"Hi, what can I get you folks?" The waitress lady asked us.
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From where I was sitting, I could see Dad on a phone call standing by the restrooms. I assumed it was work.
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We sat in the second booth nearest to the entrance. An older white lady who came over to our table to take our food order. She looked like she was in her 60s.
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"Yes, and do you want cheese on those Hamburgers?" she asked Mom.
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"Yeah, he'll take cheese. I'll take cheese on my burger as well," Mom responded to her (she was also ordering for Dad).
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"Pickles?" she asked. She wasn't writing anything down and must have memorized the order.
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"No," Mom said.
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"Okay. For you my dear?" she asked me. I looked over at her name tag, it read "Susan".
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"I'll take a slice of your blueberry pie..." I said.
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"Order FOOD..., Ben," Mom interrupted.
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"I'll just take your turkey sandwich. I was already thinking about ordering that anyways," I responded.
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"Fries or Fruit?"
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"Uhmm..., I'll take fries. Do you mind adding extra onions to the sandwich?"
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"Yeah of course! If it's alright with your mom, maybe I can still bring that piece of the pie when you're done with your meal?" she looked over at Mom.
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"Yeah, you can," Mom told her happily.
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"Alright! I'll be right back!", she smiled big. She went off into the kitchen.
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"Wow, she's nice," I said.
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"Pie, really Ben? I thought you said you were hungry?"
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"I am hungry. I just felt like eating something sweet." Mom tilted her head.
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"And it's BLUEBERRY pie," I said.
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"Well, I want to try some of yours when it comes. But no one has ever made their blueberry pie as good as your grandmother's."
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Grandma Letita's blueberry pie was one of the best things I had ever tasted. We hadn't eaten it in a long time since she had passed away 4 years ago.
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I nodded agreeing with Mom.
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Dad eventually got off the phone and came back to the booth.
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"What happened?" Dad asked us.
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"I ordered for you," she said, "And there's also blueberry pie coming."
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"Okay nice, thanks hunny."
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I scratched my head because I knew the three of us would all be sharing the slice when it came.
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"Who called?" Mom asked him.
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"Work," he said.
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Susan came back to our booth with the drinks we had ordered. She placed the lemonade that I had ordered in front of me. I could tell she had mastered her job.
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"Dr. Pepper and Sweet Tea!" she said handing Mom and Dad their drinks.
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"Wait a minute. Are you Audrey Jones's mother?" Dad asked.
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"Yes. Oh I remember you! You, Audrey and all those other boys used to hang out around the neighborhood, right?"
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"Yeah! It's been what, 20 years?" Dad chuckled, "How is Audrey doing?" He had a concerned look.
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"Audrey is um..., she is still not herself."
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"I see, Kevin has informed me of what had happened to them. Has he been found yet?"
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"No," she said sadly.
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"I'm so sorry."
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"Don't be," she reassured him. "I haven't lost hope that we will find him some day. Is this your lovely son?"
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"Yeah. This is Benjamin and this here is my wife Evelyn," Dad said.
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"Well, nice to meet you guys and nice to see you again. I will be right back with your food," she smiled.
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I looked around the place. The diner was straight out of the 1950s. I saw the old-fashioned radio but I think that it may have been broken because there was no music playing from it.
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The only background noise that I could hear was the news on the two TVs playing simultaneously.
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The place was half full of customers. The two people that were serving were Susan and a pretty girl who looked about my age. She had caught my attention when we first walked in. I kept my head down so Mom would not ask what I was looking at so intently. After looking at her for a little bit too long, my attention was then caught by what was being said on the News.
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"It has been 5 years since the disappearance of Joseph Williams. A former T.S.I. employee. With his disappearance his wife and two children were left behind. The search still continues..."
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My parents were watching the other TV that was behind me with the same broadcast being shown. A Caucasian female anchor was speaking. She was talking about some case that I had never heard of before but seemed interesting.
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They showed a picture of the victim. It was of a black man wearing a mining hat. He was wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans. A small smile showed on his face.
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The news continued...,"A few months after Joseph's disappearance, his wife was admitted into a Psychiatric hospital..." Then out of nowhere, both TVs were shut off. They were just about to show a picture of his wife. I noticed it was the pretty girl with the remote who turned the TV off.
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Wow, she's beautiful - I thought.
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Whatever was on the TV it seemed like it had made her upset. I could tell that she wanted to cry. Her face turned red and her eyes began to water as she stood there by the kitchen doors staring into nothingness. She blinked hard and then ran into the kitchen with the two doors quickly closing behind her.
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I could see Dad's reaction. He too looked saddened by what had been shown on the News.
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The News report stuck out to me considering my parents also worked for the T.S.I., just like the guy who had disappeared.
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The older lady eventually came back to our booth with our plates.
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"Here you are," Susan sat our plates in front of us.
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The food smelt good and hunger was brought back to my remembrance. Also, the thought of how sad that girl looked rang in my head.
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We ate up and were full. It was delicious. The fries were well-seasoned and the sandwich was tasty. Susan must have remembered the pie because right when we were done, she brought out my slice of pie plus two other plates with slices on them.
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"And everyone's pie! It's on the house so don't worry about it," Susan said.
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"Aww, you didn't have to," Mom said.
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"It's your folk's first time! Except Ivan," she said.
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The unusual thing was that Susan didn't leave the table. She watched the three of us take the first bite.
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I put my hand over my mouth, "Woah," I said.
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The blueberries were sweet, not sour. The crust was the best part. It was crunchy but soft and there was some type of glaze on the crust that just made the flavor...burst.
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"Wow!" Dad said, "It's better than the last time I had this."
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"What do you guys think?" Susan said.
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I took another bite. "It's really good. Thank you."
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"Who makes this? Can I talk to them?" Mom asked.
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"I do," Susan said.
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"You're Grandma?" Mom asked.
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"Yeah, I'm Grandma. My grandmother owned this place, then my mother, and now I do."
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Although Ms. Susan was an older lady, it was clear that she was beautiful in her prime and now seemed like a very energetic older woman.
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"This is your Diner?" I asked.
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"Yup," she said.
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I didn't know 'Grandma's Diner' had a grandma. I just assumed it was a brand name.
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I looked at Mom and tears began welling up in her eyes. I was confused until Mom told Susan that the pie reminded her of my grandma Letita. I would say, I had never seen my mom that emotional before.
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"Aww," Susan reached out and hugged Mom.
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"Here you go, hun," Dad gave Mom a napkin and rubbed her back. Mom wiped her tears.
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"You guys are welcome to come back anytime and have pie."
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By this time I was already done with my pie.
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"Do you need any help around here?" Mom asked after she was finished wiping her tears. "I've been thinking about quitting my job for a long time."
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"Yeah. Well, I got my two granddaughters and Gloria. But I'm always hiring. You can come by Monday If you'd like. Where do you work?"
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"For the government."
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"Really? My son-in-law worked for the government, but he disappeared 5 years ago. I say they have something to do with it."
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"Yeah, I wouldn't put it past them," Dad said.
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"Like I said, you can come by Monday. We are open Monday through Friday most of the time."
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"Thank you," Mom said.
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I looked over to see the beautiful girl staring at our table. We made eye contact then she looked away quickly. I wondered if she was just checking me out.
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