Gabby's Diner

two old men were sitting in a diner... -enjoy-

 

            “More coffee, guys?”

            “Sure, Sarah, fill me up.”

            “And you?” the middle aged waitress asked, pointing at Henry while she poured fresh steaming coffee into the other man’s cup.

            “Naw, my wife is trying to get me to cut back on the caffeine.”

            “We have decaf,” she said helpfully.

            “Aw, that’s not real coffee.”

            “Ok, suit yourself.” And with that she walked away to a table in the corner where three men in business suits sat.

            They sat silently for a few minutes; listening. Walter sipping as Henry turned his empty cup over and over in his old, creased hands sighing. He thought he heard one of the business men ask what was in the special omelet; newbies.

            “We’ve been coming here for a long time, haven’t we, Walt?” Henry asked without looking up from his empty cup.

            “Yeah, Henry, we have.”

            “Over thirty years. I remember when this place was opened. No one wanted to eat here, they didn’t trust Gabrielle. Just because she was a Hebrew woman. But, gosh, she made the best Belgium waffles. Go figure, right.”

            “Yup. Good waffles and meatloaf.”

            “Oh boy yes! She always had the best meatloaf. And she made that…that…what was that called?”

            “Kugal.”

            “Yeah, that kugal was amazing. And for the kids she always had chocolate banana pops. Gabrielle was a good woman. She was married to that Frenchy, remember? And now her daughter, Simone, runs this place. She’s not her mother, but she’s pretty close.”

            “Yeah,” Walter said finally looking up from his coffee when Sarah came by with their food. Three strips of bacon, two eggs sunny-side up, and toast with strawberry jelly for him. Hash browns, two sausage patties, and one scrambled egg for Henry. They had both been getting the same breakfast almost everyday for over twenty-five years, and it wasn’t likely to change anytime soon. Silently they prepared their food; adding salt and pepper, cheese, tobasco. After they had each taken a bite, they resumed their conversation.

            “This place has seen a lot of changes. That fire. And when the Frenchy painted the outside teal with purple trim. And all the fights and throwing food. Simone trying to be the waitress for a day, but then when she realized she couldn’t go play she pretended that they closed. God, Gabrielle got really mad at her for that one. She was yelling at her in French and Spanish. Why Spanish I’ll never know. But she was.”

            “Yeah, lots of changes.”

            The conversation lulled for a few minutes while both men sat eating.

            “But we’ve never really changed,” Henry said putting down his fork and wiping his mouth on his napkin. “You know what I mean? We’ve been coming here for what is it? Thirty-six years? And we still sit in the same place. We get the same breakfast. We did the same jobs and are married to the same women. Why has the world changed, but not us?”

            “I don’t know. We never really had a reason to change. Things were going fine as they were. So why mess with a good thing?”

            “But we should change something,” Henry said exasperatingly as Walter rolled his eyes. “I mean, thirty-six years! We need to change something.”

            “Ok,” Walter said mockingly; “What do you want to change?”

            “Let’s just start with what we eat. How about we get waffles instead of hash browns and toast?”

            “Fine.” 

            “Ok then, waffles it is,” he said excitedly. “Sarah, could you come here for a minute.”

            “Yeah, what do you want?” she asked simply.

            “We want two waffles, please,” Henry answered with a proud smile on his face.

            She looked from Henry to Walter as if expecting one of them to jump up and yell “Surprise!” “Um…we don’t serve waffles here. You should know that. We stopped after Gabby died.”

            The smile quickly slid from his face. “Oh ok. Just more coffee then,” he said as if someone had just killed his puppy.

            “Maybe the world just doesn’t want us to change,” Walter said helpfully after Sarah had finished filling Henry’s cup. “Maybe it’s just not meant to happen.”

            “But why,” he asked breathlessly. “Why can’t we change if we want to?”

            “I don’t know. Maybe that’s just the way it’s supposed to be.”

            Both men remained silent for a few minutes while they finished their breakfasts. After an eternity of silence Henry put down his fork and turned himself away from the counter. “Life is strange, Walter.”

            “That it is, Henry. That it is.”

            And with that the two old men stood up and walked silently out of the diner.

Reviews

[M.A. Van Dyke]

Okay, you surprised me! I thought that the men in business suits were going to buy the place and turn it into a Denny's, thereby forcing the old men to change. Either that or they would counteroffer and keep things the same. Nice touch adding the business men, It distracted me. In a good way. I have a couple minor whiners. I think that it should be Belgian waffles rather than Belgium waffles. I think that you should probably go back and check your timeline. You said, "More than Thirty years", "They had both been getting the same breakfast for twenty-five years." In that last example, I feel like you should probably say that they settled into a routine at that point in time or say that they had been ordering the same meal from the first time they ever patronized Gabby's Diner. Later on, you say that they have been going to Gabby's for more thirty-six years...
...I looked up kugal to see what it was and it seems that the predominant spelling is Kugel. I'm not Jewish, so I have no idea, and you may have misspelled it on purpose...
There was one part of the dialogue that I this used a little too much exposition. instead of "And now her daughter, Simone, runs this place. She's not her mother, but she's pretty close." That bit seems clunky to me. I would make the suggestion that you change it to something like this, "We barely even noticed when Simone took over. She's not her...." That way, it doesn't tell as much as it shows the history of the diner.
Fights and throwing food?! Explain! I want to know about that! Did a local farmer find his wife, bedraggled and content, eating breakfast with one of his farmhands?
I really liked this story. It was well written, even if I think it needs a little bit of editing. I chuckled at parts of it. I think you really nailed the characters. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. Any complaint I have made is almost superfluous.
Good write!