“Is that his car?” she asks, nodding toward the parking lot behind the diner. I grin as I reach into my jacket pocket and jiggle the keys. “And what did you have to do for that?”
“What do you mean?” I ask a little more defensively than I mean to.
“Relax, kid. I was just wondering if you finally clobbered him and took his baby for a spin, is all,” she states, shaking her head.
I give her a nervous look as I shake off the stupid reaction I had to her question. I want to tell her about last night because I see her more as a mom than my coworker, but I don’t know if she’ll treat me any differently for it.
I take a deep breath, drop my eyes to my sneakers, and take another pull on my cigarette.
“What’s on your mind, Amos?” she asks before coughing her ragged smoker’s cough, and sucking on her cigarette again.
Whoosh.
The breath comes out of me and I glance up at her again. I’m pretty sure I must look as terrified as I feel because she reaches over to punch me on the shoulder affectionately. “You’re probably not going to tell me anything I haven’t already guessed, so spit it out.”
“And if you haven’t guessed it?” I ask nervously.
“Then it’ll be my pleasure to know. And our secret if you want it that way,” she offers with a nod.
“Um …” My voice trails off as my mouth goes dry and I wonder if I’m doing the right thing by admitting everything. “So, you know I love you like a mom, right?” Hopefully that’ll lessen the blow.
“There’s no need to butter me up, Amos. Out with it.”
I smile at her as tears start to pool in my eyes. I have no idea why I’m feeling so many different emotions right now other than just being afraid to lose the only mom I give a shit about.
“I’m… I’m not into girls. At all.”
“I know. What else?” she presses as she sucks on her cigarette.
I arch an eyebrow. “How do you know?”
“A mother always knows, kid. You said I’m like your mom, remember?”
I chuckle as a tear rolls down my cheek, then I swat it away quickly.
“Do you have a guy? Is that what you’re so nervous about? You think I won’t like him?” she presses curiously.
I shake my head, “No. I don’t have a guy.”
Katy looks confused for a moment but then it dawns on her about what I’m hinting at.
“You should probably tell me your ways then, because my pussy is covered over in cobwebs, so even if I manage to get it dusted off again, the damn thing has probably shriveled up.”
I let out a laugh and she smiles. I clench my smoke between my teeth as I stretch my arms quickly over my head, leaning to the left, then the right.
“So, are you going to tell me who the lucky guys are or is that part of the charm? Being mysterious and keeping the private life private?”
“Well, this only happened as of last night. I don’t know if it’ll happen again,” I lie.
Katy reaches across and slaps me upside the head. I give her a shocked, outraged look, and she laughs.
“Don’t lie to your mother,” she insists pointedly. “Wait. Don’t tell me. It’s that shit-head brother of yours, isn’t it?”
I nod, chewing the inside of my mouth nervously and wondering if it’s my place to tell Colin’s business too.
“And… don’t tell me. Let me think,” she says, her voice trailing off as she glances up at the morning sky, sucking on her smoke again.
I’m becoming more nervous by the second, because if she says his name, I won’t lie to her. Apparently, that’s something she can detect me doing from a mile away, so it’s not like it would work anyway.