The S.P.E.

Chapter 10

"I love my nephew, Zeke, but I will toss him off the roof if you can't quiet him down. I have to finish this paper for my marketing class by midnight!" I called from my bedroom door before closing it. Sebastian, my two-year-old nephew, hadn't stopped crying in days. He caught a cold at daycare and nothing Zeke or Tina could do would help. It was ten pm and the restaurant was closed so I unplugged my laptop to go downstairs.

"Sorry, Lulu. He's driving me crazy too!" Zeke was rocking back and forth with Seb in his arms, looking like he hadn't slept in years. Tina was trying but she was on bedrest with twins playing the bongos on her bladder, so she could only help so much. Mostly she tapped away on her keyboard writing her next book. How she could concentrate while Sebastian practiced his audition to star in the next Omen film was beyond me. I went over to Zeke and the baby, gave Sebastian a kiss on his burning forehead and smiled at my brother-in-law.

"Give him a lukewarm bath. The water will feel cool on his fever. I'm gonna go work downstairs and remove at least one of your headaches. Feel better, little buddy!" I dashed off to work in the quiet solitude of the empty restaurant.

The quiet contrasted so strongly to the noise upstairs that for a moment it seemed too quiet, as if I had gone deaf or something. Then I realized that if I listened hard I could hear Seb crying though the ceiling and Zeke trying to shush him. 'That's more like it,' I thought to myself. I went behind the counter and turned the radio on to an oldies station. It was just loud enough to drown out my family but quiet enough so as to not be distracting. White noise radio- I bet that would be a big seller.

After about half an hour that was more productive than the previous two hours spent upstairs, I got up to stretch and get some feeling back in my feet. Some people found my thinking pose where I sat on my feet uncomfortable, but it helped me work. Unfortunately, I had to get up a couple times an hour or my legs went numb. I glanced around the dark room, lit only by the laptop screen, and inhaled the restaurant smell- burger, fry oil, onions, and the smell of the disinfectant we used on the counter tops. It smelled like my childhood. It smelled like family. It was home to me.

The sight of a lonely laptop on the table of my favorite booth brought back an old memory, unbidden. Cynthia, attempting to get Logan into all the best college prep programs, typing away on her computer sitting in this exact booth. All that was missing was a cup of hot water and a lemon slice. And Logan.

~

A few days later, Seb was feeling better and taking a nap before dinner. Zeke was prepping the meal in the kitchen. Mom and Dad were running the restaurant tonight with our annoying part-time help we hired, so Zeke, Tina, and I were taking the chance to sit around the table and have some adult conversation that wasn't work-related. I was doing some reading at the table, looking through the newspaper for fun town gossip to talk about at dinner. Tina suddenly waddled through the door, roundly pregnant but glowing with joy.

"Louise! I forgot to tell you! Remember that girl Logan married?" That was sure to get my attention, as I'm sure my big sister knew. It was sixteen years since we first met Logan on the steps after school, but she knew his name was still likely to grab my attention, after all this time. I set my paper down and met her eyes.

"...and?" I prodded. She rarely had really interesting stories and she was going to milk the opportunity, I could tell.

"I saw her at Hot Totties, when I took Sebastian there last week." She pulled out a chair and lowered herself onto it. Zeke dropped his whisk and rushed to help her. Their devotion was admirable, but a little sickening to live with all the time.

"I'm still mad at you, T-bird. You're supposed to be on bed rest- doctor's orders!" Zeke's admonition of his wife was half-hearted at best. He just loved her too much and couldn't stay angry with her.