Whiteboy.

Wing Date

Caimen pulled his truck into the parking lot of his favorite wing place. He climbed out of his truck and approached Alexis' car. He opened her door for her and helped her out. "Where are we?" He laughed.

"We're in my part of the south side. You never been here before?" He asked as they walked to the crosswalk and pressed the button. "No, I've never heard good things about this place." Caimen wrinkled his nose and laughed a little.
"What?" She asked. "It ain't bad. People say it's bad because we have a lot of homeless people and Black people. People still on that racist bullshit." He sighed as he nodded towards the road to cross.

Caimen walked across the road with Alexis by his side. He opened the door to the restaurant and he'd it open for her. "Thank you! Such a gentleman!" She smiled. He followed her in and let her pick the booth they sat in. Not too long after, a waitress approached their table. "Hey, y'all, I'm Sarah, I'll be your server today. Hey, Caimen!" He smiled at her and greeted her. "We've never seen you bring anyone in here. Is this your girlfriend?" Caimen's face turned red and he shook his head.

"Nah, this is Alexis. We did a shoot together today. We had kind an awkward scene.." he smiled and looked at Alexis. "I made her let me bring her to dinner." The waitress nodded and took their drink order. Caimen ordered a beer, and Alexis ordered a sweet tea. They both sat and socialized until Sarah came back. "Y'all know what y'all wanna eat?"

Caimen closed his menu and handed it to Sarah. "I want the twenty piece wings." Sarah scribbled on her pad and smiled at the two. "Do you want those Death Valley as usual?" Caimen nodded with a smile. He gestured to Alexis. "We're on the same check." Alexis opened her mouth to protest. "Please." Caimen said softly. Caimen smiled as she did and he suggested a few things. She decided on a twenty piece wings as well. "Do you want those mild, medium, hot, extra hot, honey barbecue?" Alexis paused for a moment. "Extra hot, please. Thank you ma'am." She smiled.

When Sarah disappeared, Alexis sat back in her seat and sighed. "So, Caimen." He took a sip of his beer. "So, Alexis." She laughed and leaned forward again. "Tell me about you." Caimen shook his head. "I don't know what you wanna know. My life isn't especially sad, but it isn't especially good either." He laughed. "Well, Caimen. I wanna know everything." He nodded and played with the silverware in front of him, keeping his eyes on her.

"This is where I grew up starting at the age of twelve. My parents had my two older brothers and then me. We all lived together, my dad is an alcoholic. Never abusive or anything physically. But he was kind of a dick. He didn't speak to me for three years of my life. My oldest brother plays guitar like my dad, my other brother plays saxophone, and I play piano. He never had anything for either of us. My mom raised us by herself, even though we all lived in the same house. When I was twelve, my mom told me and my older brother, James, the one who plays the saxophone, to pack a bag because we were leaving. It was the night before thanksgiving. I've been here ever since." Caimen paused to take a drink.

"We moved in with my grandmother. My mom works retail so we can't afford a better place. My older brother went to college and graduated. He's an insurance accountant now. My oldest brother was married and his wife passed away of brain cancer. I'm the only one left. I'm in school for music and psychology. I've got the summer off right now." He smiled at her. "Anything else you wanna know?"

Alexis smiled at him. She thought his life was interesting and not as dramatic as a lot of other people's. "Where'd you get your truck? Not to be rude, but if your mom works retail and doesn't have much.. and do you and your dad talk to each other now?" Caimen smiled.

"Dad and I talk every once in a while. Sometimes when I message him or call, he doesn't answer. But when he does answer, he always gives me money for some reason. I don't understand that either, though. He works on golf carts for a living. My truck, I bought after I took out a student loan. I didn't need the money for school, but I needed it to have a vehicle so I could come home for summer and visit and all." He smiled.

Their food arrived and Caimen picked up one of his wings. "I dare you to eat one. If you can eat one and finish the whole wing, I'll give you five bucks." Caimen laughed. "You're on, what is it Marco calls you? Whiteboy?" She laughed and took the wing from him and cleaned off the bone. She sat still and matched Caimen's gaze, smirking as she was chewing. Caimen was impressed. He reached for his wallet and pulled out a five dollar bill. She reached for it and he pulled it away. "Show me." She opened her mouth and showed him it was empty. "Damn, girl!" He laughed and handed her the paper.

"So, what is the deal with you and Miss Mulatto?" Caimen swallowed his food and took a sip of his beer. "Nothing. I was crushin' on her and for a little bit I felt like she was crushin' on me, but her and Marco been together for a year, and I didn't wanna get in the way of that. So I said my goodbyes." Alexis nodded.

"So, what does that mean?" She asked. "It means I'm still single. For the twenty first year in my life." He laughed as she almost choked on her tea. "You've never had a girlfriend?" He shook his head and smiled. "I take dating seriously." She nodded and agreed. "What school do you go to?" She asked. "CSU." Just then Alexis kicked him. "Ouch!" He laughed. "Sorry! Do you really go there?" He nodded. "I do too." She smiled. Caimen sat back and shook his head. "No way. How come I haven't seen you?" He asked her. "I did my first year online. I'm moving down this semester!" Caimen smiled and all the sadness he felt when he was around Alyssa faded. "You'll definitely have to come visit me." He said. She nodded in agreement.

The two finished their meal and chatted for a few minutes before Caimen pulled out his wallet, and set his money on the table. The two walked out together and he handed Sarah a tip. "See you soon, Caimen?" He turned and smiled. "Probably!"

Caimen and Alexis walked close as they crossed the street. "Thank you for letting me buy you dinner." Caimen smiled as they approached their vehicles.
"Thank you for buying me dinner!" Caimen smiled and gave her a hug. "Can I get your door for you?" She smiled and nodded. Caimen opened her door and watched her get in. "Hey, wait." Alexis said. "Take this." It was her phone. "Put your number in." Caimen nodded and typed in his phone number and saved it before handing it back. "Your boyfriend won't be upset that I bought you dinner, will he?" Alexis shut her door and rolled down the window. "What boyfriend?" He laughed. Alexis motioned him to bend down. "I think that you're great. I think it's great you've never had a girlfriend. If Alyssa is the one, she'll come around." Alexis leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "You're awesome. Thank you so much for dinner." Caimen nodded. "Let me know when you get home."

Caimen watched her pull off. He'd had a great dinner with someone he'd only known for a few hours. She was funny, and really easy to talk to. He walked around to his truck and climbed in, checking his phone that he'd left in the truck while he was eating.

37 Text Messages

Caimen frowned in confusion.

Alyssa
I know you left, but I wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for everything that happened. I'm still with the production team. I'm waiting on them to show me the raw footage. I hope you have a great rest of your night. Thank you for everything, Cai.

Caimen closed out her messages and looked at the rest of them. They were his roommates and best friends blowing his phone up, asking when he was coming back to town. He dialed one of them and they immediately answered.

"Sorry, man! My phone was in the truck. Let me get back to the house and get some sleep. I'll come down tomorrow!" He hung up his phone and drove home. His roommates were still staying in their old apartment since move in day wasn't for a few weeks.

Caimen thought about Alexis as he pulled in his driveway. He flipped his phone over and saw a text message from her. Caimen hoped he'd gained a new friend after losing one.