Wish You Well(42)

They headed past the Dominion Cafe with its Chero Cola and "Ice Cream Here" signs,

and then Lou stopped.

"Let's go in," she said. Lou gripped the door, pulled it open, setting a bell to tinkling, and

stepped inside. Oz followed her. Diamond stayed outside for a long enough time to show

his displeasure with this decision and then hurried in after them.

The place smelled of coffee, wood smoke, and baking fruit pies. Umbrellas for sale hung

from the ceiling. There was a bench down one wall, and three swivel chrome barstools

with padded green seats were bolted to the floor in front of a waist-high counter. Glass

containers filled with candy rested on the display cabinets. There was a modest soda and

ice cream fountain machine, and through a pair of saloon doors they could hear the clatter

of dishes and smell the aromas of food cooking. In one corner was a potbellied stove, its

smoke pipe supported by wire and cutting through one wall.

A man dressed in a white shirt with sleeves rolled to the elbows, a short wide tie, and

wearing an apron passed through me saloon doors and stood behind the counter. He had a

smooth face and hair parted equally to either side, held down with what appeared to Lou

to be a slop bucket of grease.

He looked at them as though they were a brigade of union   troops sent directly from

General Grant to rub the good Virginians' noses in it a little more. He edged back a bit as

they moved forward. Lou got up on one of the stools and looked at the menu neatly

written in loopy cursive on a blackboard. The man moved back farther. His hand glided

out and one of his knuckles rapped against a glass cabinet set against the wall. The words

"No Credit" had been written in thick white strokes on the glass.

In response to this not-so-subtle gesture, Lou pulled out five one-dollar bills and aligned

them neatly on the counter. The man's eyes went to the folding cash and he smiled,

showing off a gold front tooth. He came forward, now their good friend for all time. Oz

scooted up on another of the barstools, leaned on the counter, and sniffed the wonderful

smells coming through those saloon doors.

Diamond hung back, as though wanting to be nearest the door when they had to make a

run for it.

"How much for a slice of pie?" Lou asked.

"Nickel," the man said, his gaze locked on the five Washingtons on his counter.

"How about a whole pie?"

"Fifty cents."

"So I could buy ten pies with this money?"

'Ten pies?" exclaimed Diamond. "God dog!"

"That's right," the man said quickly. "And we can make 'em for you too." He glanced

over at Diamond, his gaze descending from the boy's explosion of cowlicks to his bare

toes. "He with you?"

"Naw, they with me," said Diamond, ambling over to the counter, fingers tucked around

his overall straps.

Oz was staring at another sign on the wall. "Only Whites Served," he read out loud, and

then glanced in confusion at the man. "Well, our hair's blond, and Diamond's is red. Does

that mean only old people can get pie?"

The fellow looked at Oz like the boy was "special" in the head, stuck a toothpick between

his teeth, and eyed Diamond. "Shoes are required in my establishment. Where you from,

boy? Mountain?"

"Naw, the moon." Diamond leaned forward and flashed an exaggerated smile. "Want'a

see my green teeth?"

As though brandishing a tiny sword, the man waved the toothpick in front of Diamond's

face. "You smart mouth. Just march yourself right outta here. Go on. Git back up that

mountain where you belong and stay there!"

Instead, Diamond went up on his toes, grabbed an umbrella off the ceiling rack, and

opened it.

The man came around from behind the counter

"Don't you do that now. That's bad luck."

"Why, I doing it. Mebbe a chunk of rock'll fall off the mountain and squash you to

poultice!"

Before the man reached him, Diamond tossed the opened umbrella into the air and it

landed on the soda machine. A stream of goo shot out and painted one cabinet a nice

shade of brown.

"Hey!" the man yelled, but Diamond had already fled.

Lou scooped up her money, and she and Oz stood to leave.

"Where y'all going?" the man said.

"I decided I didn't want pie," Lou said amiably and shut the door quietly behind her and

Oz.

They heard the man yell out, "Hicks!"

They caught up with Diamond, and all three bent over laughing while people walked

around them, staring curiously.

"Nice to see you having a good time," a voice said.

They turned and saw Cotton standing there, wearing vest, tie, and coat, briefcase in hand,

yet with a clear look of mirth in his eyes.