Meet the Richards

1.2 || Jam Donut

Zheng brought me the jam donut that he offered to buy with my money and the change left over from buying such item. I didn't really want to eat it since I had already had breakfast and this would be considered brunch even though I've had breakfast which was quite filling for the most part. The diner was quaint and modern. All the booths were lined up against the wall with the counter being the diner's main centerpiece. Everything had been baked before the diner opened and kept under heat lamps and in heater proofers.

I had never been in or seen this diner before and it interested me. I'm usually acquainted with most locations in Philadelphia upon navigating it countless times. Sightseeing but for a job. I wondered if the diner needed a hand. After Zheng's father died, I felt I had a responsibility to the boy. He's old enough to understand that his father died because of me. But it was him who had reached out to me, after talking for a while at his father's funeral. He told me that we had "connected" under those dreary circumstances.

I asked him how he was doing at school. He said he was doing fine. He asked me how I was doing at my job. I told him I had been fired. I asked him how his mother was doing. He said she was still grieving. Zheng spoke with dull eyes and a monotonous voice that fed no sympathy for me. We asked each other basic introductory questions. It felt like a job interview. Then he asked me if I had a family. I said yes. Zheng was quite articulate given his age. I wanted to get to know the kid more, so I thought that if he interacted with my family, he might open up socially. I invited him to dinner at my house tomorrow night. He accepted gladly, and ran off to school after getting my number. He hadn't realised that I hadn't touched the jam donut one bit. But for some reason, it was bleeding.

I drove around for the next few hours, resisting the temptation of sitting down at a bar. Only one beer in the morning to forget, I told myself. I needed a drink though because I had had to relive the accident to bring myself to meet with Zheng. I circled a pub and parked next to it. I put my head towards the steering wheel. It reminded me of the accident. I could drink and forget what was just remembered. Or this fear that resonated with it could stop me. Oh what a failure I am. I hit my head against the wheel which honked the car horn and chose to drive home where I would hopefully be safe from the flanks of raging alcoholism.

Irene came home at the same time I did. I let her park her car first. She waited for me at the front door.

"So, how was your day?" she asked. I smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"Great, how was yours honey?" I said. She turned to the door and unlocked it.

"Good - good. We figured out how to make the rocket faster." I closed the door behind me when I got in. The kids ran up to Irene and hugged her.

"That's what you always do, don't you?" The kids hugged me next. They were shouting at me excitedly, trying to tell me their stories of what happened at school. I carried Jonah up so I could hear him better over his sisters' gossip.

"Now what'd you do at school today, pal?" I questioned. Elena and Ovi took off to annoy their mother.

"I made an elephant with Lego," he said shyly.

"Why's that?"

"Because elephants have four legs and we are a family of four."

"But Jonah, there are five of us," I reminded.

"Yeah," he murmured and then giggled randomly.