Sun Country's Weblog

It wasn’t much of a restaurant. But it was there. There on the street. Not on one of the corners but tucked into the middle of the block. And it was a long block.

What was unique about it though was what they offered. Instead of being like a mall where you have many businesses each with a particular specialty this place served food from three different nationalities but it was all under one roof.

When you walked in from the southern most entrance what you first ran into was the arcade machines.

There was only three of them but there they were. Were they current? Not in a long time although at one point in time they would have been considered state of the art. Now. Now they were just there. Did anyone ever still play them. Did some kid come in with money from his paper-route come in and plunk a few quarters into the slot and prepare to knock the high score into the rear view mirror never to be seen again. Would the initials that had stood proudly at the top of the screen vanish into the worst slot in the world. Second Place. Shivers run down the spine when one thinks of being. Replaced. Relegated to that roll of forgotten. The initials never to be looked at ever again as long as the machine stayed plugged in. What a terrible thing to have happen to oneself. Gone and forgotten in one fell swoop.

Truth be told. I don’t know. As many times as I ate there I only ever saw one person play the machines. And from the looks of him setting the high score on that or any other machine simply wasn’t going to happen. What was he there for. Don’t know. Never asked. Never saw the game he played. Never saw him hoop and holler and point at his initials as they rose to the top. He simply walked in. Played his quarters. And then he left. Didn’t crack a smile. Never looked at anyone. Just dropped the quarters, played the games, and then. And then he vanished. As if into thin air.

After the three machines was an empty space. Not quite empty. Just enough space to get to the restrooms.

After the empty space came the first of three places to order food.

The first one you would come to would be Mexican. Carne Asada, Tacos, Burritos, Fish and Chips. The food was not expensive. It was also not cheap. It was plentiful. And Hot. Right off the grill. Nothing prepared in advanced. You wanted Fish and Chips. You watched as the Fish was placed into a basket. The basket lowered into the friers. And then you waited until the buzzer went off announcing that the Fish was fully cooked. And hot. The plates. Yea right. Two paper plates with the fat rolling off the fish and then being absorbed into the paper and then eventually onto the plastic tray that you were allowed to gather up your food onto to make it easy to transport it to one of the booths.

The booths sat opposite the food preparation, ordering, and finally the paying of the bill. There were not many of them. About 8 of them smacked up against the windows.

The next place to order chow from was the American Grill. From here you could get the usual order of Burgers fixed however you wanted. A double cheeseburger with onions and bacon. On top of that went the thick beefsteak tomato, the lettuce, and a tablespoon of barbeque sauce. Mayonnaise and mustard rounded out the burger. To that you added the fries and then finally the quart of soft drink to wash it all down. It was a mouthful also prepared fresh while you waited. The anticipation. The waiting. The sound of the buzzer. The fries were done. The drink was poured. The burger was done. The rumbling in your tummy about to become a very distant memory.

Next to that sat the Chinese place. Never saw it open. Never saw anyone order from it. Never heard anyone ever ask why they never opened. Never saw the lights in any position but off. Never flashing. Never blinking. Just off. Just sitting there dull and lifeless. No questions. Just order from one of the other menus and move on.

Then there was another short break from the restaurants. Not much larger than the walkway to the restrooms.

And finally at the end of it all. An incredibly tiny convenience store. Health food was not the order of the day at the small store. Barely 8 feet wide and the length of the building. Which wasn’t much. You wanted junk food. Plenty to be found. Don’t be shy. Just step right up and do the worst that you could to yourself. The man at the cashier wasn’t there to give you a lecture. He was there to collect the money and move the merchandise. And move it he did.

Neil and the editor walk into the restaurant and order their meals.

After a few moments the alpha male walks in behind them and orders his meal.

It’s you. It’s all your fault.

How do you figure that Jim?

You two know each other asks Frank.

Sure do says the alpha male. Your friend Jim there is a real loser.

Am not comes the reply. It’s all, it’s all your fault.

I wasn’t the one driving to fast for conditions Jim. That was all your fault. Stop trying to blame me for it.

Why I oughta …

Oughta what Jim? Kill me. For what. For your bad driving.

You stole my daughters Christmas screams Jim.

Did not says the alpha male. Coolly.

You was driving to fast for conditions, you lost control, you dropped the load. People got killed in that accident. The authorities phoned your wife and she’s the one that found it.

Found what asks Frank.

The package laying partially mangled on the highway says the alpha male. All packaged up, with Christmas paper and everything. Even had a one of them pretty pink bows on it. And a little card from daddy to my little angel. Real touching Jim. But you were in such a hurry to get it to her that you jackknifed in the rain and lost it all.

Then in the carnage your wife found that mangled package of the cassette recorder the company had given you as a little present for getting the rest of the shipment to the warehouse on time. Turns out for that year that was the gift of the season. And you were in such a rush to get yours to your little girl that other people had to die. Isn’t that the way it happened Jim asks the alpha male.

Franks sits down speechless.

Jim isn’t saying much of anything.

What are you gonna do now asks Jim.

Shoot me?

Pretty much comes the reply.

You’ve been dead since your wife left you anyways. Yea, she knew. Didn’t take her long to put two and two together. She didn’t say much but I was one of those involved in your accident Jim. I was one of the ones who got hurt. Your wife tried to hide that little package but I saw it. I saw her put it in her purse as she was walking away back to her car. Back to get your daughter and then to move on. Moving on without you.

And now you sit here in a little corner of the park drinking yourself silly trying to forget. If I had pity for you I’d just let the alcohol take you out. But I gotta do something for my wife says the alpha male.

The alpha male is sitting at Outpost Korengal.

The locals may call it Battery Park but to the Alpha Male it’s Outpost Korengal.

He’s been sitting in the park for hours at a time for days on end.

He comes to the park with a bag of popcorn.

He sits in the park and feeds the pigeons and passes the day just watching and being lazy.

They will come soon.

They’re always the first employees to hit the park.

Frank and Jim will come walking past me again and never even it know it thinks the alpha male.

He’s been watching them for a few weeks now.

Sure 18 bars had to be burned to the ground to find them but find them he did.

His wife had told him that their child had watched the reports on the television. When the bars stopped being burnt down she just knew that he had picked up some information. Information that would help him on his mission to retrieve the information for. Her.

Of course they had used their special encoded language in case someone was eavesdropping but the message had been relayed and both knew what was said even if others did not.

He had traveled ahead of Frank and Jim and had watched which directions they took when they left the park and headed for home.

He may have been in the guy in the bookstore just browsing the books by the window or the guy sitting in the restaurant ordering a quick meal as they drove past but he didn’t need to do any of those things.

Outpost Restrepo as he had taken to calling it is where Frank and Jim actually lived.

They lived a scant few blocks away in an unused portion of Liberty State Park.

Unbelievable.

The had blocked off an obscure portion of the park and just lived there.

They would go out to the store and buy their booze and provisions and then head back to the park. Cheap bastards.

Soon the alpha male would leave Outpost Korengal and move onto the end game. Outpost Restrepo would bring about the answer that he sought.