Shell Shocked

Chapter 4-1

Chapter 4

Alec ordered the pepperoni egg-shaped pizza, the only topping Gabe would eat, before glaring across the table at Dom as though telling him to order his own food. The waitress shifted on her feet; Dom held back a sigh and asked to see the menu again. He tried to flash her a smile as he asked for a plate of ravioli, but she was distracted as a child ran up to her, plastic egg in hand.

“Found one!” he said, waving the red plastic around before opening it. The waitress bent down to him and read the slip of paper inside the hollow egg.

“You get a free dessert pizza,” she said, standing. “Why don’t you lead me back to where your parents are and I’ll tell you all about the kinds of toppings? We have apple, chocolate strawberry, chocolate peanut butter, chocolate bacon…”

“Sit back down,” said Dom to Alyssa as she stood on the booth to see where they were going. Alec shot him a glare that conveyed he did not want him taking any part in disciplining the kids any longer, but wasn’t going to speak it aloud because he didn’t want to answer any questions they were sure to have.

“That chocolate bacon pizza sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?” said Alec instead, smiling at his kids. “After we’re done with our pizza we’ll have to see if there are any eggs still left to find here.”

“I want apple pizza,” said Alyssa. “Not bacon. And not pepperoni.”

Dom tuned out the bickering and whining that followed as best he could, concentrating on the printed paper placemat in front of him. There was a simple maze there, a few pictures to fill in with crayons. On the back, however, there was a list of Eggstravaganza events for the next few days, which he folded up and pocketed. When he’d agreed to join in on the trip he hadn’t bothered to look up anything about the place, as Alec had already had it covered.

His hand bumped his phone in his pocket and he felt a small rush. He had Kiko’s number now and Alec had no idea. Dom didn’t normally move this fast after a breakup, but then, he’d never had a breakup quite like this, and the time and place seemed right. If things didn’t work out with Kiko—or if he wasn’t actually interested, just friendly—Dom would be back to work by next week and could forget the entire thing. It was a good feeling.

“What are you so happy about?” asked Alec, ruining Dom’s brief better mood. “Didn’t you just see…?”

“Chad’ll be fine,” said Dom, not completely sure why he was able to recover so much better than Alec. They were simply different people. Nothing was more apparent than that, now that Dom thought on it. “It’s a small town. I’m sure they’ll catch whoever’s responsible.”

Alec pushed a yellow crayon that had rolled toward him back to Gabe.

“I saw some people checking out this morning, after what happened yesterday. If people don’t stay for the Eggstravaganza there won’t be one next year.”

“You’re not worried?” asked Dom. He wondered that Alec was fine with having his children still here after all that had happened. Alec shrugged.

“We just won’t go back to the egg shop. Someone’s targeting the place. Probably drugs. That store looks like a front for them, doesn’t it? How else you think they make any money?”

“Alec, you’re here spending money for an egg-themed weekend.”

Alec opened his mouth to say something dismissive when the egg-shaped pizza arrived, followed by Dom’s ravioli, which he concentrated on to avoid the parent-child battle as Alyssa refused to eat. He wondered why he hadn’t split from Alec for the day; Mount Angus was, after all, a small, mostly-walkable town. Maybe after lunch. It would be nicer to wander around alone.

A painfully awkward meal passed, but soon enough Alyssa was trying to push past Dom to get out of the booth and run around the place. He and Alec let the children out, the latter telling Alyssa to watch out for her brother as they went. He finished his pizza, watching Dom with an odd expression.

“What?” asked Dom, pushing his empty plate away.

“I can handle my kids without Megan. Or you.”

Dom rolled his eyes.

“I’m not having this argument with you again. You should call her. You won’t.”

“That bothers you, doesn’t it?” asked Alec, looking pleased. The waitress returned then, to drop off the checks and clear away the plates, and Dom jumped up as Alec tossed his card down.

“I’ll pay at the register,” he said, and followed after the waitress, who disappeared into the kitchen with the dishes before appearing at the counter.

“Did you enjoy the best pizza and pasta in town?” she asked, smiling pleasantly as she ran Alec’s card.

“It was delicious, thanks.”

She laughed.

“That’s good, ‘cause Pasta la Vista is the only pizza and pasta place in town!”

Dom smiled back at her. It occurred to him that she, being a local, might have a better idea about what was going on with the explosions. Nothing he’d heard so far sounded quite right; destructive teens and drug dealers were more like something from a bad TV show.

“Not worried about business after what happened?” he asked. She lowered her voice.

“You mean what happened to Buddy Angus yesterday?” She shook her head. “Poor Buddy Miller. He loved that cow. He can’t be taking it well.” She paused to swipe his card. “Noodlebeard—the chef and owner here—isn’t too worried. Actually, last I heard, he’s hoping it’ll bring in more customers. An exploding cow? That’s gotta be good for tourism, right?”

“Noodlebeard?” asked Dom before he could stop himself. She laughed as she handed him cards and receipts.

“Oh, that’s just his nickname. On opening night a few years back there was an incident in the kitchen, and he accidentally came out to visit a few tables with a full strand of vermicelli stuck to his beard! He’ll never live that one down, but he’s used to the name now.”

Dom returned to the table with the thought that perhaps he just wasn’t very good at asking the right questions for information. He was no detective. Alec sat with the kids, happily going through the three eggs they had managed to locate.

“Free coloring book,” he read out, glancing down at Gabe. “They can’t all be coloring books. And this one…coloring book?” He grabbed for the last slip of paper. “Coloring book?”

Dom gladly watched Alec turn red with irritation.