Page 21 of DadBod

“Yeah. She was supposed to be home watching me.”

“Don’t you think you should tell your father? This is a big city. She shouldn’t go out by herself at night.”

“Uh––no.” Calvin shakes his head back and forth. He sounds shocked at the suggestion. “She threatened to take a hammer to my PlayStation if I told on her.”

“Would you like me to tell him?”

Calvin is silent for a minute or two. “Maybe?” I can see his face from here. He’s thinking about it. “That could work, because if she asked me if I told on her, I could tell her I didn’t, and it wouldn’t be a lie.”

“That’s true.” The woman pauses. “Why don’t we do this. When our server…”

“Elizabeth.”

“When our server, Elizabeth—”

“She’s the best one. My dad says so.”

“Is she?”

“He likes her.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. She’s cool.”

My heart doubles in size. And not because of what he said about Rome. It’s because he, Calvin, thinks I’m the best and I’m “cool.” That means a lot to me.

“When the cool waitress, Elizabeth, comes back, I’ll ask her to get your father.”

“Let’s eat first. He’s gonna get angry, which means I’ll probably have to go back to my grandma’s.”

“Fine. As soon as we eat dinner—”

“And dessert. We’ve got the best italian ice.”

“After dessert… we’ll ask for your father to stop over.”

“Okay. That’s a good plan.”

“Indeed.” The woman is nice. I’m sorry I said she was a bear now. “Now, do you want to talk about your mom?”

Calvin’s quiet.

“What was she like?”

“Pretty. She loved me a lot.”

“I’ve no doubt. You’re a wonderful young man.”

“I know.”

Part of me wants to laugh, but most of me wants to cry. That poor child. I’m not able to listen anymore since I’ve got other tables to deal with, plus I need to get Calvin some lemonade. Maybe I’ll catch more later.

I don’t get to hear much more. The woman loves the spaghetti and meatballs. She tells me she’d like to speak to the person who created the recipe. “Not the chef. The other man. The owner.”

Okay. Here we go. “Sure. Let me get him for you.”

When Rome steps up to the table, she introduces herself. “Rome? I’m Sandra. I’ve had the privilege of dining with your son.” She smiles at Calvin. “He recommended one of your main dishes. The spaghetti and meatballs. I’ve got to say, it was delicious.”