Bay City Runaway

Chapter 21

(2007)

Amy and I arrived at Sears Fine Foods before Kyra and ordered a basket of calamari.

"So this is like octopus?" she said when it arrived.

"No, squid."

She grimaced and said, "Are they like...tentacles?"

"Yes, but taste one. It's delicious. Here," I said, squeezing lemon juice over the calamari and grabbing one. It was crisp and steaming hot. "Dip it in the marinara sauce like this," I said, dipping and stuffing it hungrily into my mouth. "Oh my God, that is really good."

She made a yucky face but picked out a small piece, dipped it, looked at it for a moment, then nibbled it. Her face changed into a hopeful raise of the eyebrows, and she popped the rest into her mouth. "That shit's pretty good," she said after swallowing and grabbing for another.

"Trust your Uncle James," I said.

Just then, Kyra arrived. I took her in for a moment. She was wearing a purple velvet dress to match her violet hair and a black ribbon around her neck. There was something about the ribbon that made me take a closer look at her. She smiled and made a gesture for me to scooch over in the booth. As she sat down in the booth, Amy gave me a very sullen look and grabbed another bit of calamari, but she didn't eat it right away; she played with it and pulled it apart.

"Mmmmm Calamari," said Kyra grabbing a piece for herself."

"How was work?" I asked.

"Oh, you don't want to know. There was this asshole who'd had a little too much to drink, and—I don't even want to get into it. Just glad my shift is over. Glad you asked me to dinner." She crinkled her nose and reached her hand across the table toward Amy stopping short of touching her and said, "And how are you? How was your day?"

"No assholes at work, at least," she said, giving me a hard look.

"Oh, that's good," said Kyra, politely, "Do you like the work?"

"Bringing people coffee?" she said, "Oh, it's soooo very meaningful. I love getting stiffed and having aching feet at the end of the day."

"Ok," said Kyra, her smile breaking into a look of puzzlement. "Anyway, we're all here, and I'm really hungry, so...have you guys ordered?"

"Nope," I said. "We wanted to wait for you."

"Oh, well that's sweet," she said, smiling again.

"Good luck getting James not to order for you," said Amy.

"Well, it's not exactly like that," I said, "It's just that I already happen to know what the best thing on the menu is."

"Oh?" said Kyra, "Well, then I'll have whatever that is!"

The waiter approached us holding three menus and said, "Hello! Welcome to Sears. Have you dined here with us?"

"Yes, and we'll have three filet mignons cooked medium rare."

"Hold on there, ace," said Amy. "Maybe I want something else."

"Ok, do you want to look at a menu?" I asked, and the waiter began to hand her one.

"No, dammit," she said, shaking her head, "I've been craving one of these suckers for a month." Then she turned to the waiter and said, "Extra butter, please."

"Very good, ma'am. And what would everyone like to drink?"

"Oh, a dirty martini," said Kyra, but then looking at me she said, "Actually—"