I awoke the next morning to the sound of clinking pans and something sizzling. At first, it didn't make sense that I was lying on a couch. But, when my sleepy mind finally broke through the sleep barrier, I remembered everything.
Original Cindy was frying something in a pan. She looked up, freshly groomed, as I rose to my feet and stretched. "Mornin' boo. Ya hungry?"
"Depends," I replied with a wry smile. "Whatcha got?"
"Just eggs and some toast."
"Eggs? Where'd you get those?"
She grinned, not wanting to reveal her secret. "Original Cindy gots her ways."
"Well then, I'll have some."
A couple minutes later, I was sitting at the old wooden table, eating happily. Amazingly, the eggs were pretty good. I mean, at first I wasn't sure if Cindy could cook, judging just by her looks and everything, but now I realized she could've gone out for her own TV show.
"Your mom up?" she asked me from across the table.
I shrugged, chewing on the cooked eggs. Then, I swallowed and replied, "I haven't seen her yet. Didn't you?"
"Yeah, my girl's still in her bed, sleeping like a baby."
"Mom? Sleeping? Those are a couple of words I thought I'd never hear in the same sentence."
Cindy laughed as she stabbed another forkful of eggs. "There are surprises ev'ryday," she replied, shoving the eggs into her mouth. We lapsed back into rather uncomfortable silence, not sure what to say to one another. The only thing we had in common was my mom. Other than that, we were two opposites, a world apart.
Yet, I hated the prickly silence and decided to attempt to make conversation. "Well…uh…how long have you known my mom?" I asked, even though the question was so utterly lame, I was mentally smacking myself on the forehead.
Cindy paused from scraping the eggs off her plate to think. "Hmm…I've known yo mom for a long time. But…how long? That, girl, is a good question."
"She says you know everything about her."
"Yeah, we talked one day, and she told Original Cindy ev'rythang."
"Oh," was the only reply I found suitable as I rose from the table to clean my dishes. I really didn't know what else to say, as I found out that some girl knew more about my mom than I had before the previous night.
We fell into an uncomfortable silence, but didn't say anything more until Mom padded out into the kitchen, yawning. "Good morning," she muttered, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Good morning, Mom."
"Mornin' boo." Mom sat down at the table, taking my place where I had occupied only a couple minutes earlier. She stretched and then turned to look curiously at me, fully starting to wake up.
"Didn't you wear those clothes yesterday?" she asked me.
"Uh…yeah," I replied, slightly embarrassed.
"Better change them then."
"Yup."
"You going out riding today?"
"Perhaps."
"Perhaps?" Mom asked, raising an eyebrow.
I grinned, almost mischievously. "You know I will."
"That's what I thought." Then, she turned to Cindy. "You going to finish these eggs?"
"No, boo, you can have all 'dem eggs."
"Thanks," Mom smiled and heartily accepted the remainder of the scrambled eggs.
My dishes dried and put away, I turned to my mom. "Can I go out as soon as I get changed?"
"Yeah, just be back here by…oh…'bout noonish."
"What's at noon?"
"Appointment."
"Great," I muttered sarcastically and left the kitchen area to go and get my motorcycle compartment.
It lay, detached from my bike, by the foot of the couch. I bent down and opened it, picking out a pair of decent clothes. Eventually, I settled with a maroon T-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans with a growing hole in the side pocket. Hmmm…was going to have to get that fixed.
I changed quickly in the bathroom, but not before doing the daily chore of shaving. Once I was done, I headed out the door. "I'm leaving!" I called.
"Ok!" my mom yelled back. I bounded down the stairs two at time and nearly jumped out of the door, eager to hop on my bike and ride. Jumpy from excitement, I literally exited the building and ran to my bike, hopping on. Once on, I gunned the engine and zoomed off, careening down the streets.
