Lady Parts

by Loren

  “I’ll take a regular Coke,” Liam said.

  “Ok. Let me get those tacos for you. They’ll be right out.” Lanny turned his back to join his wife and sons who were cooking over the wide grills. In the lull of conversation, Gene could hear Lanny singing along to Al Green playing out of the speakers. She loved that about the food truck. In addition to good food, there was always good music and good customer service.

  Liam and Gene walked over to the side of the truck where five picnic tables sat occupied.

  “Are they always full?”

  “Yup but there’s decent courtesy here. You eat then you go. Simple as that. No sitting just to chat. There’ll be a table in a ...” A couple stood. “See? There we go.” The woman smiled as she quickly wiped some crumbs from the table. The man with her walked their lunch boxes back to the truck.

  “I see you know your stuff,” Liam said with a smile.

  “Yes, I do, and when it’s ready, I will get the food, so we don’t lose our seats.”

  “You got it, boss,” Liam said with a small salute.

  Gene slid onto the picnic table across from Liam and took him in. He was apparently doing the same because seconds later he said, “You know, I don’t think I told you, you look beautiful tonight.”

  She blushed and smiled. “Thank you.”

  “I mean you look good in overalls, but the dress is doing something the jeans couldn’t.” His gaze felt like it was burning her skin.

  “Order up. Eight tacos. Six hard, two soft,” Lanny yelled.

  “Be right back,” she said, quickly sliding out from the table and walking towards the food truck. “That me?” Gene said, smiling up at the serving window.

  “You know it,” Lanny said, handing the two lunch boxes out the window. “And I put an extra cup of cheese in there for you. I know how you like it.” He chuckled.

  “Cheese makes everything taste better,” she said as if it was gospel.

  “Let me know if your pretty boy likes them.”

  “Ha! I’m going to tell him you said that,” Gene said as she walked away and set the two lunch boxes on the table.

  “You know those things really are nifty. Makes everything so easy to carry,” Liam said, taking one and starting to unzip it.

  “Be careful. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but those things are really hot,” she said just as he unzipped it far enough for steam to seep out the opening.

  “I see what you mean.” He threw open the top to survey the contents. “I think this one is you,” he said, smiling as they swapped lunch boxes. “I don’t know about you, but this makes me feel like I’m in elementary school all over again. You know? Like when your mom packed you a tuna sandwich, and you didn’t want it, so you traded with the kid whose mom always packed extra Go-GURT sticks?”

  Gene laughed. “I can’t imagine you were the kid who traded things. I bet you were the kid who had the perfect lunch and never switched anything.”

  “Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t,” he said with a smile as he took a bite of taco. He moaned. “God. You weren’t joking. This thing is amazing.”

  “He likes it,” Gene yelled back at Lanny who waved from his window where the line was still wrapping around the parking lot. Some people were standing and eating, and a few other people were taking their lunch boxes to go, in the basic Styrofoam to-go boxes.

  “No wonder you like eating here,” Liam said, covering his mouth as he talked.

  Gene could only nod as her mouth was full of food too. She popped open her can of soda and took a swig to help her swallow.

  “I don’t know about you, but this date just made one of my top five,” he said, taking a gulp of his coke.

  “Was it the food or the company?”

  “Would you believe me if I said both?” he asked with a shy look.

  “Nope.” Gene laughed.

  “So, then I’ll just say the food, though the previous statement is true.”

  “But the date hasn’t even ended yet,” Gene protested.

  “I think it’s only going to get better. You plan on doing something like dumping your drink on me or kicking me under the table?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” Gene said shrugging. “Are you planning to do something to deserve it?”

  “Nope,” he said, dabbing his mouth with the napkin. “No plans.”

  “Then we should be all clear,” she said with a smile. It was nice joking like this, enjoying each other’s company while eating. Unlike in a restaurant where she had to force conversation for fear of too much silence, here she was content with Lanny’s playlist pouring out of the speakers and the coolness of the day taking it’s time to turn into night.

  It didn’t take long for them to finish eating, Gene was hungry when he picked her up and was a nervous eater, and Liam seemed to have no qualms about eating either.

  “So even though I don’t want this date to end, we should get up now, right? Because we're done eating,” Liam said sadly.

  “Right. There’s still plenty of people waiting to sit and eat, but that doesn’t mean this is over. We can go somewhere else. Maybe the park. After a quick walk around, I might let you convince me I should have dessert,” she smiled as she stood.

  “I like the sound of that,” Liam said and took the lunch boxes back to the window. “You make a mean taco,” he said up at a smiling Lanny.

  “I make a mean everything. Don’t doubt the skills.”

  “Well, then I’ll make sure to come around more often to see for myself,” Liam said as if they were lifelong friends.

  “I look forward to seeing you, man,” Lanny said before turning to the next customer.

  “See you,” Gene said and took Liam’s offered arm again to walk towards the car.

  “Where to now, m’lady?” he said as he opened the car door.

  “District Park, it’s open late, and the courtyard has cool fountains,” she said, leaning back into the passenger seat.

  “As you wish.” He walked around, climbed into his seat, and started the car. This time, it was his phone with the GPS, so Gene relaxed.

  “So where are you from?”

  “Georgia,” he said without thinking. “You?” She had known the small talk would lead to this and in her mind, it had seemed bigger than how it felt in the moment.

  “Not too far from here, but a small place named Garner. It’s right outside of Raleigh,” she said. Talking to Liam didn’t give her as much anxiety as she thought it would.

  “You been in North Carolina all your life?”

  “No. I went to college out of state; but afterwards yeah. When I married my husband, we moved to live in Columbia, South Carolina. But after the divorce, I needed to come back to something I understood ... something that felt like home. Even though my friends are pretty far, my family was here, so I moved to Charlotte with no regrets.”

  “Was it hard?”

  “At first,” she admitted. I was basically starting over with nothing. Arnold took almost everything.” Her jaw clenched. “He didn’t think I should own my own company. He even argued to take it in court, but I didn’t want anything else, so the judge awarded me that and nothing else. After, I was bitter, and I struggled with depression. The only thing that kept me going was the willingness to not fail. I just couldn’t let him be right and by working, I found myself again. I kept pushing and now I’m here.”

  “That’s amazing,” he said, glancing at her before his eyes went back to the road.

  “What is?”

  “You ... you’re unbelievable. The fact that you didn’t quit. You kept pushing, even when life got hard. Not a lot of people can do that.” He glanced over again, his eyes intense. “It’s not easy to keep going when life knocks you down.” She felt her temperature rising and looked away.

  “It wasn’t as easy as it sounds, trust me. And ... hindsight is twenty-twenty you know?”

  “Still, no matter how you came to the conclusion, you came to it, and you didn’t give up. That’s
worth something.”

  “Thanks,” she said sighing. Something about telling him all that felt like being held under water, and she didn’t like it. She wasn’t sure if it was the feeling of being vulnerable or sharing her life, the life she lived so closely with another man, that set her teeth on edge. Either way, she wanted the spotlight off her. “What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “Tell me your story,” she said.

  “Um ... not much to tell,” he said. “I’m from Atlanta. I grew up on the nice side of town, but as soon as I was grown, my parents sent me to college with the understanding that I would not become a success off their hard work. I had to get it on my own.” He packaged his life up neatly, like he had rehearsed what to say.

  “Where’d you go to school?”

  “Yale,” he said, and she stuck out her tongue. “What? Don’t tell me ...”

  “Yup,” she said with a proud smirk. “Harvard in the house, what’s up?”

  “Yuck. I can’t believe I’m interested in a Cantab.”

  “Believe it, bub, and if you keep it up, I might just believe all the rumors I heard about Yalies are true. You struck me as a preppy boy the moment I met you.”

  He laughed. “I’m far from prep. Trust me. I can hold my liquor just fine, and I don’t study all the time. I know how to have fun.”

  “This I have seen for myself,” Gene said with a soft smile. “I hope we keep having it.”

  “We will,” he said, pulling into the park parking lot. “So... show me around? I’ve never been here before.”

  “Sure.” She pushed her door open without waiting for him to open it. “Last one to the fountain buys dessert,” she said, slipping off her heels and taking off running at full speed.

  “Wait? What?” he said, taking off right behind her. “No fair, you had a head start,” he yelled from behind her, but she kept running, laughing as she heard him catching up.

  It didn’t take long for him to overtake her and she laughed as he grabbed her from behind, yanking off her feet and into his arms, twirling them around in a circle, causing her to scream in delight and throw her head back with a laugh.

  “You are a wild one, just like Lanny said,” he said breathlessly as she looked up at him from under hooded eyes while catching her breath.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

  He walked them to a bench and sat, putting her in his lap. “I would.”

  It was too much, and she found herself blushing but pulling herself from his lap. She leaned down to put her shoes back on as an excuse for her moving. “So,” she said, clasping her hands in her lap. “This is District Park. It’s nothing fancy, just a few bike trails, one fountain that lights up, and a great place for picnics and festivals in the summer.”

  “Well, I like it.”

  They were alone, save the homeless man nodding off along the forest edge propped up against a tree trunk. The fountain flashed in different colors as the water changed its cadence to spray up like a jet before small streams came out in time with music playing from somewhere they couldn’t see.

  “It’s nice any time of day. In the morning, runners and cyclists come, but in the afternoon, you can find people picnicking on the lawn over there. It’s pretty shaded too. I like it best at night though. It’s quiet. Good place for thinking.”

  “What do you think about?” Liam asked as Gene continued looking off at nothing in particular. Across the street from the park was a street full of restaurants and she pretended they caught her attention.

  “Nothing really. Just things ... sometimes everything is too loud. You know?”

  “Yeah. I do. You just want a break from reality.”

  “Exactly,” she said, turning to look at him. “Life isn’t always perfect. It would be nice if it were though, right?” she said, trying to keep the mood light.

  “Yeah. It would.” As if sensing the prickly edges of Gene’s mood, Liam said, “Got any place in particular you want to go for dessert?”

  “Yeah,” she said standing. “There.”

  “Cherry Pie,” Liam read the sign. The name was written in the whipped cream on top of the pie in the logo.

  “Yeah. It’s good ... not the pie. Her cheesecake. I don’t like cherries,” she said, walking towards it, and he followed.

  “Me either.”

  She smiled back at him. “What do you like?”

  “Pretty much everything. I won’t eat liver, brussels sprouts, cherries, or chitlins,” he said with a grimace.

  She laughed as they walked across the street together. “I can get onboard with that. All of those things are gross.”

  A small bell on the door rang as Liam held it open for Gene.

  “Welcome to the Cherry Pie, ya’ll. Can I suggest the Cherry On Top? It’s our special today,” the woman behind the counter said with a warm smile. Her blonde hair was in one long braid down her back, and her name tag said “Teri.”

  “No thanks, we’d like to try some of your other delicious treats,” Liam said politely.

  “Alright. Just let me know when you’re ready to order,” she said.

  The menu was along the wall, everything made to order in small bites or customers could pick from the large cooled case in front of them with baked goods already made for takeout.

  “I want two chocolate chip cookies and a slice of your Oreo cheesecake,” Gene said not waiting. She knew what she wanted. Teri quickly moved to cut a slice of the cheesecake and put it in a box with the cookies separated by a thin sheet of cardboard.

  “You going to eat all that?” Liam said as if shocked.

  “No. The cookies are for tomorrow,” Gene said without shame.

  “Alright. Well, what do you recommend?” Liam asked Teri.

  “I would recommend the cherry pie of course, but you can’t go wrong with any pie you really want. Key lime is my personal favorite,” Teri said with a smile.

  “I was leaning towards this lemon meringue,” he admitted.

  “That’s a good choice if you like lemon. It’s sweet with just the right amount of tang,” Teri said, leaning over the counter to see where he was looking. “I’m serious though, every pie is to die for here.”

  “Alright then let me get a slice of that, an oatmeal raisin cookie and a chocolate chip.”

  “Okay,” she said, setting Gene’s box down at the register and moved to get another box. “Would you like them heated?”

  “Just a little please,” he said with a smile.

  Teri moved to the microwave at the end of the counter, and Gene walked towards the register.

  “I hope you don’t think I’m letting you pay for that. Even though you cheated,” he said, pulling his wallet out from his back pocket.

  “Alright,” she said and took her box to a tiny table along the wall. She hadn’t found it as hard as she thought it would be to let him pay. She hadn’t liked how Arnold insisted on paying for everything but Liam made it seem like his absolute pleasure to do so instead of a demand or misguided insistence. She watched him interact with Teri, smiling though it was clear he wasn’t flirting. She wasn’t sure how she knew or why she felt so sure, but she did. Even though she knew it wasn’t polite, she took a small scoop of her cheesecake and sucked on the spoon until Liam came to sit down across from her.

  “Is it good?” Liam said, opening his box to scoop his own bite of the bright yellow crusted dessert.

  “So good,” Gene moaned, scooping another spoonful of the cheesecake.

  Liam copied her, moaning as he chewed the lemon pie and turned to Teri. “You weren’t kidding. It’s good.”

  “I’m glad you like it.” Teri smiled in return and turned away to wipe the counter.

  Liam smacked a little and looked up to see Gene amused. She pointed to his chin, and he brushed the clinging crumbs from his chin. “Thanks. I love lemon.”

  “No problem.”

  They ate in silence listening to the music playing on the intercom from a radio stati
on that was playing old school goodies, and Gene was shocked to hear Liam start rapping along to Nelly’s “Hot in Here.”

  He said the words with confidence while bobbing his head. Gene was sure her eyes were wide open. He bounced his shoulders as he sang the next line. She could do nothing but laugh.

  “Come on, I know you know the words. Why you trying to pretend?” Liam said with a dirty look as he turned his spoon upside down to use it as a microphone and started dancing in his chair.

  It was too much for Gene, but the sincerity of his dancing caused her to join him. She was laughing and dancing in her chair as the chorus came on it.

  It’s getting hot in here. She sang along with him fanning her face for added effect.

  It was nice to see Liam had a silly side and that he could pull out hers. Only her friends had managed to do that before. When she was at the garage she tried to remain relatable but in charge; but at home, she always sang out loud and danced in the mirror. She had never done that in public before though. She hadn’t known she was allowed to. When she was with Arnold, he made her feel like everything she did was wrong.

  The song faded out as the radio DJ said something before playing another song. Gene found she was light headed but in a good way.

  “You ready to go home?”

  She glanced at her watch, for the first time in several hours, and was shocked to find it was ten o’clock. She had spent four hours with this man. “Yeah.”

  “Come on,” he said, standing and presenting her his arm again to walk. If anything, she could say that he was consistent. He stopped by the counter for a plastic bag and bagged her box of cookies.

  She smiled, standing aside so he could open her door and he took her hand as they walked to the car. The other hand held the bag of cookies.

  “That wasn’t so bad, right?” Liam said, squeezing her hand lightly as if to let her know he was there. His grip was warm and secure.

  “Nope. It wasn’t. I actually had a good time,” Gene admitted.

  “I’m glad. I did too. I would really like to do it again sometime,” he said, waiting for her to respond. It grew awkward when she didn’t. “Feel free to take your time. I’ll be around waiting,” he said and then joked, “I know where you live after all.”