in!' she declared – while she navigated us to Caf Triomphe. There, I pulled up in front, and left the keys with the valet, who all but fell down when the three of them got out of the car. Our walk into the restaurant was a near duplicate of what had happened at the hotel – a bubble of silence followed us as we made our way in. Once inside, it wasn't more than a minute before the headwaiter gave me a look, then approached, asking 'Sir?
Would you be Boomer?'
'Yes, I am. Or I should say, was.'
'If you'll follow me, Sir, your table is waiting.' – drawing us the stares of most of those waiting, plus a few dirty looks.
He led us to a table that was obviously the best in the place, saying 'Mr. Waters will be with you in a moment, sir.'
The headwaiter helped me get Robyn and Sandra seated; I gave him a look, and he stayed away from Lucy. I hadn't any more than sat down myself when a shadow fell over our table. I heard Robyn and Sandra gasp, then Lucy. I turned to look, and saw that Muddy was there. At nearly 6' 8' tall and pushing 300 pounds, bald, and black as the darkest night, he made an impressive figure. He opened his mouth and said 'Boomer, it's been a long time!' in a deep, rumbling bass voice that would have made Barry White cry. I stood up again, and tried to shake hands with him – and got pulled into a hug, anyway. When he turned loose of me, I discretely checked to see if he'd broken any ribs – even his muscles had muscles, and sometimes he misjudged his own strength; deciding he hadn't, I turned to introduce him to Lucy and the girls. Smiling to show white, even teeth, he stuck a hand out to each of them, and when they cautiously put a hand in it, leaned over to kiss it before telling them how happy he was to meet them.
During all of this, the headwaiter, waiter, and other customers were watching this like I was some major dignitary that they couldn't remember the name of.
With the introductions out of the way, Muddy turned to me and said, 'I heard you'd gone to college – what was it, Podunk University or some such?'
I laughed, and answered 'Yeah, something like that. I heard you'd opened up some kind of greasy spoon, and were busy poisoning people.
Looks like you're doing okay for yourself, Muddy.'
He laughed, and said 'Yeah, no telling what some people will like', making me laugh along with him, before he said 'Looks like you're doing pretty good yourself, there, Boomer. You still like steak?'
I gave him a look, and he laughed again, before turning to the girls and Lucy, saying 'If you lovely ladies don't mind, I've got some steaks that I think you'll like.'
All three looked at me, and I smiled and nodded, letting them know that they wouldn't be disappointed. Looking back at him, Lucy said 'I think we'd be delighted, Mr. Waters.'
Muddy laughed again, and said 'Ma'am' – 'Please, call me Lucy' – 'Lucy, there's no need for that Mister stuff with me. Me, and Boomer here, we go back a ways; just call me Muddy, like everyone else, okay? And that goes for you two young ladies, too; I won't know you're talking to me, unless you call me Muddy!'
All three of them smiled at him, and he turned back to me to say, 'If you'll excuse me a minute, Boomer, I got a couple things that need my attention, but I'll be back.'
I told him that was fine, and before he left, he signaled one of the waiters, and told him 'Ricky, this here is Boomer. He's my*personal* guest. While he's here, you got
Ricky's eyes got real big, and he nodded solemnly before looking at me as though I'd just levitated off the floor. The headwaiter watched this, and only nodded when Muddy looked at him before heading into the kitchen. I sat down again, and Lucy and the girls only stared at me for several seconds before another waiter appeared – this one with a dusty bottle of wine. He wiped the label off and showed it to me, saying, 'Mr. Waters said that if you agreed to the steak, this was the wine I was to serve. It's from his private cellar; one of three bottles that he was allowed to buy that year.'
I nodded, and he carefully opened the bottle before pouring a small amount in my glass. I sipped it, letting it flow over my tongue – and discovering that it was one of the finest, no, THE finest, red wine I'd ever tasted. I paused only a moment before letting him know that it was okay to pour. I watched as Lucy, then Sandra and Robyn, each took a sip – and smile in delight at it's flavor.
About that time, Muddy showed up again, saying 'There, that's taken care of – I remember how you like your steak, Boomer, but I need to know what these lovely ladies prefer.'
Lucy smiled at him, and said, 'Medium-well, please', with Sandra and Robyn nodding in agreement. Muddy smiled, and said 'Excellent. Medium well it is.' Then he turned to Ricky, and asked 'You still standing there? Where's these folks appetizers?' in a good-natured tone. I'm not sure that I had time to draw my next breath before Ricky was back, with fresh-baked bread and rolls for us, along with a dish of what turned out to be fresh- churned butter. When we'd each taken a roll, Muddy cautioned us 'Now, don't be eating too much of that – you're going to be wanting to leave some room for these steaks.'
I asked him what he'd been up to since I'd left our unit, and he filled me in as I ate. When I was done, he asked me, and I told him what I was doing. From there, we branched out into what some of the other guys were doing. Right in front of God and everybody, he asked me if I was going to marry Lucy – causing Lucy to choke and the girls to giggle before I told him 'Not yet'. He turned to Lucy and told her 'If Boomer doesn't pop the question soon, you come look me up – I'll ask it for damn sure!', making her blush.
About that time, we heard some music start, and a bit later, Muddy turned to Lucy and asked 'Lucy, if Boomer isn't going to ask you to dance, I sure will. Would you like to join me on the dance floor?' – catching her completely off guard. She looked at me, and I nodded, before she told him 'Muddy, I'd be delighted'. She stood up, and he gently guided her to the dance floor where he guided her around for a couple of slow ones. When he brought her back, he excused himself again, and Lucy watched him leave before telling me 'You wouldn't think it from looking at him, but he's incredibly light on his feet – best dancer I've been with in a*long* time!'
I smiled, and said 'Oh, I'd believe it. You forget, I served with him, and I know how light he can be. You didn't hear him when he walked up to the table, did you?' – and all three of them got thoughtful looks on their faces.
I excused myself, and headed for the men's room; when I got back, Muddy was there, telling them stories – apparently about me, judging from the looks I got. As I was sitting down, he finished one by saying 'So when the Colonel asks us why we blew up the bridge the training brigade used to cross the river, Boomer tells him 'Because it was ugly, sir!'' – earning laughs from all of them – before adding 'Cost me a month's pay; but it was sure worth it to see the expression on the Colonel's face!'
Here, I chipped in with 'Whatever he's telling you, it's a lie. You can tell cause his lips are moving. It wasn't me, it was my evil twin, Cedric.' Robyn and Sandra giggled; Lucy gave me an appreciative look and said 'What he's been telling us is what a good guy you are.'
'See? That proves my point', I said.
Muddy just grinned at me, and excused himself again.
The girls just looked at me as Lucy said 'One of these days, you're going to have to tell me just what it was you*really* did in the Army.'
About that time, another waiter showed up with our steaks – the largest, about 12 ounces, to me; the next, perhaps 8 ounces, to Lucy, then a couple of 6-ouncers to Robyn and Sandra. They were still sizzling from the grill, and were accompanied by baked potatoes topped with real bacon bits and cheddar cheese, and salads.
We were left alone while we ate – something that I appreciated, since it meant that I didn't have any distractions from savoring and memorizing every bite I took. I don't know what he did to it, but that was the best steak I'd had in*years* – flavorful, juicy, and actually tender enough to cut with a fork. None of us was interested in conversation – we just wanted to get ourselves wrapped around the food.
About the time we were sitting back from our meal, Muddy turned up again, asking if everything was okay. Lucy and the girls could only stare at him in wonder. I volunteered 'Well, it was something of an improvement over barbeque grubs.'
Muddy all but fell over, laughing, before explaining to the others 'We were out on a mission, and it kinda ran long, so we ran out of food we'd packed along. Pickings were kinda slim, so we finally had to settle for some grubs we'd found in an old, dead tree. Understand, we were ready to eat them, but weren't real happy at the idea,
