He took me to a diner.
Not Patty's. A different one on the other side of the city that I had never been to before. The kind of place that has been in the same spot for forty years and has not changed a single thing about itself in all that time and is quietly proud of that fact. Vinyl seats the color of old mustard. A counter with round stools that spun if you pushed them. A hand written menu on a chalkboard behind the register that had not been updated since someone decided to add a breakfast special in what looked like the early nineties.
The woman behind the counter looked at Cade when we walked in and gave him a small nod that told me he had been here before. More than once. He led me to a booth at the very back, the one furthest from the windows and the door, and sat with his back t
