Page 66 of Nuts

“Bob Seger,” I gasped. “Roll Me Away.”

“Good tune,” he said.

My eyes shot to him. “It was one of my mom’s favorites.”

The waitress pointed toward the condiment rack and then sat two cups of coffee down. “Menus are right there.”

“Does this work?” I asked.

“Sure does. Two for a quarter. No cheaper music in the entire valley.”

Percy tossed two quarters onto the table. “Pick your four favorites.”

“I’ll be right back to take your order,” the waitress said.

“I know what I want,” Percy said.

“Me too.”

The waitress looked at me and cocked her eyebrow playfully.

“Three eggs over medium, hash browns, bacon, and wheat toast.”

She grinned and looked at Percy.

“Same.”

She scribbled on her pad. “Easy enough.”

As she walked away, Percy looked at me. “Always eat your eggs over medium?”

“I’ll eat them scrambled if I cook them, but not in a restaurant. They never make them right.”

He chuckled.

“What?’

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

I reached for the quarters, and then looked the music choices over. After two passes through the entire selection, I chose four songs.

As Bob Seger’s Roll Me Away began, I closed my eyes. Percy must have enjoyed the song as much as me, because he didn’t speak the entire time.

When the song ended, I opened my eyes.

“What other three did you pick?”

“The Weight by The Band, Janis Joplin’s Me and Bobby McGee, and I Wish It Would Rain, by the Temptations.”

“Damn. Where’d you get your taste in music?”

“You don’t like them?”

“Shit,” he said with a light laugh. “Sounds like what I would have picked.”

“My dad was ten years older than my mom,” I explained. “He was born in 1965, so he’d be 52 now. Mom always said he influenced her musical taste. I grew up listening to these songs. It’s better than the crap they make today.”

The Weight, by The Band started to play.