ted’s

where i spent many hours of my childhood

famous to many as a woodward drive-in restaurant and hot rod cruising spot back in the day

famous to me as the scene of many family dinners and celebration spot

and that one suumer day

when my older sisters and i walked up to ted’s

all on our own

the hostess seated us in a booth

feeling very grown up

 pooling all of our change

looking at the menus

ordering 2 plates of french fries and lots of ketchup to share

when we finished, so proud of ourselves

the waitress dropped off our bill

my older sisters knew math

 realizing that we didn’t have enough money to pay the bill

my sisters somehow negotiated with the waitress

 to leave me in the booth while they ran home to get more money

 i sat in the booth quietly waiting for their return

feeling what it meant to be a hostage

without ever having heard the word in my young life

i’d still like to know

how they got the waitress to agree to this

how they talked my mom into letting us go up there alone in the first place

perhaps we snuck up there

and what they told my mom when they returned home without me to get more money?

i’ll ask my sister the next time we meet.

not at ted’s.

—

“every happiness is a hostage to fortune.”

-arthur helps