So this is Bourbon Street.
“Ethan, what’s the plan? Where’re we going?”
“I don’t know,” he grits out through clenched teeth. “I’m looking for somewhere we can sit and figure this out.”
The next block still has an abundance of strip clubs, but there are a few more bars and restaurants. Ethan ducks into an open doorway, Teeny and I right behind him. It’s a small restaurant, really just a wide hallway with a bar on one side and a row of booths on the other.
The place looks like a dive but the smells are incredible. We pass trays of boiled crawfish with corn and potatoes and it’s like swimming through a sea of seasonings.
We slide into the only empty booth in the back.
“What are we gonna do?” I ask. “We don’t have any money.”
Ethan looks at me for the first time and it breaks my heart. I can see the disappointment in his eyes. “I know. I know. I just need to sit for a minute and think,” he answers back.
“Can we call Dad?” Teeny asks.
I take a deep breath and tell her about the video Thomas left behind.
Her eyes well up with tears but they don’t spill over. I couldn’t be more proud of how she’s handling all of this.
An older woman walks up to the table and just looks at us, no greeting, nothing.
“We’re waiting on some people. Can you give us a minute?” Ethan asks.
She glances at the bar. “A few minutes then you gotta order or get lost.”
Teeny tugs on my sleeve and whispers, “Do you think they’ll give us some water for free?”
“Can my little sister have a glass of water while we wait?” I ask the waitress.
Her mouth puckers and a million little lines form around her lips. “Y’all in trouble?”
We all shake our heads, probably a little too enthusiastically.
“No, trouble. We just need a minute and a glass of water. Please.” Charm oozes from Ethan and just like that, the waitress is gone. Seconds later, she’s balancing a tray with three waters and a basket with a hot loaf of buttered bread. I hope the drool running from my mouth isn’t obvious.
“Thank you so much,” Teeny says as she breaks off a huge chunk and shoves it in her mouth.
“That’s on the house. But you got about five minutes before Sam notices you ain’t ordered nothing. Better get moving ’fore then.”
The bread is gone within seconds and the hunger I was only vaguely aware of earlier is screaming its presence now. Even with that huge amount of food in our room, I had no appetite while we were there.
“Do we have anything we can hock? We need money. We’ve got to get off the street,” Ethan says.
I look at my hands; no watch, no rings, nothing.
Teeny’s head drops a little as she digs something out of her front pocket. She opens her hand to show what’s inside.
The pocket watch from the box in the wall.
I put my arm around her. “Will you be okay giving up the watch? Hopefully we can get enough for a room somewhere for tonight. Otherwise, we’ve got nowhere to go.”
Teeny hands it to me and nods. “Yeah, it’s fine. It doesn’t work anyway.”
From across the table, Ethan lifts it out of my hand to get a better look at it. “What’s it made out of?”
I shrug. “Not sure. It’s pretty tarnished. Probably silver.”
