The Act of Letting Go

chapter six

Up until this day, I have never been to "D's Diner". It was only a few minutes from "Carl's" but it was around a corner and it was difficult to spot out. I never thought that it existed.

Where I live is in a town called Burkley. With a population of 276, nearly everyone knows everyone. It's small, quiet and a bit old fashioned. Nothing historically great happened here and you wouldn't find tourists popping around either, but what we do have is a school, a town hall, a shop, a few estates and apparently we have a diner. Nothing is renewed and nothing is knocked down. We like to keep the true aspect of the town when it first came to life. We don't have much in this town but we take great pride in it.

Although I have never been to "D's Diner", it didn't take me too long to get to it. As I said previously, Burkley is a small town, everything is easy to look for. I just passed "Carl's" with its red and blue neon lights flickering in the afterglow. The evenings have been getting darker. It only means that summer is coming to a close. It means that Perry will be going back to college. I don't even know how he got into college. Not that I'm not proud of him because I am, but he didn't study until a week before his exams. Typical... Even with his procrastination and late night study hours, he got into the college and course that he wanted. Sadly, I dropped out of school before I got to my final year. I couldn't take the stress of her and school to do it. It was for the best.

"it's always best to keep her in your mind forever."

My eyes came across a big neon sign similar to "Carl's" but it was in yellow. It read out 'DINER'. This must be it as it was, as far as I know, the only diner in town. I walked across the road and approached the diner. I was about to walk through the kitchen doors when I saw them, more like saw her. She was sitting at a booth in the middle of the diner. I could see her through the small square window on the door. She was sitting with Benji laughing about something that he said. Through the small window, I could see the corners of her eyes crinkling up and a big smile that showed off her teeth. She threw her head back and clapped her hands. I grinned at her actions but quickly wiped it off as I pushed my body through the door.

I was impressed with this diner. From the outside it looked like a ratty, abandoned building that was simply forgotten about but once you get inside, it was as busy as ever. It had a 60's vibe to it with its white and leather seats and its black and white tiled floors. The employees were wearing the traditional diner uniforms. The men with white tops and red bow ties and the women in their poufy skirts and soda jerk hats. The song 'I Feel Fine' by The Beatles was playing in the background of the chatter of the people inside. I wouldn't say that it was busy, neither would I say that it was empty. There was a few people dispersed around the diner, having conversations and eating their meals. I wasn't even at the booth yet until Benji saw me. His slight smile turned into a big grin once his eyes laid upon me.

"ERIN!", he shouted as he ran up to me to give me a hug. He wrapped his arms around my waist because that is how far he can reach on my body. I retuned the hug even though I was taken back by his greeting. It's like he has known me forever. I can't deny that I have a soft spot for this kid. I kind of missed him when I left his house the other day.

"Hey, buddy", I replied. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me over to the booth where his sister was waiting patiently. I sat across from her while Benji was sitting in between us. I got myself comfortable and Benji passed me a menu. I looked across the table to see that Emmy was staring at me. I stared back not knowing how to start the conversation.

"Hey.", she said giving me a small smile.

"Long time, no see?", I replied grabbing the menu. I opened it up and started to look at the selections of food and drinks. Emmy and Benji did the same.