Exciting

..........I walked up to the counter and Brian helped me into a seat. “Do you get ice cream?” i asked.
..........“No.”
..........“Why not?”
....................“It hurts my teeth,” and he went on to explain the dental maladies he had suffered over the years. It was fascinating. Luke brought out a plate of fries.
..........“I didn’t order these,” i said, “and i don’t have any money.”
..........“These are mine, “ Luke said smoothly. “I’m on break.”
..........I was disappointed because i really wanted those fries and thought Luke brought them to me as another freebie (free-fry day?) I had protested just in case i would have to pay for them.
..........“You can have some, though.”
..........Brian started telling us that he couldn’t have food that was too hot, either, which was too bad because fries were best when they were piping hot. He listed lots of foods that were no longer enjoyable to him because he had to eat them at room temperature: omelettes, pizza, beer. According to Brian the only thing that was worth the pain was coffee. Coffee didn’t qualify as coffee if it weren’t hot.

..........Luke told us that he didn’t want to spend his break inside the place he was trying to take a break from. “Come outside and eat these with me.”

..........Brian helped me down just as he had helped me up.
..........“Thank you and it was nice to meet you,” i said.
..........“And the same to you.”
..........Luke and i sat on the back step. A short order cook smoking a cigarette nodded in our direction.
..........“Brian was boring, “ i said.
..........Luke laughed, but he said, “I don’t know if that’s a very nice thing to say.”
..........“I don’t mean to be not nice,” i explained. “He just looked scary, i thought he’d have more exciting stories to tell than about his teeth.”
..........Luke laughed again. “I’m sure he does.”

..........I wanted to do anything to keep Luke laughing. The sound of it blew up some happy place in the back of my brain. My head might have been close to floating away from my neck. And when he stopped laughing, he kept smiling, the skin on his face stretched fully from side to side and up and down. I wanted to grab either side of his mouth and pull to see how big his smile could grow. He asked me, “What exciting stories do you have?”

..........“I don’t have any exciting stories,” i answered. That wasn’t true. Losing my brother and sister was an exciting story, but it was sadder than it was engrossing. “Do you?”
..........“Yes, “ he said. I held my breath till he began to speak. “I used to be able to fly.”
..........“No, you couldn’t,” i threw back at him. I was too old to be told fairy tales as if i should believe them. “Don’t tell me stories.”
..........“I wouldn’t tell you stories that weren’t true,” he said and he was suddenly somber. “I used to be able to fly.”
..........I was silent. He ate a few more french fries and then continued. “The first time i flew i was around your age. I was living near the tip of Elephant Trunk, close to your old house. We had a house next to Tusk Cliff. Do you know it?”
..........I nodded. It was a very long drop down to the precious water. Even the most devoted agreed that it was generally a bad idea to take the jump, so mostly teenage boys did it behind their parents’ backs.
..........“My best friend and i always wanted to take the jump because his big brother and his friends did, but my dad always watched us from the house,” he said. “But mostly i was scared.
..........My friend stayed the night once and we slept in a tent in the backyard. In the middle of the night, we snuck to the cliff. There’s a railing and i think even a barbed-wire fence along the edge, but there are also trails left behind from everyone else that had ever snuck in. We probably should have done some reconnoitering in the daylight, but we didn’t think our plan through. Creeping past one of the fences, Tom slipped and began to tumble. Before i knew it, i jumped after him. Gravity didn’t take me down. I was able to control my descent and I swooped under Tom and carried him to a narrow landing in the cliff. We flew back up to the top.”

..........The short-order cook walked back into the kitchen and on his way said, “Luke.”
..........“Break’s over,” Luke said. “I’ll get you an ice cream cone if you want.”
..........By degrees, my disappointment sank in. Our time together was over and I was just beginning to learn Luke’s story. “But your story’s not over.”
..........“For now, it is.”
..........“But i have questions.”
As he led me up the steps and toward the kitchen, i thought i heard him say, “So do i.”
Did your dad find out? Was Tom okay? Why can't you fly anymore? Who else knows? I couldn't stop the flow of questions in my brain and as Luke led me to the front door, one spilled out: "Do you have wings?"
He looked around, not as if checking to see if anyone was listening, but as if receiving guidance from an unseen guru. For the first time, he looked at his stump with self-consciousness. Luke bent down and whispered to me, "I used to."