Grey's Place - A Diner Story

Bright lipstick-red leather seats split open in places not yet patched, pristine but vintage decor of neon lights and signed photos of the old but famous, and the smell of coffee so thick you’re drinking it as you walk in the door. Grey’s Place, the local diner, is anything but grey. The gravel parking lot has a few cars peppered in it since the dinner rush has not yet started. The owner, looking younger than his age, is out on the wrap-around porch watering the hanging flower beds of sunset oranges, wispy blues, pinks, and muted purples. He has been minding this establishment going on 60 years, rumor is he grew out of the walls and just appeared one day. 

Grey’s Place has the best location for any of the eating venues in the town. It is located just on the edge of town on the main through way so travelers of all kinds can stop in, but also the locals love the home cooking that is consistently created. The town is on the only state road that cuts this way from one border to the other. It would be a tourist trap if it wasn’t for its sordid history during the Civil War, but the majority of the locals are more than happy being a “Stop and Go'' town.

At the bar sits a local couple, their sides touching cozily at the base of their bottoms as they sit together intimately in their familiar place. They each have an ear one way or another to catch today’s gossip and news, they don’t often talk to the new people but they love to listen. This is their 48th year together in this place. He first came to Grey’s when the boys would work strenuous shifts at the sawmill as the town was just starting to thrive. Back then, you could get a full plate of hearty food for less than a dollar and a milkshake if Gramps (he was known as Grey back then) made extra. Gramps would often do this for the poorer, thin boys that came in after their shifts at that wretched mill. He knew how they were treated and knew none of them would survive if he didn’t have affordable nightly specials as well as “accidentally” make too much of something here and there. 

The beautiful missus of the duo at the bar was born here in the mucky moss, her first crib was a wooden crate, and was passed around through a string of different houses in the rich society. Things were different when they first noticed each other, his type were welcome in through the front door, to sit among those at the windows. Hers were forced to enter through the side alley door like a dirty creature and had to sit but not be seen. These rules didn’t hold too long, Grey wouldn’t stand for it and fought them fervently. His business was the first one in the town to intermingle all types of people, nobody argued with Grey. 

He first noticed the fire in her eyes and the spark in her soul when she was chatting with friends at a table in the back. He believed the same as Grey and knew that those who were created equal should not be separated based on the color they were born with. During this time however that is just how things were. He was thankful his parents had both passed on to the next life when he traveled into the back of that diner and sat with her; otherwise, there would have been hell to pay. Thinking back, he knows he would have gladly accepted that hell over the hell of living his entire time on this planet not knowing what a lovely spirit she was.  

Today they both watch as Gramps attempts to keep up with his 18 year old granddaughter, Emma. 

“Gramps”, she complains, “You have to stop giving away so many of the apple fritters to the kids! We are not making a profit ‘cause of all your ‘tasters’ during the weekdays”, she scolded Gramps. 

“Emma, you know as well as I, those kids will go to school hungry if I didn’t share a bit with them. No good tryin’ to learn on an empty stomach”, Gramps said to her a calmly. His words hung in the humid, summer air as Emma attempted to think of a reply. In the end, she shook her head, smiled, and walked back into the kitchen. 

A couple years ago Gramps’s eyesight started dimming, and he finally admitted to Emma that he may need some help with the books. She had a brain for numbers and organization, and it was the best financial decision to have her double check his work. Before his eyes turned against him, his brain started to muddle numbers and items together. He would often miscount change, and the regulars noticed. To help him they created a humorous wooden sign saying, “Count your change, I only passed second grade math”. They placed it by the register and most travelers, out of worry of being short change, would count their change and notice if too much was given.  

Over the decades, Grey’s diner, as well as his home, had been used for shelter during the overwhelming flooding and tempestuous high wind seasons. Once he had his home boarded up and his family safely sequestered inside, he would make his way to the diner. Here, he would shelter locals and travelers. He would keep them distracted with warm drinks, cooking lessons if resources allowed, and stories of his childhood in the swamps. After the storms, the town knew to go to Grey’s for food, information, and to help the rescue teams. 

In total Grey had 7 children, four still living. His wife died along with the youngest child during childbirth, and another child died due to a snake bite when they went out on their own in an angry childlike huff.  Most of his children moved away when they grew older. He had one son who enjoyed cooking in the kitchen and married his childhood best friend. They had three children together before he decided to join up in the military after the planes crashed into the country. He served as a medic for a handful of years, and when his wife was pregnant with their fourth child he saved lives of people in the makeshift infirmary by covering a grenade that was thrown in. 

After the funeral, which was thirteen years ago but still wrenched Gramps’ heart in two, she and the children moved into Gramps’ home. She delivered a healthy baby boy in that home just as Grey’s own wife had done many times before. Once she had delivered her baby her mind slipped into a murky darkness that she was unable to escape. Several weeks later her heart stopped, leaving the four orphaned, and Gramps a single parent again.

Though they had a tragic loss of both their parents, these kids had the whole town as a family. Just as the folks were regulars at Grey’s, the kids were regulars in their homes. As the girls aged some of the female teachers stepped in and helped them learn how to take care of the bodies. These women were known as the Deep Fried Catfish crew at the diner. They were there religiously every Wednesday for the deep fried catfish platter along all the fixins of collard greens, cornbread, hush puppies, and a special dipping sauce. 

The eldest of the grandkids living with him, Elijah, was caught vandalising properties, drinking underage, and causing general upset with the town when he was around sixteen. The grieving young man had even attempted robbing the local market, but thankfully the attendant recognized his voice. After attempting to calmly talk him down, the family friend and ex-Marine had to physically restrain Elijah, zip tie his hands behind his back, and drove him down to the diner to deliver him to Gramps in front of all the patrons. 

After this outburst, the town and Gramps collaborated and intervened to get the young man help with the grief and struggle of losing both his parents. He spent his afternoons either helping Gramps in the diner with different tasks. Three days a week a teacher from the highschool would come in and tutor him to catch him up on the subjects he had fallen behind in over the last handful of years. Those last two years of highschool proved challenging, but Elijah graduated with a full scholarship to the highly competitive medical school at the state university.  

This is when Emma with the help of her sister Ava stepped in to help Gramps with the diner. Ava, a carbon copy of her mother, adores cooking. Along with Gramps’s knowledge of foraging and seasonal items the two of them construct local favorites for monthly and weekly specials. On some occasions there will be daily specials from the garden that Ava keeps. She also takes short shifts to help wait tables and hear the criticism of her menu. Gramps will not let her work more than a couple of hours before he sits her down or sends her home to do her homework.

Noah, the youngest who never knew his parents, has been an obstinate boy. People often assume that he is Gramps’s son. There is little difference in personality and looks between them. Noah, at 13, looks like a mini-me to Gramps. During the afternoons, though he is too young to technically work, he will deliver drink orders at the diner and make milkshakes. He is a wizard with milkshakes and does his own specials on the days he is allowed to work.  The regulars have all commented that he makes the best milkshakes and the only downside is there isn’t any extra when he’s in charge. 

“Hey, Ava,” a regular interrupts the joyful reminiscing of the duo at the bar, “Could you get me some pepper?”

“Sure thing Jo”, she sang back while she lifted one half of this duo from their place at the bar. Traveling swiftly and placed gently onto Jo’s table, she will listen intently to tales and news of the world outside before being picked up to add spice to Jo's food.