That Song

THAT SONG

         “Change the song; it's making me weep.”  It actually making me sick; listening to the strains of ‘Misty’ three times in a row is enough, that young guy must be suicidal.

         I call Mike over and hand him a five spot, “Do me a favor, buy him a drink and turn that shit off, please Mike!”  He moved over to the middle of the bar and hit the remote eject button, immediately silencing room.

         “The lady is buying you a drink.”  Ted raises his head squinting at me. 

         “Thank ya kind lady.”

         I nod my head then turn to Mike.  “So now what do I do if this asshole comes over here?” 

         “He’s a harmless bum.”  There’s a twinkle in his eye.

         “Really?  So Young!”  I begin to feel for the guy.

         Mike admits, “No.”  Mike steps back chuckling because he knows I’ll hit him.

         “You make jokes about dead birds too?”  I stick my tongue out at him.  “Jerk...” 

         At fifty-five he is twenty-five years my senior, he watches over me and always makes sure I get home safe.  When they were in high school, Mike and my mom were sweethearts but dad finally won over my mom’s heart. 

         “How’s your Mom?”

         “She’s still not over pops passing.  Well you know; you went through it with Michelle three years ago.  It can be hard.”

         “We’re having a ladies night tonight, why not drag her out and have a few laughs.”  I can see the twinkle in his eye again and know his intentions are real.  “Get her mind off it.  It helped me to finally get out.”

         Reaching into my purse for my phone.  “I don’t know?  She hasn’t been too receptive to this kind of thing.”

         “Hi Mom… I just ran into Mike… You know, Tailor… No, he asked about you… No nothing like that…  He is bartending at the Gables Restaurant… Yea, that one.” 

         Mike signaled me that he wanted to talk.  “He’s right here, he wants to say hello…”

         “Hi Betty, I was so sorry to hear about Arthur… I didn’t see him that often but … Me… no I’m doing just fine… a little lonely sometimes, I took this job to occupy my mind…” There is a long pause as he listened to Mom.  “Betty, I have an ulterior motive for asking to talk to you…”  He took a deep breath,  “Wanna go out on a date tonight?”  He chuckled.  “I am off tonight and free to sweep you off your feet…”

         He closes his eyes and frownes. 

         “Come on… I’ll drink to Michelle and you can drink to Arthur and we can drink to each other…”  She must have agreed because he closed with,  “Ok then, I’ll pick you up about seven?  Fine..”  He snapped the phone shut and handed it back to me.  “She’s still a tough old bird!”

         “That’s my mom.”  I pushed my glass and change toward him, “I have to get going, grab a bite and change, I want to be there when you sweep her off her feet.” 

         “How about, you just change and I will buy you and your mom dinner?” 

         “You willing to feed Sam also, I have a date with him tonight.”

         He picks up his tip jar and pushes the bills around with his finger, “Yea, that’ll work… if you guys pick up the tip.”

“Done!”

* * *

         When Sam and I arrive at the restaurant Mom and Mike are already seated and drinking what looks like champagne.  Mike stands up, “Hi guys, as you can see we started without you.”

         Sam shakes Mike’s hand and stands beside me, “Mom this is Sam Cronin, we work in the same department at the plant.”

         “Hi Sam, I’ve heard nothing about you, so be prepared for my third degree.”  She glares at him with her most intense stare.  “Got cha`” She breaks into a smile.

         After ordering our meals, the sound of ‘Misty’ drifts out of the bar.  We all sit and eat quietly, sort of an unnerving quiet, when Mike turns to Sam, folds his arms across his chest and says.  “Just what are your intensions toward Ellen?” I sit back and look at him also with a stern look on my face.

         He looks at both of us and then at mom.  “Well, is that before or after I get her drunk?”

         That is the tension breaker for the evening.  The dinner goes smoothly and I was so happy to see mom, smiling, happy and acting normal; the same normal she was when dad was alive.

         She became tipsy, repeating her sentences and slurring her words some.  Sam, being the only one who had to drive; will be surprised when I ask him to spend the night on my couch.  As the night turns into the wee hours the bar slowly empties out. 

         Mom and Mike nurse their last drinks for an hour and mom’s sobriety is returning slowly, they talk quietly about old times; she is holding his hand.  Sam and I fell into a conversation about work and every once in a while I noticed Mom and Mike exchanging warm glances. 

         Three AM and we manage to close the place.  Sam is going to call a cab when I gave him the good news.  After saying good night, Mom and her old love walk off arm in arm. 

         At my apartment Sam acts the perfect gentleman lying down on the couch in his cloths.  After changing into my nightgown I invited him into my bed, which was my intension all evening. 

Saturday Morning

         In the morning Sam acts the domesticated male and makes us breakfast.  Afterward I call Mom, Mike answers the phone in a sleepy voice.  ‘Misty’ is playing in the background.  “I forgot to tell you, this is our favorite song: you know your mom loves Mathis.”  Sort of half surprised I can hear mom say, “Mike, you get up and make breakfast!  Make me Farina!”

Word Count = 998