Over a Cup of Coffee

(Contains the topic of death during 9/11)

Being a girl in a big city was quite the challenge, but here she was. She could never have done it without the help of her parent’s full support. Grade school, first car, college, apartment, big city job. She’d made it. And now here she was, at a ripe 28, stepping off a plane on a warm Saturday morning in rural North Carolina. All her life she’d been hunting a man. Not just any man, but the man. The man who had, in his own way, contributed to her life. 

She had talked to the man over the phone about her visit. She’d panicked and led with “I know you have no idea who I am”. And once convinced, he’d finally agreed to meet at a small cafe. And here she was.

She rented a beat up car and set her phone’s GPS to the small cafe a few towns over. 

Once there, she found a window seat and ordered a black coffee with sugar and then quietly sat watching out the window. All kinds of people passed by. She watched them, the way they dressed, how happy they were, their accents full and thick. She’d never heard anything like it. She felt like an outcast, like all eyes were on her. On her short cropped hair and expensive dress clothes. She didn’t even know the soft song that was playing overhead in the cafe.

She sipped her coffee and waited, turning her head to the bell that rang out every time the door to the cafe opened. She shook her head, trying to dissipate the anticipation, dragging her eyes back to the window. She instead studied the fluffy summer clouds and lush mountains wrapped around the town. 

The door rang over and over and she did her best not to look, until a man walked up to her table with a straight face. “Katie?” He asked.

Wringing her hands nervously, she tried not to crack a smile. She was giddy at this opportunity, but this was a sensitive topic for this man. Instead she noted his features. He was at least 6 foot, with dark eyes and an aged face. He had to be in his fifties. Wearing the wrinkles at his eyes well, he had short gray hair tucked under a ball cap. He was sporting a grease stained shirt and worn blue jeans, no doubt from a machine shop. Glasses were tucked into a pocket on his faded shirt. This hadn’t been what she’d imagined he’d looked like, but it didn’t matter because here he was.

”Katie, right?” He said again, reaching a hand up to rub the back of his neck. 

She panicked from embarrassment as her cheeks turned crimson, forgetting he’d asked her name. And yet, she had made him stand there awkwardly while she stared at him. He must be embarrassed too. “Oh um, yes, I’m Katie. Please, have a seat.” 

“I-I’m sorry to have kept ya waitin.” He drawled, as he slid into the booth across from her.

She smiled. “No need to apologize, Robert. That's quite alright. That’s what people call you, right?”

“Rob, actually, is fine.” He looked at the wrinkled hands in his lap.

”Well, it’s nice to meet you, Rob. May I ask how you knew it was me?”

”Well not to come across as rude but you just look like you’re not from around here is all. Dressed real nice and all.”

She thought about the people who’d passed by the window earlier and frowned. ”Yeah, I noticed that myself. Soo how long have you lived here in NC?” She asked him in an attempt to break the ice.

He sat in thought for a second before responding. “Mosta’ my life. Grew up here. I moved to New York for a while, but had to come back to take care of my Momma. She got real sick.”

“Oh, well it sure is beautiful here.”

He grunted in agreement.

Before she could further comment, a young waitress wearing a floral summer dress bounced up to their table. “Can I get you or your Daddy anything to eat, baby?” She started confidently as she pulled out a pen and pad.

Simultaneously they began correcting her and shaking their heads. “No, no, ma’am, this ain’t-“ Rob tried, raising a hand.

“Oh we’re not-“ She said to the waitress before seeing her face. The young girl looked puzzled and ashamed.

”This ain’t my daughter, Sarah.” He corrected her, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “My daughter lives in Tennessee. This is the lady I told you about the last time I was in here.” His color seemed to have drained.

”Ohhhh! The girl from New York! I remember.” She started, while the curly ginger hair framing her face tried to spring from the bandana she had tied around it. “I am so sorry about that sweetie. I didn’t know. I was waiting to take Rob’s order here when he got a call and I told him I’d wait. And when he got off the phone he just looked plum lost. I just had to know, ya know? Rob’s such a good man, ya know. But I’m ramblin now. What can I get ya’ll?”

Rob frowned, “Just a black coffee is fine, Sarah. Thank you.”

She flicked a red curl over her shoulder. “No problem. Be right back.” 

They both watched her bounce away with a smile, her curls bouncing along with her. But when she was out of earshot, they both began to quietly laugh. 

Rob shook his head, “That’s Sarah. She’s the preacher’s daughter. Real nosey, too. The last time I was in here is when I got your call. She happened to be there and asked if I was okay. I told her what you said about meeting me. She thought it was real strange, me not knowin you. Said she was sure it was important.”

“I’m sorry if I made this weird for you, Rob. That wasn't my intention at all.”

”No, no.” He insisted, shaking his wrinkled hands.

”Alright. Well the reason I came is, well, I know I didn’t-“ Katie began when the waitress walked up to their table with Rob’s coffee.

”Here you are, hun. Let me know if ya’ll need anything!” She said as she placed the coffee cup down and turned on her heels and walked to another table. He lifted the warm cup and drank.

Katie cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. I was saying that I know I didn’t exactly go in depth about me meeting you. I know I told you it was about my Mother, but you don’t know her either. I’m sorry to have kept you in suspense but I was afraid that if I'd told you the reason for this meeting, you would’ve declined.” She looked him in the eyes. He just gazed back quizzically. 

“Well, then what’s this here meeting about then?” He questioned her and placed the cup back on the table.

”It is about my Mom. But it’s about something you did in New York a long time ago. I was only five years old.”

She watched his face drop and his color disappear along with it. He sat back in thought, trying to read her face. Gazing into her lap, she tried to keep the tears back as she began to think about what could’ve happened to her mother if he hadn’t done what he did. Her tears fell anyway, a few spilling onto the table.

“How old did you say you were, again?”

”I’m 28.” She said quietly.

Rob pulled his hat off and laid it in the seat beside him, then brushed his hands through his short hair. He lifted his coffee cup and took a few sips, then sat it back down. “This is about what happened in New York all those years ago, isn’t it?”

She was shocked he had a clue about what she was here for but nodded. “Yes. It is. When the twin towers were hit. You were a firefighter, correct? You were a few streets down when they were hit and got called to the scene. People were rushing around and screaming. I was with my Dad when he heard the news reporter announce it on the TV. My mother worked in the South Tower and my dad saw footage of the plane hitting the tower on the news. Dad started yelling ‘no’ over and over again. I didn’t understand. He grabbed me and threw me in the car, didn’t even buckle me in. I remember him parking several blocks away from the scene. I watched from the car as the tower my mother was in began to slowly collapse first. Just a few floors at first.”

Rob placed his elbows on the table and placed his head in his hands. She couldn’t make out his face but he seemed distraught.

She continued quietly anyway. “You were going in and out of the building trying to save people. They wouldn’t let my Dad any closer to the building, but he was crying. I watched you carry my mother away from the building and place her on the ground.” Katie choked, she couldn’t seem to breathe. “My Dad broke through and I saw him kneel on the ground beside you, talking to you. He scooped her up and brought her back to the car and we rushed to the hospital. Thankfully, she was only a ways up the building. She was checked into the hospital for smoke inhalation.” 

She watched the old man raise his head. He had tears in his eyes. But he didn’t speak.

“I was told you went back in. My Dad only remembered your last name because it was on your uniform. I-I didn’t even know if you were alive.” She squeaked out. “But I knew I owed it to you to at least thank you.”

Tears streamed down his face. “I saved four. My only regret is I couldn’t get any more out. My tank was out. And they told me I couldn’t go back in because the tower was gonna fall flat. It did after I got your mother and then another woman out. I saved one man and three women. They took me to a hospital for a broken arm. I got it from the scene we was at before the towers got hit.” He paused. “How did you find me, anyways?”

Katie wiped her own tears. “A few of my friends from college helped me out. They were studying law enforcement and later became officers. They had connections. I didn’t believe it when they told me they’d found you. I thought it was a joke. But here you are. You… saved my Mom. I don’t know what I would’ve done without her. You’re a hero.”

”No, no. That I ain’t.” He said, wiping his own tears. “I just did what was right.”

“Well, you’re a hero to me. Thank you. I don’t know how else to say it. You deserve some sort of an award. I mean, my Mom wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you. I just wish they could’ve met you themselves. Their health prevents that.”

”Well, I’m truly honored you came all this way. But I just did what I could. Wish I coulda done more.” He rubbed his eyes, before placing his hat back on. “I gotta get back home now, gotta feed my own Momma. I didn’t leave her any lunch.” He says with a smile and stands carefully.

Katie rushed to her feet with tears forming again. She stepped past the table and tightly wrapped her arms around the rugged man. 

Rob hesitated before wrapping his arms around her, accepting the embrace. “Now, now. No reason to cry again. You can always call. I’m proud to have done so much for you. But I’m a humble and honest man. No need for no awards. It was a dark day, it was. But it’s in the past. We won’t ever forget it, but nothin can change it.”

Katie let go of him. “Thank you anyways. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more for you.”

”Ohh, no need. This made my day, really. But you take care now.” Rob placed enough cash for both of their drinks on the table and began to walk away, coffee cup empty and heart full. He got to the door and turned back to Katie, who was still standing in the same place. As if she was stuck in a dream. 

He opened his mouth once more, “Tell your folks I said hello.” And with a nod of the head and a ring of the bell on the door, he was gone.