One Weekend - Grown Ups

Dinner Chapter 6

I walk into the restaurant the adults picked with dad. He sits down and I pull out a seat across from Greg since every other one is taken. 

" Kiethie! Sit down. " Lenny yells over everyone to his son. 

" But dad, I wanna sit with you. " 

" Daddy's gonna be down here with his friends first and then.. " I tune out their conversation. 

" Lenny! Remember we used to come here after high school,  late at night after we got wasted. " Dad asks while looking up at Lenny. 

" Shh! " Lenny puts his finger to his lips. 

" What's wasted? " Donna asks. I kinda got to know here while we were at the house. She's nice and funny. 

Wasted. I think I know what it means. I'm not one hundred percent sure though. Dad's said it a few times around me but he kind of changes the subject when I ask what it means. 

" Nice one Higgi. " Lenny mutters. " Uh, Wasted, um, kids, is when you have a hankering for ice cream. " 

" I wanna get wasted! " Andre says standing up. I can tell all the mothers aren't very happy with their husbands at the moment.

" I wanna get wasted! " Charlotte says smiling. 

" I totally want to get wasted! " Donna says excitedly. " I wanna get wasted every day. " 

Um, I don't think wasted has anything to do about ice cream. Oh well. The adults are probably smarter than me. They know what they're talking about. 

" I wanna get chocolate wasted! " Becky pipes in. 

" No, you don't need to get wasted. It's okay. " Roxanne says looking at her youngest. 

" Alright everybody, " Eric says changing the subject as a waitress comes up to the table. " alright. You know what, let me make this easy. " Eric looks at the menu for a moment. He looks around the table. " 17 burgers and 17 fries, okay? " He sits back before looking back up at the waitress. " And, that'll just be for me. What are you guys having? " Eric laughs. 

Everyone else either laughs or ' aw's '. 

" Lamonsoff! " 

" Yeah yeah. " Eric laughs. " That's for everybody. Just put it on that. " Eric hands the waitress his card. 

" Oh you don't have to do that. " Lenny says looking at Eric. 

" I am not gonna have any hamburgers. " Deanne's mama says looking at the menu. " I'll take some meat loaf, some calzones, but put the marinara sauce on the side. With corn, either on the cob, or, or whatever you've got. -" 

Dad cuts her off. " Are you going to the electric chair? " Dad chuckles. 

" What? " Deanne's mama looks over at dad. 

" No, he was kiddind, Henry VIII. " 

Everyone chuckles. 

" She's eating for two. Her and Toe-Bo cop. " Kurt jokes. 

I smile a bit and bite my cheek. I glance up to see Greg looking at me a bit. He smiles and looks away. 

" But mama, they do have bunion rings if you want some. " Lenny calls. 

" That was good Lenny. " Deanne laughs. 

" How about some drinks? " The waitress looks up. 

" Hey, I said I'm paying, so take it easy with that, okay? " Eric says to the waitress before laughing again. 

I glance down at the menu as everyone orders their drinks. 

" I'm kidding everybody. We can all drink what we want. " Eric gestures to himself and then Donna as he starts talking again. " I'll start off. I'm gonna have a Coke, and I know Donna, she's gonna want a Sprite. Correct sweetie? " Donna nods. " And uh, Bean's good with milk. " 

" I'll take a flat water. Voss. " I look up at Greg. What the heck is Voss water? 

" What? " The waitress asks, obviously as confused as me. 

" You know, Voss, or if you don't have Voss, I'll take Fiji. " Okay, I've heard of Fiji, just not Voss water. 

" Yeah, you know what, anything you've got is good. " Lenny pipes in. 

" We have out of the faucet. " 

" Like from a hose? " Greg asks. 

" Tap water. " The waitress says looking down at him. How does she have such good patience? 

" What country's that from? " Kiethie asks. 

Do these kids never drink normal, tap water? How do they not know what it is? 

" Oh my gosh, just get the water. We're done talking about water. Tap water. " Lenny says to the waitress. 

I look down at the menu, scanning the pages for the secret code on one of the pages. I've been here a lot with Dad. Every menu has a different code in the corner of some page. If you find it, they give you a free scone or dessert of your choice. You only have a certain amount of time though. When the waitress or waiter takes the menu's away, times up. 

" And you Miss Maxi? " The waitress asks me.

I look up. " Oh, um, I'll take an Arnold Palmer please. " I say politely. The waitress smiles and nods. 

" How does she know you? " Greg asks as the waitress writes down my order. 

" Oh, dad and I've come here before. " 

" Have you figured out the code? " 

I nod. " The fried chicken here is the best you'll ever find. There is no other type as good as ours. " I look up from the menu. 

" Yeah! That's correct. Wow! You are great at these. That was a new code. Now, what will it be? Scone or a dessert? " 

" I'll take a scone please. " I shut the menu and hand it to her. 

" Right away. " 

Everyone but dad turns to look at me. I blush and sink down in my seat. 

" How? What was that? " Greg asks. " Why do you get a free scone? What did you do? " 

I blush. " I, uh, I figured out a, a code that was on one of the pages. They, um, have codes on the pages and, um if you figure one out before the waiter takes the menu from you, you get, uh, a, um free scone or dessert. " 

" That's cool! " Kiethie smiles. 

" How? What? So that what was on the bottom? " Donna asks. " I, I couldn't figure it out. That's hard! " 

" Maxon's the master at codes. " Charlotte praises. 

I blush again. Dinner's been interesting with everyone here.