Backtracker

Chapter 6-2

By six o'clock, the rush had mostly run its course. All the senior citizens had evacuated the steakhouse and wandered back to their bus. Business dropped off substantially, returning to the low, steady level which was more typical of a Monday evening. In the home stretch at last, Dave and Larry continued to slug away at the mess, clearing tables which they knew wouldn't fill up immediately, washing dishes which wouldn't boomerang back to the dishroom quite so quickly as before. By seven o'clock or so, they finally finished the post-rush cleanup, and everything settled down. The flood of bus pans slowed to a trickle, the counters and shelves were bare, and the two guys actually found time to take a breather.

Leaning back against the counter, Dave wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of one hand. "Man," he puffed tiredly, gazing around the dormant dishroom. "What an evening, huh?"

"Sure was," sighed Larry, sipping from an amber cup full of cola. That was one of the few benefits which came with working at the Wild West Steakhouse: soda was free for the taking.

"I thought this was going to be an easy night, being Monday and all. If I'd known a bus was headed our way, I would've called off sick."

"Aw, it wasn't so bad," Larry said with a shrug. "Nothing we couldn't handle."

"Nothing we couldn't handle," Dave said wryly, "but if it had just been me the whole time, forget it! Before you got here, I was about ready to throw in the towel!"

"Why didn't Tom call somebody in to give you a hand?" Larry asked with a slight frown. "I'm sure he could've gotten someone to come in for a few hours."

"Well," said Dave, catching himself just as he was about to launch a verbal assault on Mr. Martin's character, remembering that Larry had said he was a friend of his. "I really don't know. I guess maybe he figured the rush wouldn't last long, so we wouldn't need an extra person. Once that bus came, I guess he was probably too busy to make any phone calls."

"Or maybe he's just an asshole, huh?" grinned Larry, slyly raising one eyebrow.

Surprised, Dave bugged his eyes wide and laughed. "Well, that's possible, too," he agreed.

"Not just possible," declared Larry. "It's probable."

"Well, that's true," grinned Dave. "I didn't want to say it, with you being an old friend of his and all, but that's definitely true."

Blowing out his breath, Larry rolled his eyes and dismissively waved a hand through the air. "Aw, don't worry about that 'friend' business. I said I was an old friend of Tom's, not a good one."

Dave really laughed at that remark, tossed his head back and hooted. With that one quip, Larry had removed the only obstacle which could have prevented Dave from liking him-the possibility that he enjoyed a close friendship with the imbecilic and iron-fisted Mr. Martin. If Larry had been a genuine pal of Tom Martin, Dave wouldn't have respected him and wouldn't have been able to work with him without worrying that he was Martin's spy.

"So, where did you meet Mr. Martin, anyway?" Dave asked when his laughter had finally subsided.

"Ohio," replied Larry, shaking his cola so that the ice clicked against the plastic cup. "We both worked in a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Dayton. Had to be at least ten years ago."

"Oh yeah?" said Dave. "So did you guys keep in touch since then? I mean, how did you know he was here?"

"We didn't keep in touch at all, as a matter of fact," explained Larry, pausing for a sip of cola. "To tell you the truth, till today, I hadn't seen him since I left Dayton. The whole thing was pretty lucky, really. It so happens I was walking around downtown thins morning, and I bumped into Tom's wife, who knew me from Dayton. She told me he was working here, and I needed a job, so I figured I'd just stop in and see if Tom could help me out."

"No kidding?" said Dave. "Boy, that's something else, you two ending up in the same place after all this time."

"Yeah," nodded Larry. "It's a real coincidence, all right."

"So why are you in Confluence?" asked Dave. "Where were you before this?"

"All over the place," replied Larry, wagging his head. "You name it, I was there. New York, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Tucson, L.A., Denver, Little Rock, everywhere. Last place I stayed was Huntington, West Virginia. I was sort of working my way north, and I hit Confluence, and I just felt like stopping here for a while. It seemed like a nice town, and I was due for a rest, so I just said what the hell, why not stick around a little?"

"Seriously?" piped Dave, truly fascinated now. "You mean you just go from place to place like that?"

"Uh-huh," said Larry. "I can't handle just being stuck in one spot all the time, y'know?"

"Wow," grinned Dave. "How long do you usually stay?"

"Just till I really get to like a place," said Larry. "Soon as I start to like a place, I know it's time to move on."

"How come?" wondered Dave. "If you like a place, why is it time to leave?"

"Because it's better to leave when you still like a place than it is to leave when you're sick of it. That way, there's no hard feelings."

"That makes sense," nodded Dave. "Don't you ever feel like staying in one place, though? Don't you ever get tired of traveling?"

"Nope, " Larry said simply. "Never."

"So where's the farthest you've ever been?"

"Let's see," drawled Larry, gazing thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Buenos Aires, I guess."

"Argentina?" sputtered Dave. "You were the whole way down there?"

"Sure," Larry said matter-of-factly. "I've been the whole way up and down North and South America."

"Geez," sighed Dave. "Where are you from originally?"

"Turkey," said Larry. "My dad was stationed over there when he was in the service."

"Man," said Dave. "You've been just about everywhere, huh?"

"Not even close," chuckled Larry, "but I'm still pretty young, so maybe I'll get there."

At that moment, the busboy kicked the door open and hoisted a tall stack of trays into the dishroom. Their conversation interrupted, Dave and Larry returned to work.

By this time, Dave Heinrich was in awe of Larry Smith. Not only was Larry a hard worker and an okay guy, but he'd been around the world. He was a self-proclaimed drifter, a roustabout who had probably seen and done everything that there was to see and do. The thought of being a rover like that struck a resonant chord deep in Dave's tense and fretful soul.

Dave worried too much about too many things. Secretly, he longed to liberate his spirit, cast off all the obligations and expectations which troubled him so much. Lately, especially, with graduation approaching, he'd been attracted to the idea of escape, of just getting out into the world and living without worrying about the future.

Now, out of the blue, Larry Smith had appeared-a man who seemed to embody the concept of freedom.

It was inevitable: Dave would have to learn all that he could about his new co-worker.