A/N: Jad merci!
Chapter 106: Tangers XII—The Dinner—Continued
Bringing Jonathan to dinner was the best thing for him as it turned out. I was quite pleased that things worked out the way they did especially with Debbie and Jacquelyn and Josefina there. Jonathan really seemed to like the ladies and he was keeping them charmed and laughing, especially with Peter’s girl whom he called Jo.
I have to admit, if Penelope were not that in control of my heart, I would have had to say that Josefina was the most gorgeous woman on the planet. She was amazingly tall, but not as tall as Peter I don’t think and dark and curvy, and just perfect. One of the first things that crossed my mind when I saw them enter the restaurant was, what the hell did he need with a hooker in Los Angeles?
I could really tell that Jonathan thought so too because he kept grinning at her and blushing. It put a sigh in me; even the little one was forgetting his little girlfriend. Were all males inconstant hounds? Well, I thought to myself, if I had the girl of my dreams I know I never would dally on her! Hmmph!
"Debbie, honey is everything OK?" Joe asked as soon as the ladies returned from the bathroom. Really, I was thinking the same thing. I mean what would cause sweet Debbie to freak out like that?
"Oh," Debbie said and she waved her fragile little hand in the air. "Yeah... it was just... well..."
"Woman troubles," Jo said. "You know, girl stuff."
"Ah," Joey said with a nod. He wisely asked nothing further, I mean, guys just don’t want to hear women issues when it concerns the bathroom. Eek!
We looked over the menus a little more when the waiter finally came for our order.
"I want a 16 oz steak," Jonathan said decisively making sharp eye contact with the water. "Trim some of the fat and a side of peas and mashed potatoes, and if you can I want some mack and cheeese."
"Mack... and... cheese?" the water repeated slowly in a high, effeminate voice.
"Yup," Jonathan said, "and don’t look at me like I just asked you for the Hope Diamond! Mack and cheese ain’t that hard to come up with eh?"
"Anything you say... sir," the waiter said as he left writing the rest of the order down.
"Jonathan!" Debbie breathed. "Are you sure you can eat all of that?"
Jonathan sniffed and narrowed his eyes. "Yup," he said in a low voice.
"Well he’s a growing boy," Josefina said. "My nephew is about his age and he can polish off twice that amount."
Jonathan beamed. "And I won’t need a doggie bag!"
I knew he had eaten all that popcorn and fudge before I had come home and God knows what else as well as that sandwich before he showered. Could he really pack in some more in that skinny body of his?
"Oooh," Mrs. Trepanier said. "You are like your father eh? Steak and peas, mashed potatoes."
I frowned. Why hadn’t I noticed that before? That was Patty’s roadtrip dish on game days. Of course Jonathan would be keen on emulating his father on such matters, if he had the same superstitious character.
"Yeah," Jonathan said lifting his skinny arm and flexing a budding, wiry muscle, "Dad says it’ll give me meat and muscle and stamina!"
"Ooh I can imagine," Mrs. Trepanier purred leaning forward on the table, "Your father has a lot of stamina... OW!"
She then glared at Debbie who kept looking straight ahead.
"Well then little one," she continued rubbing her leg, "Do you have the same superstitions as your father? Eh? Any of the same styles? Habits?"
Jonathan narrowed his eyes and sucked a long drink from his soda. He put the glass down and said. "Well, let’s put it this way, I like to do things within reason yes?"
"Well goalie’s have a funny sort of reasoning, don’t they?" Peter said tearing at a piece of bread and swirling it in a dish of olive oil.
Jonathan shrugged and grinned. "A win is a win no?"
Peter smiled back and nodded.
I didn’t smile more like shook my head in surprised awe. The kid was really moving and talking like a little man. Was he growing up already, holding his own in a conversation with the men? Oh it almost brought a tear to my eye!
"But tell me!" Jacquelyn persisted. "What are some of the same things you do as your father?"
Jonathan held a smile and it seemed like a moment too long until he answered slowly, leaning forward and making firm eye contact with her. "You know... ‘they’ talk to me... but I don’t talk back. That’s the difference between us."
There was some giggles of course we knew he was talking about the goalposts but there was also something in that that made me uncomfortable. Was it the serious tone that Jonathan had taken? I don’t know about them but I got a funny feeling at that moment and I suddenly wanted to stand back, close my eyes, and pretend that everything that would happen from that moment on would be all right.
The kid had been right, and how! We were almost a third of the way through our meals and he had finished his, including the small bowl of macaroni and cheese they had brought for him complete with garnish. And who eats the garnish?!
"Speaking of Hope Diamond," Debbie said, "Did you hear that the estate of Evelyn Walsh McLean is going to be auctioning off some of her family jewelry? It’s going to be on display here in the Cherry Creek Mall for a little while before the auction."
"Are they selling the Hope Diamond?" Jonathan asked blinking.
"No she sold that to... someone.." Debbie said. "I mean they have it in Washington, don’t they?"
"Wow," Josefina said, "That would be interesting to see, antique jewelry."
"I thought so," Debbie said.
Jonathan giggled and looked at Joey. "Great now the ladies are talking about jewelry, you guys are in truh-bull!"
Joe smiled and bopped Jonathan playfully on the back of his head, the rest of the table laughing. Still I could see the suddenly nervous glint in the eyes of Pascal, Peter, and Joe. The kid was sharp.
"Hey," Jonathan said and he was staring at Joe’s plate. "Are you gonna finish that last lamb chop?"
Joe looked down at his plate and then he scooped up the chop and dropped it on Jonathan’s. "Have at it kiddo." Jonathan attacked the chop with gusto, cutting into the meat and swallowing it down. I couldn’t even remember eating like that when I was his age!
"What an appetite," Jacquelyn sighed. "He has potential that boy."
Jonathan looked up at her, his eyes glittering as he swallowed. "You have no idea!" he muttered.
"Are you even gonna have room for dessert hon?" Debbie asked.
Jonathan swallowed the last of the chop with a loud gulp. "Oh man! I forgot all about that! Can I take it home?" As soon as the waiter came bearing the dessert tray loaded with fluffy, creamy, fruity, chocolatey whipped delicacies the boy’s eyes lit up and his mouth fell open. "I can totally pound one of those down! Totally!"
"Why did you let me eat that cheeeeeese cake!" Jonathan moaned as he belched and leaned back into the car. "I’m gonna hurl!"
"Well," I said helping him out and letting him lean on me as we entered my building. "That’s what you get for showing off in front of everyone and eating all that."
"I’m a kid!" Jonathan moaned, "You should have stopped me!" And then he belched again.
He sighed and sprawled on my couch as soon as we got into the loft and he grinned. "I feel kinda dizzy."
"You’re drunk on food," I replied.
"No shit!" Jonathan gasped. "That can happen."
"Don’t cuss," I said.
Jonathan yawned. "Do I have to brush my teeth?"
"Yup," I said. "Unless you want a rotted mouth."
"OK," Jonathan said. He suddenly looked miserable again, all the lightness that had settled in him from dinner bleeding away.
"Do you want to talk about it some more?" I asked, sitting at the end of the couch and patting him on the leg.
Jonathan sighed. "I guess I overreacted and that makes me fell shi...crummy."
"You really think you did?" I asked.
"I don’t know," Jonathan said glumly. "I didn’t think I did at the time... but hell, I really upset mom enough for her to toss me out."
"What did you see?" I asked, and I began to feel a little angry that anything would be upsetting him this much.
"HE SNIFFED HER!" Jonathan yelled sitting up, his eyelid fluttering.
"What?" I exclaimed.
"She leaned over to us to give us drinks and as her wrist passed his face he sniffed her! Like some stupid DOG!" he said.
"Oh God!" I exclaimed.
"The least of it," Jonathan mumbled. "Any way I prol’ly imagined it, sitting in the house all day, I was going nuts."
"Maybe," I said quietly. "Go brush your teeth." As the boy did, I thought to myself, I was going to have to keep a sharp eye on Danny Hinote.
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