Tonight's my first visit to the diner since Sunday, when Rochelle so badly needed my physical help coping with an endless drudgery known to all of us as Life.   I really hope it hasn't gotten around that I was able to help in such a manner; if it happens again, I might have to charge cash.

I open the door to the diner, to find a reasonable crowd of people.   Business here has been better as of late in the Midnight Hour, and I haven't been able to pinpoint why.   As I walk down to my end, though, I eye a strange sight.   It's a young girl, sitting alone in a booth.   The cafe-au-lait skin, and the piercing eyes look astonishingly familiar, yet out of place on this person.   Frankly, it's almost unnerving.   Weird as hell.

I sit down, and Dawn greets me.   "Hi, sweetie."
"Hi!"
"Missed ya the past couple of nights."
"Well, I needed a break, really."   I inhale deeply, and make myself comfortable on the stool.   "How've you been?"
"Fine.   Rob and I've separated."
Pause.   "I'm sorry to hear that."
"He's with his mother.   My sister's staying with me for a bit.   The kids are okay, though.   I told them that Daddy went to be with Nana, and they seemed fine with it.   I guess he was wearing them down, too."
"This is terrible."
"I think he needed a change of scenery, too.   He's also closer to Debbie and Elmo.   That seems to matter much more than me or his kids.   I understand but still..."
"Well, I don't have to tell ya, we're here, too.   Always."
"I know.   I love you guys."
"Carolyn sends her best."
"Back at her."   Dawn looks at the booth behind me, where that young girl's still sitting.   "You see that girl there?"
"Yeah!"  I whisper.
"It's like I know her!"
"Me too!"
"But..." Dawn trips on her thoughts.   "I think it's...strange."
It seems like the girl is waiting for someone.   Every time the front doors open, she cranes her neck to see who's walking in.
"We're both thinking the same thing, aren't we?"
"Yes.   Be right back."   Dawn heads back up the counter, to wait on new arrivals.   I open the menu to see what I'm going to have.   Cafe-au-lait skin.   Those piercing eyes.   Now, you know who I'm thinking of.   Jumping Jesus, if she doesn't look like...well...
It looks like a slim, deer-like, athletic version of Rochelle Peyton at eighteen.
I choose my old standby, that lovely bowl of porridge that I enjoy so much.   It's a hot grain cereal, quite like the old Wheatena that I loved so much as a child, only with a slightly larger, coarser grain.   One that makes you reach for the floss after you're finished.   When Dawn comes back, I tell her that I'll have the porridge, with the usual hot cup of coffee.   Mmmmmmm.
"Sure."   She jots this down.   "Spooky, this is!"
"You ain't kiddin'."
Dawn heads back up.   The door opens, the young girl cranes her neck upward, and Brenda Morabito comes in.   She's wearing a bright red Phillies cap- New Era 5950- the one the players wear.   She's also wearing a bright red Phillies warmup jacket, trimmed in royal blue.   All she needs is a healthy chaw of Beech Nut.
"Whassup?"
"Hey, whassup with you?"
"My life is up," she says, smiling broadly.
"Yep," I say.   "Tonight, at two, you're gonna call me because your heart's gonna be rolling on the floor again."
Brenda clears her throat, and smiles, in a rather glazed, childlike way.   "I don't know about that.   I think we're on our way to something."
"Finally?"
"Yes."   Brenda restlessly plays drums with her fingers on the counter.   "That girl behind us looks kind of familiar.  Do I know her somewhere?"
I chuckle.   "That's been bugging me, and Dawn, too.   It's like we know her."
Brenda gives a surreptitious glance.   "She kinda looks like Rochelle, doesn't she?"
"Yes."
"Oh, and by the way, you didn't think you could get away with that little episode over the weekend without me hearing about it, did you?"
Oh, Jesus God.   Frickin' Rochelle and her big mouth.  "No, I would never try to hide anything from you.   What, you want one too?"
"Nah.   Not my feet.   Thanks.   But, my shoulders can use help now and again, how come you never offered me this wonderful thing?"
"Look, she begged me for it, okay?"
"She begged you for a foot rub, right here in the diner.   Suuuuuuuure."
"And it's something a good friend does for another good friend."
"Um-hmm."   Dawn comes back down the counter, with my order.   Dawn and Brenda greet each other; Brenda orders a Western Omelette, covered with cheddar, two toasted bagels, and double the home fries.  
Damn.
"Um, excuse me."
We look around, to find the aforementioned young girl standing next to Brenda and myself.
"Uh, hi.   I was wondering if Rochelle was working tonight?"
A long, long pause.
"Rochelle?"  Dawn asks.
"Yes.   Rochelle Peyton."
Longer pause.
"Actually, she works tomorrow, she'll be in at eleven o'clock," Dawn says, nervously.   "Did you want to uh...leave a message?"
"No, I just...really need to see her."
"Well, she should be in then."
The young girl's manner is very, very polite.   "Thank you!"
We all chime in with, "you're welcome."
The girl slowly turns on her heels, and walks out the doors.
"Boy," I say, sipping my coffee.   "I ain't missin' tomorrow night on pain of death."
"Me neither," Brenda adds.
"I think I actually might drop by myself," Dawn says.   "Even if it IS my night off."
"One thing's for certain," I say, putting margarine and Sweet 'n Low in my porridge.   "We're gonna find out something that I don't think Rochelle ever had any intention of telling us about."