While the rest of America was sitting around the dinner table, stuffing their faces with honey glazed hams, roasted potatoes and comforting pumpkin pie that tasted very much like home, Charlie drove around this little town in his 1988 Honda Civic that was somehow still held together by superglue and the will of God. How lonely it all felt, the night of Christmas Eve. All of the stores were closed around this tiny college town. The students all left more than a week ago, just a day after their final examinations. And Charlie, he had nowhere to go. This year, his sister joined her in laws and he could not afford the plane ticket to head up north to his family farm in Indiana. How he ever ended up in this Southern town is a tale for another day. But as he looked at his watch, he realized that it was almost 8:36pm and he has still not had anything to eat since that morning breakfast bar.
Troubled days were all Charlie knew during that past year. Ever since Nancy took off back in late February, just a couple of days after he gave her that special gift that he bought her for Valentine’s Day. Where she was now? Charlie did not have the faintest clue. Maybe she went back to that old boyfriend of hers whom she always spoke about. The guy who could last much longer than the typical three and a half minutes that Charlie could offer on the average night. Nancy was long go and with her so were Charlie’s hope for a better year to come. Now, all that he cared about was getting something to eat, something to ease his pain if only for a few moments.
Thank God for the Waffle House, Charlie thought to himself as he parked his old car next to a pickup truck. The place seemed busier than it should have been on Christmas eve, but then again, it was the only place open and the town was full of lonesome people much like himself. He parked himself on the booth right by the cash register. Christmas eve 2007 and there he was. There was not much to say after all.
So what will you have honey? She asked.
I am not really sure, I have never really eaten here before. I guess I will have some waffles, that only makes sense after all, does that sound like a good choice?
You want them plain or do you want chocolate chip waffles or maybe some pecan ones?
I’ll take them plain and also, can I get a cup of coffee.
You got it sugar, and then she walked away.
Looking around at the crowd that surrounded him, Charlie felt more at ease than one may have suspected. You can say what you want about people who eat at the Waffle House on any given day but now one could ever claim that these kind of folks were uninteresting.
There was that lonely old fat man who could barely fit into his booth, the two younger college students who wore black band T-shirts and were covered in tattoos, there were the regulars who knew the names of the waitresses and that of the guy who operated the grill. Charlie looked around at the wait staff and wondered to himself why they all referred to that bustier older woman as Mama.
An old black lady sat around with her three grandchildren around the corner booth. They kept on laughing with great fervor, displaying a sense of family that Charlie hoped to one day capture if only for a couple of holidays. Of course that all depended on him meeting the right girl.
But good girls were hard to find and Charlie was still licking his Nancy’s wounds.
The waffles came with a warm smile and a side of butter. Can I get you something else baby? Maybe a little more coffee?
Christmas music played and the warmth was not limited to sweet dough that was slowly moving down his stomach. With New Years Eve promising to be just as lonely as tonight. Charlie looked through the address book of his cellular phone in hopes of coming up with any possible name that may help him avoid this painful solitude.
Janet was out of town and Jessica flew back to Los Angeles. He thought about giving Rachel a call but than again that was not such a great idea.
Living life with this sense of loneliness never made any sense neither did the mercilessness of the holiday season. Whether he would find a woman to kiss on New Years Eve was still a mystery to Charlie. But at least he knew where he would go in case he would remain alone. Thank God for the Waffle House he thought as he drove out of the parking lot.
Hard-Boiled Men