Vengeance

Part Two: Demon At The Diner

Florentino, having washed his hands of his deed, was sat at 1799 Wheatley Avenue, in a small diner called O'Flannagans. And frankly, he was annoyed. As well as being a retired SS officer, the man had promised him a free breakfast, and Florentino didn't appreciate being led on. So, now sat at the high seats with the loud music in the background, he had just ordered. While waiting, he spun around to see the people on the street.

His eyes were immediately drawn to a small girl of about five foot six, almost a parody of the fashion of the decade. She had brown hair that grew right down to her torn, flared jeans. She had badges woven into the fabric, different bands and symbols. She was wearing a grey-green tank top, with a long handle handbag strung over her shoulder. They seemed to know that the eyes were on them, shaking their hair so that it fell beautifully in the summer sun. She crossed the street, before entering the diner and sitting down at the seat next to the tall, dark Florentino.

"Double stacked pancakes, with cream, not syrup." She said, smiling as she placed her order. As the waiter nodded and turned away, Florentino looked up at her with a small smirk.

"Not bad. I've heard worse orders."

She smiled back slyly. "So you come here often?"

"You could say that. How about you?"

"Yeah. I don't live too far away, so I'm often down here."

A milkshake was placed on the counter next to Florentino. "Oh really? Whereabouts would that be?"

"Lania Lane." She giggled as she took off her handbag. Florentino looked on, surprised.

"Wow. Wasn't expecting that." He took a sip. "So is it you or your daddy who's the movie star?"

"That would be telling." She smirked playfully. "I don't even know your name."

"How rude of me. Florentino Manchetti.

The girls mouth dropped. "You're Italian?!"

"Born and raised." Florentino took a long sip from his glass.

"Holy shit man, that's so cool! So what brings you to the hills?"

"I'm a writer. I wasn't good enough to be an actor, so I'm just here as a passive observer. I'm writing a book about the people that live here."

The girl laughed. "Seriously?! Can I be in your book?"

"Ah well, if you told me your name I would consider it." Florentino smiled.

The girl grinned. "You can call me... Baby."

"Baby?" The guy smirked. "That's a very alias sounding name."

"No idea what you're talking about. You like movies? Music?"

"I'll put it this way," Florentino said. "You ask me anything about anything in pop culture from the last thirty years, and I can tell you about it."

"Challenge accepted." 'Baby' got up and walked over to the jukebox, and put on a jazz, ragtime song before dancing back to her seat. "Tell me about this one, Bob Barker."

"Come on, pick a hard one. I just told you that I know everything about the last thirty years, and you chose Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy? Andrews Sisters, 1941."

"Name the sisters?" The girl grinned.

"LaVerne, Maxine and Patricia. Well, Patty. What do I win?"

Baby smiled and wrote some stuff down on a napkin. "Give this a call later." She got up and left, leaving Florentino smiling, sipping his milkshake.
A waiter came over. "Pancakes for you?"
The man smiled. "Well yes they are."