Page 40 of Rooster

“Either would be great.”

“Perfect.”

Ronin motioned for the waitress and gave her our order, and we continued with our small talk while we waited for our drinks. Ronin asked Samantha about volleyball, and she told him all about the party she hadn’t been invited to and why her friend hadn’t invited her. Ronin sounded truly sincere as he told her, “Sounds like this girl is a bit of a twit.”

“Oh, yeah. She’s a big ole twit, and Lexie told me the party was lame. Her mom wouldn’t let them watch anything but the Disney channel all night.”

“That does sound pretty lame.”

“I don’t know.” I took a sip of my drink. “I happen to like their movies.”

“I like them, too, but not at a party. That’s lame.”

“Whatever you say, boss.”

The conversation died down when the waitress brought over our pizza and placed the boxes on the table. As the lids were lifted, there was a chorus of “oohs” and “ahhs,” and eyes were wide as we each grabbed a slice and placed it on our plates. Cheese strings stretched and toppings tumbled, but none of us cared. We were too eager to take our first bite, and it didn’t matter that the pizza had just come out of the oven.

The table was silent for several minutes as each of us began devouring our dinner, but it wasn’t long before the eating began to slow. That’s when Nathan looked over to Ronin and asked, “So, what do you do? Like for a job and stuff?”

“Yeah, I work in construction. I mainly do electrical work and stuff like that.” Ronin kept a light-hearted tone as he told him, “We’re actually doing the big renovation down on the square.”

“The bank and ice cream shop?”

“Yeah, that’s us.”

“Wow. That’s pretty cool.” Nathan sounded so grown up as he said, “It’s looking a lot better down there.”

“We’re doing what we can.”

Samantha’s eyes danced with excitement as she leaned forward and announced, “Mom said you had a motorcycle.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Do you ride it a lot?”

“When I can.” Ronin glanced over at me as he explained, “It’s tough to ride when there’s snow and ice on the road.”

“You ever been in a bike crash?”

“Yeah, a few minor burns, but nothing too serious.” Ronin glanced over at me as he added, “I always try my best to be careful.”

“Will you take us for a ride sometime?”

“That’ll be up to your mother.”

Samantha and Nathan both turned to me with hopeful expressions. I held my hands up as I told them, “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Oh, come on, Mom,” Samantha fussed.

“I said I would think about it. Now, finish up your pizza.”

To my surprise, they both complied, and it wasn’t long before our plates were empty and our bellies were full. Ronin paid our bill, then said, “I need to move around a bit. Are you guys up for some bowling or maybe the arcade?”

“Yeah, that’d be awesome,” they both answered in unison.

“Alright then.” Ronin stood as he told them, “But I gotta warn ya, I play to win, or I don’t play at all.”

A smirk crossed Nathan’s face as he snickered, “That sounds like something a loser would say.”

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