Thirty-Seven
BEFORE I CAN REPLY, a beautiful and very smartly dressed young woman comes to our table and hands me a small slip of paper, saying, “Your receipt, sir.” I look at it and gasp.
Not only has the price of our meal been marked up by more than 100 percent, but Helen left an extremely generous tip.
“I’m seeing it, Dad,” Gladys says in my ear. “Whatever happens next, just make sure I can see everything and describe what I can’t.”
I’m about to question the woman about what exactly this was paying for when she says, “Please follow me.”
At this point, Helen catches my eye and I get the message: shut up and go along with this.
I get her chair and we are on our way across the dance floor and through the other tables to a different door than the one we came in. The door opens to a c
