The Fighter

Chapter 3: An Awkward Dinner: Part 2- Everyone's a Comedian

How in the world did Mr. Brooklyn know my mother?

Mr. Brooklyn or should I say, Sal, gave my mother a suffocating hug. I turned away, wincing, as I placed the items on the mini-conveyor belt. 

Ew Ew Ew, he's hugging her.

"Sophie, meet Sal Garbonzo."

Garbonzo?... As in Garbanzo Bean?

I turned, holding out my hand. "Me and Sophie-" He patted me on the back so hard my lunch almost came up. "We've already met." He winked at me, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

Come to think of it, Mr. Brooklyn looked like a bean. I mean his head was bean shaped.

"You've already met?" My mom questioned, looking between the both of us.

I tucked my hand in my pocket. "Well actually-" I began.

Garbonzo put a hand to his mouth, as if whispering a secret, (although he wasn't capable of whispering) and leaned over to my mother, "She, uh, had a little run in with a boy."

My mother's eyes widened as she scanned me.

"No, no, there was no 'run in.'" I said air quoting the last part.

"Don't worry, I took care of it." Garbonzo said, wiping his hands off, as if he was a mob boss who buried a dead body.

I slapped a hand to my forehead.

"Oh, really?" My mother said, lifting an eyebrow as she maintained her staring, which caused me to squirm.

The cashier cleared her throat. "That'll be $124.67."

My mother just couldn't get me out of her line of sight. Meanwhile, Garbonzo began to whistle as he read through Women's Digest, "How to make the man in your life feel special, 50 ways."

"Oh, mommy dearest, it's time to pay," I said, my foot tapping the tile nervously.

My mother paid and just as I was bracing myself to take on about eight bags, Garbonzo started up again.

He really was like a bean, you know, 'The more you eat, the more you fart.' It was like he never just went away quietly... if you know what I mean.

"Lorraine, you gonna carry all that?" He said, and without even waiting for her answer he snapped his fingers at the cashier. "Get 'em some help." He placed a crumpled dollar on the counter. "It's on me."

Oh, my hero.

The cashier stared at Garbonzo with an unamused expression on her face before she turned to her friend. "Get Dylan, these people need help carrying bags."

Dylan.

My hands went directly up to my dark wavy hair and smoothed it down. This time, I'd be ready.

"Thank you so much, Sal." My mother said as she nudged me.

I coughed. "Yeah, thanks a lot." I said flatly.

"No prablem!" He ruffled the hair I had just smoothed down.

"Where do you want these bags, ma'am?"

There goes that.

I spun quickly on my heel to face him.

There he was, his blonde hair, his big eyes, his crooked grin. His blue eyes flicked in my direction and held my brown ones. I couldn't stop the butterflies in my stomach. They were threatening to swarm up from inside of me and out of my mouth if I looked at him too long. I was probably smiling like an idiot, but my brain just stopped working at that moment, so I couldn't swipe the stupid grin off of my face.