Diners, Dives & Dead Ends Read Free Page B

it in my gut.
    I dropped my stuff on the
small bistro table in the corner then curled up on my orange futon, but I was
too edgy to sit still, so I stood and paced the room.  Axton gave me his
backpack for safekeeping.  Why?  He was obviously hiding something, but there
was nothing unusual inside of it.  Did it have something to do with his
computer?  And what about the strange man?  Did Axton have something that
belonged to him?  And why did Ax sneak out of his window and not take his car?
    My head ached from asking
myself the same questions over and over.  Should I call the police?  Should I
wait to see if he showed up tomorrow?  I didn’t know what to do. 
    Axton and I didn’t have much
in common on the surface.  I vaguely remembered him as a goofy kid from
school.  We hadn’t been friends, but our parents moved in the same social
circles.  But five years ago, when we ran into each other at the city college,
it was like I saw him, really saw him, for the first time.
    I had been feeling so
hopeless and isolated after moving out of my parents’ home.  All my old friends
had gone back to their expensive schools, my sister had newborn Scotty to take
care of, and I went to work at Ma’s Diner.  I’d gone from country club tennis
courts and a Lexus convertible to shopping for food at the dollar store and
using a bus pass.  I’d never even made my own bed and suddenly I had to figure
out how to pay rent on a dump of an apartment.  I was completely lost. 
    Until I met up with Ax. 
    With his sweet smile and
love of Godzilla movie marathons, he kept me going.  One day at a time.  He
held my hand through it all, offered to lend me money—which I could never bring
myself to take—and brought me pizza.  Lots and lots of pizza. 
    For a while, he was my only
friend.  And I would have lost my way without him.  
    He was an affable,
tech-loving doofus who liked to spark up a bit too frequently and I was a
rebellious smartass who could barely pay my bills.  We were both misfits, not
to mention bitter disappointments to our respective parents.  I loved him like
a brother.  And if he was in trouble, I had to help him. 
    But I couldn’t do anything
about it tonight.  With a sigh, I took my hair out of its ponytail and massaged
my scalp.  In my Post-it sized bathroom, I washed my face, brushed my teeth,
and pulled on a t-shirt my ex-boyfriend, Kevin, left behind.  It was puke green
and bore the name of his band, TurkeyJerk.   
    Boyfriends like Kevin might
drift in and out of my life, but Ax was my constant, the one man I could count
on.  And now he was missing.
    I blew out a breath.  Well,
I was just going to have to find him.  Whatever trouble he was in, I would
help.  Maybe it was my turn to save him. 

Chapter 4
     
     
     
    The next morning I awoke to
my phone ringing instead of my alarm.  “Axton?” I asked, after fumbling with
the receiver.
    “It’s Ray.  You’re late. 
You sick?”  My boss’s gruff voice got me up in a hurry.
    I looked around the room, my
gaze finally landing on the clock.  Six-fifteen.  “Damn.”  I hauled ass out of
bed.  “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
    He grunted in reply and hung
up.
    After throwing on a pair of
semi-clean jeans, a bra and a wrinkled, long sleeved t-shirt, I brushed my
teeth and pulled my hair into a sloppy ponytail.  Then I grabbed my bag and
made it to work in ten minutes.
    “Sorry I’m late,” I yelled
through the kitchen door.  The smell of fried eggs and cinnamon French toast
made my stomach growl.  Tying a blue and white gingham apron around my waist, I
got to work.  I wanted to make sure Axton’s backpack was still safely hidden
away in the syrup box, but there wasn’t time.  The early crowd was in full
swing.
    Ma’s Diner was a hole in
wall.  A little brick building with no sign, a place you’d drive past and never
notice.  Ma’s served breakfast.  Period.  If you wanted a sandwich, it better
be an