Dinner At Paisano's

This story includes a character planning to engage in gun violence. 

Eric walks into Paisono’s Pizzeria and takes a seat in a booth. As he waits for his order to be taken, he reaches under his Army surplus jacket and runs his hand across the shoulder holster that holds his Ruger semiautomatic handgun. Touching the thing seems to give him reassurance about what he’s her to do on this crisp autumn Friday evening.

“Do you need a menu, sir?” the cute, little redheaded waitress asks him.

“No, I know what I want,” Eric replies. “Two pepperoni slices, order of breadsticks with a side of marinara, and a large Coke.”

“I’ll get it right out for ya,” she says. Her smile would melt a young guy’s heart.

As the waitress heads for the kitchen, Eric looks around and thinks that this place hasn’t changed much in 20 years. He scans the other booths and tables, a habit he’s had since he was a small child.

There are some middle aged guys wearing the school colors of the Huntsboro Hawks. Obviously on their way to tonight’s high school football game. The guys are noisy and obnoxious. Eric notices the almost empty beer pitcher. He wonders if they’ll make it to the game.

There’s an elderly man in bib overalls devouring a stromboli. He reminds Eric of his paternal grandfather. Grandpa Mills was a miserable old coot. Eric remembers that there were only about a dozen people at his funeral.

There is a teenage couple. They are probably not in the running for Homecoming King and Queen this year. Overweight and acne covered. They are holding hands and seem to be enjoying each other’s company. Eric decides they will be the last.

Or maybe not. A pretty blonde woman enters the restaurant, holding hands with two little boys. Both boys are chubby with curly blonde hair. One kid is a toddler and the other looks like he’s kindergarten age. It’s almost like looking at us, Eric thinks. Thankfully, his redhead waitress shows up with dinner and that distracts him. Thinking of the past might lead to second thoughts. Can’t have that.

“Enjoy,” she says. Then, she winks before she goes over to wait on the blonde and her boys.

Eric’s mouth begins to water. Paisano’s has the best pizza in the state, no question about that.

Eric picks up one of his slices and takes a bite. Yeah, the best anywhere, maybe. And it hasn’t changed a bit since the first time he was here. He was nine years old. And that day is as vivid in his memory as yesterday. As he chews, whether it will lead to second thoughts or not, his mind drifts backward through time…

#

The bus stopped in front of their house on McDonald Road. Eric and his little sister Becky clambered off. Eric was nine and Becky was seven. She was still holding onto his arm as they walked to their home. On the bus ride, Brad Cooley had called Eric a queer and Eric had wanted to fight him over it. Becky had grabbed his arm and said, “No, it ain’t worth you getting in trouble for!” She had kept a firm grip on him for the rest of the ride.

As the bus drove away, Eric pulled away from her.

“Ain’t no need for that. Ain’t gonna be no fight now!”

His little sister’s lip trembled and her eyes clouded up. He had hurt her feelings and that was the last thing he wanted.

“Thanks for helping me stay outta trouble, okay?” Eric said.

Her sweet little face brightened. They walked to front porch, opened the door, and walked into their living room. Their four year old brother Dalton was on the floor, playing with his Matchbox cars.

“Hi!” Eric said as he looked up from his playing. He got up and walked over to his brother and sister. They had a group hug. They were always a close knit group.

Mom walked into the room. She walked over to the couch and sat down. Mom was a beautiful lady. She was tall, slender, and blonde. The younger kids had inherited her blonde hair. Eric had dark brown hair like his father.

“Come here, kids. I need to talk with you.” Mom’s voice sounded like it was about to crack. Her eyes were red. Dalton climbed onto her lap, while Eric and Becky sat on either side of her.

“This is hard for me, but you need to know.” She took a deep breath. “Your father has decided that he doesn’t want to be married any more.” she stoped and had to wipe tears from her eyes. Seeing her cry made Dalton and Becky cry as well. Eric wanted to cry, but he bit bit his lower lip and was able to hold back hie emotions.

“What does that mean, Mommy?” Becky sobbed.

Mom breathed deeply again.

“OK, he won’t be living with us. I’ll probably need to get a job somewhere. But, we’ll be okay. I promise you that I’ll do whatever needs done to make sure you three are okay!”

Eric didn’t really know what to do, so he just stared at the floor. His mother wrapped her arms around her younger children and they sobbed together. Eric was determined not to cry for some reason that he really couldn’t understand.

After a few minutes, his mother spoke up.

“Hey, let’s not sit around here and be sad! Let’s go try out that new pizza place for dinner tonight, how’s that?”

Dalton clinched his little fists and raised his arms in the air like a victorious prizefighter.

“YAY!” he yelled.

She got up from the couch.

“Will you kids be alright while I wash my face and put on makeup?”

“We’ll be okay,” Eric said.

She walked over and hugged Eric.

“I want to thank you for being a little man,” she said and then she kissed him on top of his head.

That night was their first time at Paisano’s. They sat at a table right in the middle of the place. There was a jukebox and a pinball machine in the restaurant back then. Eric got to play a few games of pinball and Becky and Dalton got to play a few tunes on the jukebox. Dalton was always a country music fan, so he chose George Jones tunes. Becky played the Bee Gees and Dalton teased her by putting his fingers in his ears.

Even back then, Eric noticed the other patrons in the restaurant. There was a bowling team in matching shirts with HARRISON’S FURNITURE printed on the back. There was an elderly couple, dressed up like they were going to church. There was a huge, bald man who smoked a cigar. This was long before smoke free facilities.

Eric and his family had their dinner and they all enjoyed it very much. After his mother had finished, Eric noticed his mother staring at the elderly couple. The woman was wiping pizza sauce off her husband’s chin.

“I always though I would be like that someday,” Mom said, her voice breaking. Then, she started dabbing at her eyes with a napkin. Dalton reached out and grabbed her free hand. Eric waited until she put the napkin back on the table and then he grabbed her other hand.

She smiled at both of her sons.

“My two men,” she said.

#

Eric finishes the last of his food and then begins sipping what remains of his drink. He looks around the restaurant. The young couple has gone. The football fans are still there, talking loudly. The old man in the overalls is finishing up. He needs to do what he came for soon. The waitress brings his check. He hands her a twenty . As she walks away, Eric reaches inside his jacket to the holster. There’s a strap across the top of the shoulder that holds his gun in place. He unsnaps it. It’s almost time.

He scans the room one last time. The pretty blonde and her two boys are still here. The smaller boy has climbed into the woman’s lap and is kissing her cheeks. The woman is smiling and laughing. Eric thinks about his mother.

My two men. The words echo in his mind.

Erich reaches into his jacket. He has the gun in his hand. All that is left for him to do is to draw the gun and commence firing. The little boy has stopped kissing the woman’s cheeks. Now, she kisses him on the forehead.

Eric releases his grip on the gun. He takes a deep breath. He stands up and walks toward the door.

“Hey, hon, you forgot the change,” he hears the waitress say.

Without even looking back, he replies, “Why don’t you keep it?”

Eric leaves Paisano’s Pizzeria and walks to the parking lot behind the building. He climbs into his truck and drives away.

Two days later, a Ruger semiautomatic handgun, wrapped in an Army surplus jacket, is found in a dumpster behind a Dollar Tree in town.