Part 2
Declan pulled his truck into the parking lot of a diner where the sign out front boldly proclaimed it to serve the "best meal in Romanstown."
"Wanna get lunch first?" Declan asked Peggy as they climbed down from the truck.
Peggy looked at him, hesitating. "I don't know, Declan, I"
"Come on!" he said, flashing her an impish grin. "I'm buying."
The psychiatrist sighed as she followed her improbably friend into the diner.
They chose a corner table, and as they sat down, a waitress hustled passed them carrying a tray of dirty dishes.
"Be right with you folks," she said hurriedly. "Menus are on the table. Specials are on the board." She pointed to a black Dry-Erase board on the wall to their left and hurried off.
The specials were written in fluorescent pink marker. Mom's meatloaf with mashed potatoes and home-made beef gravy, chili, and
"What in the world is Poor Man's Stew?" Declan inquired when the waitress returned.
"It's a soup made with potatoes, carrots, ham, butter and milk," the girl replied.
"Is it any good?"
"Dave-he's our cook, by the way-makes the best Poor Man's Stew I've ever tasted."
"Actually, that sounds pretty good," Peggy interrupted. "I think I'll try it."
"Me, too," Declan echoed.
~*~*~*~
"Did you enjoy your soup?" the waitress asked as Declan approached the counter to pay.
"Yeah, I did," he replied.
"It was very good," Peggy added with a smile.
The girl smiled back, taking their bill and ringing it up on the cash register. "That comes to six dollars and forty-eight cents, sir."
Declan pulled a handful of bills from the pocket of his blue jeans and began straightening them as he handed the to the waitress. "One two three four five " he stopped counting abruptly, looking guiltily over at Peggy.
"It's okay, Declan," Peggy sighed. "I'll cover the rest."
As Peggy handed the waitress two dollars, Declan pretended to study a copy of the local newspaper.
"So this is Romanstown?" he asked in an attempt at conversation.
"Yep," the girl replied.
"Wasn't there something I read about this town in the newspaper? Something about homeless people in a flood or something?" He was fishing trying not to come to the point or even make it seem like he knew what he was talking about.
"Flood?" The girl seemed puzzled.
"I read something about a wash-out or-"
"Oh! You mean the homeless people out on Wash-out Lane! Yeah, it was in the news again a couple days ago. Strange things happening out there," the young woman told them.
"Like what exactly?"
"I don't really know, but that bum the TV people interviewed said he saw an angel." The girl shrugged.
"An Angel? Really?" Declan asked, trying to sound surprised. He only managed in eliciting an amused grin from Peggy. "Now that'd be something to see. Is it far from here? Wash-out Lane, I mean?"
The waitress gave him directions, but as Declan thanked her and turned to leave, she added "But you won't find anything, sir. That old bum is probably just making it up to get some attention. Or else he was drunk."
Once they were outside, Peggy gave him an I-told-you-so look. "See?"
"See what? That the world is filled with skeptics like you? Come on, Peggy! Just because the guy is homeless, that doesn't give people the right to stereotype him as a drunk."
"Then how else would you explain the 'angels' he claims to have seen?" Peggy asked him as she climbed back into the truck.
"I don't know yet."
~*~*~*~