Page 10 of The Lawyer's Quandary
“What do you think?” he chuckled as he put it back. “I come here every year to see what I can do for a Halloween costume. Last year, I picked up a pair of bell bottoms that someone must have found in their attic. They fit, and I had a tie-dye shirt, and I was all set. The sixties and seventies had made a return. It was groovy.”
Greg pulled a jacket off a hanger and slipped it on. “This is nice.” He checked the fit. “I love the leather patches on the elbows. It’s retro in an amazing way.” The jacket was wool and impeccably made, but he honestly didn’t know where he would wear it, so he put it back.
“I love this vintage stuff. Everything today is so mass-produced and made in China that it has no soul.” Mark picked up a shirt and checked the size before putting it back. “Sometimes, it’s just about getting the shirt and the size right.” They continued through the store before leaving and walking down the street.
A breeze blew up, and white blossoms fluttered all around them. “What else is interesting?” Greg asked, and Mark sped up before going into a new-age store filled with crystals, candles, and a bunch of decorations like skulls, dragons, and fairies. It had a rainbow flag out front, which was always a plus. They spent a little time looking around and moved on.
The music store was great, and the bookstore was like stepping back in time. There was the paint-your-own ceramics place, and Mark hesitated out front before going inside and goading Greg into painting something for Angie. “She’ll love it, and I have a feeling she’s the one who keeps you on track.”
“She is the mistress of the calendar,” Greg told him. There was a little girl’s birthday going on at another table, and they had so much energy and seemed to be having lots of fun. “She likes cats,” Greg decided, and grabbed one of the cat figures from the display.
Mark put it back. “That one is for Halloween. Get her one of the cute ones.” He pointed to the others as he looked over what to pick for himself.
“Maybe she likes Halloween and black cats?” Greg challenged as he picked out a different one. Then he sat down and started painting. He decided his cat should be yellow witha blue collar and pink ears. Greg knew he was awful at painting things, but he had a ball with it. Somehow he managed to not make a mess of the eyes.
“See, you’re pretty good at this,” Mark told him, and they both laughed because Greg’s looked like it had been done by a demented second-grader. Still, he finish it, and the cat didn’t look like a serial killer, so he considered it a win.
“What is it about you?” Greg asked as they left after paying for their pieces and being told when to pick them up after they’d been fired. “You get me to do things I would never consider, and you make them fun. I don’t go swimming, I never have time to look at tree blossoms, and you got me to paint a cat during Barbie’s Dream Party in there. And I had fun.” Though he wasn’t sure he wanted to admit it.
“If you really want to push it, then we could go out to the dog rescue and get you a friend so you don’t sit in that house of yours all alone.” Mark grinned, and Greg shook his head.
“No way. That isn’t fair to the dog. I’m not home enough, and I can’t take one into the office in case a client is allergic.” Though he would really love to get a dog.
“Did you have one growing up?” Mark asked.
“Yeah. I had a terrier mix named Felix. He was my best friend. When things got tough, I could always count on him to be there, especially when Mom and Dad were disagreeing about things. He’d follow me to my room and sleep in bed with me. On cold nights, he’d crawl under the covers, and I’d wake with his head on the pillow next to me. I got him when I was seven, and I had him until I went away to college. I was worried about what would happen when left, but he passed away a month before I was to go away.” It had been a relief. Mom had always said that she would look after him, but it wasn’t going to be the same for Felix. The two of them had grown up together. “Did you?”
“My house was full of dogs. Mom always had one, and Dad would bring home strays all the time. At one point, we had five, and Mom said that was enough. She put her foot down and didn’t let Dad bring home any more once Oscar and Trooper passed away. Then Kipper went, and Dad brought home a puppy from one of the guys at work. That’s the only one they have now. Rex is small and manageable. He travels with them and is the epitome of his name because he thinks he’s a king.”
“Do you see them a lot?”
Mark sighed. “They’re in Florida, and they drank the Kool-Aid, if you know what I mean. They went full-on weirdness about four years ago. They don’t give me any issues, but the people around them are pretty awful. My parents come up in the summer, and I visit them for a while in the winter around the holidays, but I’m always happy to get home again. What about you?”
“My parents retired and moved to Portugal. They spend most of the year there and have a small villa near the coast. They love it. Mom and Dad have been learning Portuguese, and the village they live in seems to have accepted them as their own. I visit when I can, but it’s always such a pain for me to get there. It’s a flight, a train, and a car ride just to reach their town. Dad has a tiny car and is a complete menace on the road. But they’re happy, and that’s what matters.”
“Do they travel otherwise?”
“All the time,” Greg told him. “They spent time in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Morocco, and that was just last year. They did Britain and Ireland the previous year, and next they want to head east. Dad says they’re going to Egypt to see the pyramids. I get pictures of their adventures all the time, and I’m jealous because I would love to do what they do. And maybe I’ll be able to once I retire in about forty years or so.”
“So traveling is something you enjoy?” Mark asked. “I’ve never been out of the country. My father liked road trips, so we drove everywhere. I don’t think Dad likes to fly. He does it, but I don’t think it’s something he really enjoys. Mom says she always dopes him up before they get on the plane.”
“Oh yeah. I love traveling. The last time I visited my folks, I flew in and out of Paris, and they met me there for a few days. Then we went south to their place for a week. I went up in the Eiffel Tower with Mom and did a lot of the touristy things. Mom says I need to visit Germany and Italy. I haven’t had the time yet. But I’ve been thinking that if I can clear my schedule for a couple weeks in the fall, I’m going to get away. Angie already has them blocked out on my calendar, and every time someone tries to schedule that week, she diverts them. She’s even gone so far as to alert the court here in town that I’ll be unavailable. She knows all the court clerks and put the word out for me.”
“She’s definitely a keeper,” Mark said as they wandered through town and headed west. “Speaking of Italy, I could use Italian food. What about you?”
“Cool. We’re headed the right way,” Greg told him, and they continued walking through town and then across the Dickinson campus to a small place that made the best pizza. The campus buzzed with students out on the lawns in the classic Adirondack chairs spread all over campus. Guys played ball on the lawns, and everyone seemed to be enjoying the day. “It’s just up ahead.” They went another couple blocks and entered the restaurant. It wasn’t fancy, but the food was awesome.
“I’ve never been here.”
“Then you’ve been missing out.” They took an empty table, and the server hurried over, taking their drink orders.
“If you want pizza, you need to get it in right away. We’re expecting a huge order from one of the campus organizations soon, and that will slow everything down.”
“Then give me a Bambino special,” Greg said, his usual order. Mark looked things over and ordered the same with a beer.
“This is my treat,” Mark said, and they talked about everything and nothing as the server put in their orders and got their drinks. “I guess I’ve never realized just how large the town is.”
“This end is largely businesses that serve the campus, though townies come here too. I love that the campus is here. It makes our really old, historic town feel young and vibrant. I swear if the college wasn’t here, the town would have gone to sleep long ago and never woken up again. There’s always something going on, and everyone benefits from it, especially with how the college opens many of their programs to the public.”
