Runaways (Orphans 5)

"You work restaurants before?"

"Yes, ma'am, summers," I told her.

"Okay," she said. "Thanks." She went to deliver another order and I followed, offering coffee. Crystal sat astounded and Butterfly looked at us with a beaming smile.

"We could use more help," I told Crystal. "Raven seems occupied." The young man had asked for more coffee and was lavishing praise on Raven.

She looked a little uncomfortable but kind of interested at the same time.

Finally, the place began to empty and Patsy was able to catch up on her work. The breakfast rush was over. She gave a man coffee at the counter and then walked over to Crystal and me.

"How come you girls are on the road by yourselves?" Patsy asked.

"We were heading out to California to visit my aunt for two weeks," Crystal said. "We all go to the same school back in New York and our parents gave us money for the trip. It was supposed to be a summer adventure. Now, we have to turn back," she said sadly.

"When were you supposed to be in California?" Patsy asked.

"It didn't matter. We could take our time. We had the whole summer," I added, embellishing Crystal's imaginative concoction. It was funny how I always thought of Crystal as telling creative stories rather than lies. I guess it was because I knew she had no meanness in her, no real deceit. She always looked as if she enjoyed making up the lies as much as she would enjoy making up a story for English class.

"We made the mistake of picking

up a girl hitchhiker yesterday and she robbed us," Crystal continued, mixing the truth with fantasy.

"I see," Patsy said, shaking her head.

She looked at two of the tables where customers had left tips.

"Some of that money is yours, girls," she said. "Oh no. You gave us food. We can't take that," I said.

She laughed and thought a moment as we watched Raven say good-bye to the young man she had been talking to all this time.

"Well, if your aunt can wait a few more weeks for you, I could use some help here and you can earn enough money to get to California," she said. "I have a cottage behind the restaurant you four can use. It's not much. You'll have to fix it up some, but I can give you fresh towels and linen. It was once used for travelers," she added. "Back when my husband was alive."

"What happened to him?" Crystal asked.

"He was killed in a car crash, drunk driver. You heard mention of my son Danny. He's not much help here, I'm afraid. He's been a handful ever since Eddie was killed. Charlie there has been our cook for over ten years."

"That's right," Charlie said, smiling. "You girls were really good out there. Real professional."

"This was once a pretty busy little place before they built the new highway. In those days we could afford a full staff of waiters and waitresses. I had a counterman, too. I can't pay you much, but you can make some good tips and have free room and board. This is a busy time of the year for me, the busiest," she added.

"We can do that, can't we, Crystal?"

Raven joined us.

"Do what?"

"Stay here and work a few weeks to earn back the money we lost last night," I said and hoped Raven wouldn't say anything to contradict our story.

"Really? Oh, that would be great," she said, looking dreamily out the window. Suddenly she caught herself staring and shook her head. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I think I'll go splash some cold water on my face. I'm feeling hot all of a sudden. This waitressing stuff is harder than I remembered."

"What's that all about?" Crystal wondered aloud.

Butterfly, who was looking out the window, turned to us. "Who is that man, Patsy?" she asked.

"Taylor Cummings," Patsy answered with a scowl. "He doesn't miss a pretty face. Tell Raven to be careful--that boy's a wild one," Patsy advised.

"You don't have to worry about Raven. She looks like a knockout, but she knows enough when someone is giving her a line," Crystal replied. Usually I would have agreed with her, but suddenly, I wasn't so sure.