Dinner

Last night, I went out to dinner with Laura and Cat.
Cat, as always, was very gracious, and paid for everything.
It was she that told me about everydayminerals.com
We had iced coffee and three different types of pizza, in a small restaurant in the northern suburbs. It was quiet, and sparkly, and nice. I had the Thai chicken and Pepperoni Deluxe.
On the way home, she drove and told me funny stories about her trip to Canada.
Once! she said. Once, we were waiting for a Greyhound bus! And there was this old woman, and she asked us to mind her bags, while she went to the bathroom! And then!
(at this point Cat pauses and looks at me meaningfully.)
She came back four hours later.
Wide eyed, I ask: What?
She came back four hours later, Cat repeats. With a black man!
A black man?
Yes! She had asked him to help her with her bags! She had four! So then, they opened up all the bags, and inside, were plastic bags! Full of brand new clothes! From the shops!
Helpless, hopeless tears of laughter were rolling down my face by now.
Apparently! She’d escaped from a mental institution, run home, but then discovered her son had sold her property! So now, she was making a break for the border, so as to complain to the government from a different country!
(She was on the Greyhound bus to San Diego.)
At this point, Cat wanted to just walk away, quietly.
But Laura had insisted on staying and seeing what she could do to help the woman.
Leave it, Cat had whispered. For God’s sake, she’s a lunatic.
But Laura had insisted, and repacked the woman’s bags for her, so she could catch the bus with one bag instead of four.
They’d stayed and watched her leave.
The spare bags the old woman gave to the black man, who left the station looking stunned.
When we got home, Cat showed me lots of pictures. In most of them, Laura was standing in knee-deep snow, grinning, with a bright pink nose and cheeks. It all looked very serene and crisp.
‘What happened to the old woman?’ I asked.
Cat looked at me darkly. ‘I never want to talk about that crazy lady again.’