Part Three: Dammit Janet

George splutters with exaggerated offense. "What? I did what? Who told you I did? Andy! This is a character assassination!" His beat red face tells the truth of the matter though.

He sighs. "Stacey's mom."

You meander your way towards another of your old hangout spots. Food was nothing to write home about, and you might have rathered to spend the money elsewhere. But a trip to this place was often a condition for a day out with the gang; a good square meal for growing boys and girls.

You approach the old joint, and open the door with a jingle of the bell. From the outside, you can see that window of the place is adorned with the same A4 poster.

Have you seen our Josh?

The same posters cover the glass on the door you enter. You’re greeted by a youngish girl; probably pulling a shift at the restaurant part time.

"Welcome to Rosie’s." comes a disinterested kind of drawl. Not rude, but you don’t look like big tippers neither.

"This everyone?" she doesn’t wait for an answer. She grabs a few menus, peels a couple of those A4 posters off a pile nearby, and stuffs them into the menu before taking you to your seat.

She drops you off and leaves without much of a word. Back, near the kitchen, you see Rosie, a few years older than you remember. But I suppose that makes sense, don’t it? From here she looks more than a little frazzled. She chews her nails and drums her fingers on the countertop. Her eyes flit about the room, resting on you all for half a second. Did she register you had come in even? She didn’t acknowledge you if she had. And then her eyes are wandering around the room again, and she sizes up a different finger to chew on.

You see the attendant that had dropped you over keep half of one eye on the table, ready to take your order.

"You're apparently the experts on this place," Faye says to George and Jaden. "What do you recommend?"
Rather than studying the actual menu, she pulls out the poster slipped inside it and reads that over.

"Hmmm... Let's see... It really depends on how much you care if your meal is messy. We didn't used to care about such things though. And I'm probably still stoned enough to not care now as well." added Jaden in a hushed voice before bursting into laughter

"Whaddya say Georgie boy? Sloppy Joes for old time's sake?

His eyes look from Rosie by the kitchen and swap to Faye, then Jaden. "Ohhhh, sloppy joes would be gooood right now. So messy. They're just on regular white bread, but it's the sauce that makes it. I remember my mom liked the sunrise scramble the one time she and I came here; eggs and potatoes and lots of green veggies."

With one glance at the flyer, he looks at the waitress and signals her, waving the flyer. "Hey, miss? What's this about? Did Josh work here?"

"Ugh," Morgan says from the springy, red leather seat she's not heavy enough to put a dent in. She's looking over the menu, but the mention of sloppy joes puts a look of disgust on her face. "Do you know how much cheap ground beef they feed to people in the big house? It's like they recycle it from night to night, too. Hey, it's spaghetti with meat sauce! Now... nasty stuffed peppers! Oh look, gross chili! Um... are those sloppy joes? And finally, the cream of the crop, fucking American Chop Suey. No. Thank. You."

The girl does glance sideways at Faye, and she leans into her friend a little trying to get a look at the photocopied 8.5 x 11 poster as George asks about the poster.

A minute later, beneath the table, Em has slipped off a shoe and her foot crosses the neutral zone into Andy leg territory. There's a little rubbing, and when he looks a her, she asks, "What do you want?"

Andy was still pretty stoned, and that was fortunate for him. His slowed reflexes allowed him time to reflect upon the nature of the soft thing that was rubbing his leg. Was it a fly of some sort? Nope, definitely not. Those few seconds of analysis seemed to last an eternity. Even Em's lips were forming words in a sort of time-lapse. Oh, those lips. They were lovely, weren't they?

Oh my God, was that her foot? And where was her shoe? Had she forgiven him? Of course, she liked him. Hadn't they shared a bed together? Although what they had done in it remained a mystery, something she was milking for all it was worth. But this, this game of footy. Was she welcoming him back? But back to what?

"Me?" he asks her stupidly. Was she looking at anyone else?

"Yeah. To eat," Em says simply, waving the oversized menu in the air.

George looks at Andie and says to Toni, "Could you ask Rosie to come over? Maybe we can help."

If she leaves, he whispers to Faye, "The bible thumper, I bet that's the same crowd as at the video store." He likes whispering to Faye, he has decided. She's intimate in the way the girls can be and guys rarely are. Fearless, really, yet vulnerable.

"Makes sense," Faye replies, not quite whispering but with her voice lowered until it's almost a whisper. "I wonder why they were so upset at Josh. Your old crush might be able to tell us."

Andy's eyes meet the waitress's eyes but he instantly looks away. He doesn't need any more girl problems especially while he is trying to figure out what just happened under the table with Em who acknowledged nothing. Was he imagining things because of the pot? He hadn't recalled hallucinations being part of being stoned but not much had made sense lately so he wouldn't be surprised.

And there was Rosie who was missing a nephew. She had aged but it was still the Rosie he had a crush on. "Uh can I have a chocolate milkshake please, a sloppy joe and some fries?"

"Grilled cheese and a Coke," Em adds, folding up her menu, letting her friends take the lead on finding out more about Josh.

Jaden raises an eyebrow quizzically as he heard the "God squad lady" part.

He orders a sloppy Joe, some fries and to the waitress's horror some mayo on the side.

As she left, he turned to Em;
"Heard that that's how they eat fries in France. Might worth giving it a shot." he said with a shrug.

He then looks around and lowers his voice;
"Looks like the variable in common is that lovely lady... Let's stuff our faces. We should learn what we can from Rosie and head out to meet Ellen."

The girl’s eyes go wide when you first respond with a request to speak to Rosie, the manager, but they quickly settle when you mention wanting to help. She, rather quietly in comparison to a moment ago, takes your orders, reads them back to you and then leaves to inform the cook.

A moment after that, you see her approach Rosie and point over to your table. The red-head nods, and casts a cocked eyebrow your way. A half hearted one. Suspicious. Curious.

It’s a few minutes before you hear more. One of two more tables full while you wait for your food. A bell dings in the back, and then Rosie is there with your food. Some of it. She puts down a few items, and as you open your mouths to speak, she says:

"Just a minute."

It’s short. Not rude. But it doesn’t leave any room for negotiation either. She comes back with a second tray, and the remainder of the order.

She fixes herself and places the two trays across her front before speaking.

"Sara said you was wanting to speak to me." she still sounds like Rosie. A little gravely. A smoker’s voice.

"She bothering yous?"

"No, she's great," Faye immediately says, not wanting to get the girl in trouble. "It's about him." She gestures to the poster of Josh. "We heard he had a fight with some church woman? We may have seen her, at the video store today, causing more trouble."

Rosie looks you all over as Faye pipes up. There’s that look of maaaybe recognizing you. But she’s not sure. It’ll take a minute or two maybe. She answers:

"He didn’t have no problem with a church lady. That was me!"

You can’t quite tell if there’s something approaching pride behind the statement. Sounds like there might be a little.

"Nasty piece of work came in here last night. Mouthin off about Josh this and Josh…"

She blows hard and gesticulates in a way that’s telling herself to calm down.

"Sorry. My nerves are…" she gesticulates again, you assume it means "gone".

"Josh wasn’t no angel. He had run ins with the law. That’s what missy was in here bragging about last night. Damn near took her head off…"

She pauses a moment to compose herself.

"Do you think she knows anything about his disappearance?", Faye asks. "She seemed crazy enough for it when we saw her just now."

"If you’re asking if I think she caused it." there’s a moment of quietness.

"No. If you’re asking if I think she’s more than just a little happy about it…" an frustrated exhale.

"Oh you bet she is. Said she couldn’t wait until all the ‘scum was washed out of Boulder". Her words, not mine."

She steps back to let a couple pass through to a nearby table. She steps back in and starts up again:

"She damn near climbed up on the booth, preaching about getting rid of all the muck around this place.

Luckily, we had Joan and Marge in here last night. Those ladies are tough as nails, and they ain’t the type to take nonsense. Not from some church mouse anyhow. Between the three of us, we got her out the door. Boy, they got an unmerciful tongue lashing while we did it, too."