, they’d already put her in a bad mood; but it was about to get worse.

“Oh…is that too much for your pretty little head to handle? Maybe you should just stay in the kitchen, like a good girl” The leader smirked.

Before she could breathe a word, Jenny felt a rush of air, before she saw Ron’s cherry pie splattered on the boy’s face, whipped cream dripping down.

“Talk to a lady like that again, and you’ll get far worse than a pie to the face” Ron stood before Jenny, looking down on the boys with terrifying ferocity. They froze, astounded, until Ron slammed his fist on the table.

“LEAVE!” he bellowed. The boys swiftly bolted, but not before pie-boy declared he’d ‘never eat in this dump of a diner again’.

“What a waste of pie” Ron sighed, before they fell into laughter at the silly boys who dared cross them.

March, 1988

Jenny knew something wasn’t quite right with Ron that evening. He came in 5 minutes before closing, looking agitated, so Jenny plated some pie before sitting across from him.

“Where’ve you been?” she asked.

“Work” Ron shook his head. “I think this’ll be the last time you’ll see me for a while, Jen”

“End of the trip?” She’d known this day was coming, but still her voice wobbled slightly.

“Yeah” Ron looked up, “I’m sorry you won’t be able to bug me anymore”

She smiled a sad smile, “I’m gonna miss you, y’know that?”

He chuckled, giving a small sniff, “Don’t forget me, ok?”

“Impossible” she replied.

After a long farewell hug, they waved goodbye – and just like that, he was a stranger once more. She wondered if he’d ever come back for her famous cherry pie, as she stood alone in the dimly-lit diner.

By the time she realised Ron had left his notebook, it was too late. She stared at it for a long while, as if it was staring back. Daring her to read it after all this time. She contemplated what Ron would say if he knew she was holding it in her hands, thumbing the corners, stroking the smooth cover with her fingertips…before she knew it, she rushed to lock the door, so they could be alone. Her heart started racing as she turned the first page and saw her name scrawled at the top of the paper…

Dear Jenny,

I bet you’re so excited you’ve finally got your hands on this. It’s something I’ve been working on since we met - something I didn’t know how to say in person. In fact, I’ve got so many confessions that I don’t even know where to begin…though I suppose from the beginning is a good start.

Years ago, I was in love with a girl called Betty; my childhood sweetheart. The kind of love you see in the movies. She worked at her daddy’s shop, and I was an officer in the Navy at the time. All we ever wanted was a child, and we tried for years … but we were heartbroken every month. We started to fall apart as a couple, and, well…when I was eventually deployed to Vietnam, I left the relationship behind.

Now I won’t give details Jen, but bad things happened to me at war. They were expecting us, and I was captured early on. I still have nightmares about what they did, how they took my eye… and when I was finally freed three years later, I didn’t know how to function as a normal human being.

I wrote to Betty because it was the only address I could remember - memories of friends had long faded away. But I never heard back, so I assumed she had moved on, found a new man, maybe even had a child. So, at that point, I just wanted to start again.

And do you know what? I did just that; I started again with Jules and our dog, Daisy. I sorted my career, my house, my life. Everything was all good and fine, until fifteen years later, I was in Chicago on business. You know how I like my coffee and pie, so I stopped in the nearest diner for a bite. And by sheer luck, maybe even fate, I bumped into an old friend of mine and Betty’s, Madison. When Maddie realised it was me, she looked like she’d seen a ghost – and I soon found out why.

They had told Betty that I was dead… slaughtered like the rest of them. After that, she moved on with someone else, and into his place in Chicago – that’s why she never got my letter. It hurt, Jenny, but how could I blame her? I’d have moved on too.

I asked Maddie if I could see pictures of Betty, so she took me to her place and pulled out Betty’s wedding photos, telling me to prepare myself…but for what, I didn’t know. I realised once she turned to a picture of Betty, her husband, and their ringbearer. There, in a bright yellow dress, was a toddler clutching a bunch of sunflowers, and a card that read ‘Betty and Sam, ‘73’. She looked about two or three years old, so she would’ve been born around the time I had left…

My heart started to race, but I told myself it wasn’t possible, that Betty had just moved on fast once I’d gone. But Jen, when Maddie turned the page, and I saw the little girl’s face close up, I immediately knew.

The girl had one blue eye and one green eye, with a distinct orange speck. I’m sure you’ve realised by now that this little girl was you. I’m also sure you know that my right eye is blue. But what you don’t know is that my left eye was also green, with that same orange speck. You had my family history swirling in your eyes.

In that moment, I knew that you were my kid, and that I had to find you, make up for all the years, if that was even possible. Maddie understood, and told me you were working as a waitress in Chicago, but she didn’t know where. The day that I met you, I had visited nearly every single eatery in Chicago looking for you. I’d been looking for a week, and was giving up hope…until you came to my table. When I looked up and met your eyes, it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I’m sure I came across quite strange…but I’d wanted a child for so long, and now that I’d finally met you, I just couldn’t believe it.

I couldn’t just spit out that I was your dad, so I got to know you the old-fashioned way - learned about your favourite things, your hobbies, your dreams, just as a friendly customer would. Wrote it all down in my notebook, see. And I figured this would be the best way to tell you, because I know you love to read. The reason I did all of this is because I want to help you, Jenny. And though it took a while, I figured out how to do just that.

But before I tell you what I’ve done, there’s something you should know. You might not see me for a while, maybe not even ‘til you graduate. I know this is sudden but, you see, Jules has this great job opportunity in the UK…and I can’t stay behind, even though it breaks my heart that we only just started to get to know each other. But hey, look on the bright side - I know how much you want to visit England, and there will always be a room for you at my house, if that’s what you want.

Make your old man proud.

Ron

p.s. – last page

With blurred eyes and trembling fingers, Jenny slowly turned to the back of the book.

There, tucked neatly between the pages, she found a cheque. But when her eyes finally focused on the figure, she forgot how to breathe.

The cheque was for $20,001.00.

On the back of the cheque, in Ron’s untidy handwriting, it read:

“Harvard money - plus the pie”.