Rita knew Tommy Mullen as a good guy. Eddie had always considered him a good, if not close, friend. But if they weren't close it was more a reflection of Eddie's personality than Tommy's attitude. Eddie didn't let many people (except for Rita) get very close, never had. So when Tommy began what amounted to a long, rather personal conversation with Rita, she wasn't surprised at how decent and kind a person he was, just the fact that he chose to spend so much time with her. You see, their conversation was often interrupted by female acquaintances and/or admirers of Tommy, bikini clad and unquestionably able to put Rita, her very tiny body and one-piece suit to shame.
"Hey Cindy (or Donna or Suzie) how you doin'? Do you know Rita Willis?" Ever the gentleman, he'd chat with the lovelies then make it clear he was 'with' somebody at the moment.
They talked about a lot of things, a lot about Eddie (all good) to be sure, but also about Tommy's difficult times (he lost a younger brother in an automobile accident) and the death of Rita's mother.
She found herself recounting details of her mother's last days as she suffered from liver failure, her and her father's struggle to do the right things for her mother and each other and the strained and even strange relationship between Rita and Big Bob Willis. She found Tommy very easy to talk to, a good, attentive listener. On several occasions she didn't notice until after the fact that she had told him things she hadn't told anyone, not even Eddie.
"Sometimes I feel alone even though I'm in class or waiting on a full counter of people at the store. I've sure it's because I miss my mother so much. I read that if you figure something like that out it's supposed to help but I'll you, it hasn't. Not even a little."
"You don't realize it but talking about it does help. If you kept that bottled up inside it'd be worse for you. The fact that you do okay in school, you've got a job and a boyfriend says you're doing fine. You'll always miss your mom, I'll always miss my brother but we go on. You're doing fine."
While Rita had heard those words before from assorted teachers, guidance counselors and extended family members, hearing them from someone close to her age (and a member of the opposite sex no less) had caused them to have far greater impact. This she thought is one very special guy.
Needing to get back home to change and get to work, Rita tried to excuse herself around two o'clock to bum a ride with one of the boys she was friendly with in school.
"Don't be silly. It's only a few minutes away, I'll give you a lift home. Easy wouldn't have it any other way."
Now, while quite a few people called Eddie "Easy", a contraction of sorts of his "Easy Eddie" nickname of earlier days, they often were people not really close to him and Rita usually sensed that. But when Tommy used the name, it sounded right.
They pulled up in front of Rita's house. She got out, closed the door and leaned back in the window to say thank you and good-bye.
"Hey, my pleasure," Tommy stated. "You're a terrific person Rita, and Easy's a very lucky guy. See you later tonight."
His reference was to the little bash they'd set up for Rosco's, but Rita hadn't heard that part of his good-bye. As the words terrific person were coming from Tommy, she found herself both transfixed by his beautiful blue eyes and feeling that same little tingle through her body that she felt the night she first saw Eddie banging on his drums.
Under normal circumstances Rita's detailed discussion of her mother's illness and death would have put her in a sorrowful mood. But what could only be described as a crush on Tommy Mullen made the afternoon hours fly by. She was by all means aware of her feelings and felt they didn't in any way diminish her love for Eddie. It was just a little spice in her life; a life growing more complicated by the minute. Her period was now two days late, her boyfriend was leaving for a summer on the road and her current relationship with her father could best be described as cold.
The party at Rosco's was fun. One slow dance with Eddie put Tommy and the little flirtation (if it was even that) way in the back of Rita's mind. The gang of them never did bar hop but rather closed down Rosco's. As standard procedure dictated Eddie had Rita home before midnight then turned right around for another ferry ride to spend some more time at Rosco's. Only after he dropped her off and she was removing her clothes for bed did she again think of Tommy. It was just a flash in her mind of Eddie and Tommy together, talking about her.
Saturday morning found Rita the sickest she'd been since this whole thing started. She hadn't even tried to get any food down before eleven o'clock for days now but mornings were still miserable. Margaret (a bit more apprehensive about her date with Harold that night than Rita would have expected) was again kind and thoughtful and allowed Rita to do tasks as far from the food as possible. As working all day at a lunch counter made it rather tough to completely avoid foods and their smells, Rita still had a very rough afternoon.
By six o'clock, when Margaret was to leave and let Rita handle
the last ninety minutes alone, she'd made up her mind. If I have
to fry up a cheeseburger, the chances are I'm gonna vomit on the
grill, she thought. I can't let that happen. With Harold Stoneman
walking around the store in a daze, Rita decided she'd tell her
Saturday evening customers the grill was broken and the
refrigerator wasn't working right. She'd offer customers coffee
and pie, soups and breads - things she knew she could deal with.
And the plan worked. The number of customers wasn't quite what it
usually was, nobody complained much about the exceedingly small
menu and Mr. Stoneman never noticed a thing. At seven-fifteen,
Rita took a dollar tip off a booth table, put the "closed" sign
on the counter and hid in the storage room until seven-thirty.
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Material Copyright © 1998-2003 by Jim Bearden