ONE WEEK LATER
( Saturday, November 17th 1984 )
"JULIE, how are we feeling this mornin'?"
She stepped up to the counter at Benny's diner, smiling at the usual warm welcome from Earl. The place was quite small with five four-seated tables, but what Julie loved most was its jukebox and hospitality.
It was a little on the empty side most days due to the original owner Benny committing suicide last year, and today was no different. It was a Saturday, but there was only one customer at a table eating a hamburger by the curtained window. It was a shame to see. Her mother used to take her here for chocolate shakes when she was kid. It was always alive with chatter and smiles then.
In her eyes, Benny's was the heart of the town, so, just like her mother, she never gave up on it.
"Drained. How are you?"
"No better than you I take it." Yet, Earl still smiled. "Your momma's regular?"
"As always," she smiled, too.
He tended to her mother's coffee at the machine, making conversation all the while. "How'd that date of hers go in the end?"
"Well I think. She didn't say much." Her eyebrows pushed together, "She told you?"
"They spent it here for a while. Her and some lanky fellow, thin as a twig, a little on the tall side with a moustache."
Julie let the information reel in her head, trying to muster up an image. This was the most she knew about the man.
"Did she seem like she had a good time?"
"Seem it? She couldn't stop laughing."
Julie's worry depleted as she laughed through her nose with relief.
"For a square, he's got to be some comedian."
Earl headed back to the counter, holding over the disposable cup in exchange for the change she extended towards him.
"I'd say you ain't got a thing to worry about, but," he leaned forward like he was letting her in on a secret, "never speak too soon."
She laughed, but she knew he meant it just as much as she agreed.
"And I hate to ask, darlin', but I've been doing it all day," his demeanour immediately shifted. He seemed dismayed and a little guilty. "Anything for the tip jar's appreciated to help save the diner."
He picked up a glass jar he'd kept under the counter with some loose change and a few notes buried at the bottom.
"Course." She took her wallet out of her back pocket. "Are you closing down?"
"Not yet, but it's not looking so good. Finances were already scarce, living off the scraps Benny left. And it's been a year so I knew well and good what I was in for taking the reins on this place, but..." he shook his head, "that mayor Kline—he leased some land to build a mall and it's nearly on the rise."
Julie's eyebrows almost flew off her forehead. She couldn't believe this was the first she was hearing of it. "What? Where?"
"Just off Old Highway Seventy-Seven. Acres of land down that side. It's due to open in the summer and I'm not sure we can take it."
Julie's eyes had downturned, overtaken with sympathy and her own anxieties over her mother's business. She could hardly imagine the toll this would take on small businesses and families in Hawkins. She took out a ten dollar note, holding it up to make a show of it first before slipping it into the jar.
"Thank you." He put the jar back under the counter.
She nodded understandingly. "Benny would be so glad you never turned your back on him."
"He'd do the same. It's just who the ol' sucker was."
Julie knew just how true that much was. From what she remembered of him, the man had heart if not anything else. "Thank you for the intel on my mom."
Earl scrunched up his white-bearded face. "What intel?"
She chuckled a faint laugh, bidding him goodbye on her way through the door.
The hanging bell dinged as she walked through the flower shop with a steaming coffee in her hand. She could hear chatter coming from the back—her mother's faint laughter wrapping the conversation up with a bow before she slipped past the open doorway behind the counter, decorated with shining orange beads that hung just feet above the threshold.
Her dark permed hair was pulled back into a bushy ponytail behind her, and underneath her apron she wore a greyish blue buttoned down jumpsuit.
She took off her protective gloves, "Hey, sweetheart," and placed them onto the counter. "How was the big game?"
"We won two to none," Julie approached the counter.
"That's amazing!" She almost melted, "I'm so proud of you girls, you're doing so well."
"Yeah, Tonya and Pam scored and really saved our asses. Coach thinks we have a real shot at nationals this year and yeah, she's supposed to say that and she does all the time, but this time I really think she means it."
"I can't imagine a world in which she wouldn't. You girls are real athletes."
"I brought you coffee," Julie gestured the cup a little before extending it forward.
"That's so thoughtful," Eileen frowned and accepted the hot drink. "Thank you. How is Earl doing?"
"Not so good. He told me about a mall opening."
"You know, I hadn't even put it together that way," Eileen tilted her head. "Poor man. What with Benny, things were hard enough as is."
"Wait, you knew? Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I didn't think it was something to worry about."
"And is it? Is it going to affect business?"
"Only time will tell," she replied softly, "but regardless, that's not for your pretty little head to think about, alright?"
Julie tried to relax now that she had seen her mother already was, but refraining from worrying about the things she cared about had never been in her nature.
"Besides, it's kind of a shame they're building it when you're moving out."
"Earl says it'll open in the summer."
"At least that's something," Eileen's face lights up. "Gives you a few things to busy yourself with after finals."
Julie's eyes flickered to the beaded doorway just behind her mother, remembering the conversation she was having as she walked in. "Is there someone here?"
"Yes, I hired an employee," she looked at Julie pointedly, "but I'm sure you'd know nothing about that."
"I don't actually."
"Your friend Steve."
Julie's eyes narrowed on her mother at the mention of the boy she spent detention with last week. The last thing she remembered about spending time with him that day was that he got into his BMW after they exchanged loose and civil goodbyes.
"Thank you for recommending him. He brought me coffee and bagel to thank me for taking him on."
Julie didn't react.
"Such a sweet kid," her mother shook her head and tasted the coffee with a satisfied hum.
"And he's back there right now?"
"Trimming and de-thorning some roses as we speak," Eileen placed the cup down on to the countertop.
"Great." Julie couldn't have sounded less glad. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Yes. Go home, run yourself a nice, warm bath and relax those overworked legs."
"But I have the rest of the day. I can remove the leaves from some tulips or something."
"Oh, Steve covered that for me already," Eileen waved off. "Really, we have things covered here."
Julie felt her jaw clench. "Which shifts is he working?"
"Weekends, and we've talked about a potential full time extension in the summer." From her mother's smile, Julie could tell she was absolutely clueless.
"Cool."
"The coolest," Eileen grinned. "In fact, this is works out better for the both of us. I can't rely on you forever. Where does that leave me when you're surfing it up in California and... analysing bacteria, hm? No, go home. Things will be good here for a while."
"Even with your dates with the mystery man?" Julie reminded flatly.
Her mother's excitement faltered. "I thought you were okay with that?"
"I am. I just don't get why you don't talk about him."
"Because it's still fresh. But if you must know, his name is Scott and he's a science teacher at Hawkins Middle." She cocked her head, "Satisfied?"
"No," Julie mumbled morosely, "but if you're happy, I'm happy."
Her mother's face brightened with a smile that reached her brown eyes crinkling creases at the edges. Julie always hated that she inherited her father's cold blue ones—she was sure it was where the majority of her aloofness came from.
"Thanks for the coffee."
"At least it'll be warmer than Steve's."
Eileen's eyebrows rose. "I didn't realise it was a competition."
"It isn't. It's just newer coffee."
"Well, if you must know, I finished Steve's an hour ago and it was just fine."
"Great."
Eileen smiled with a warmness that contradicted her daughter's feigned, unconvincing pleasantries.
"See you at home."
"Okay, moody," she spoke after her daughter who was heading for the door.
"I'm not moody," Julie responded aggressively without turning around.
"And I'm guessing you're not defensive either."
Eileen could clearly see the roll of those blue eyes in her head, the same way Steve clipping roses with thorn strippers could in the back of his, too, as he smiled to himself.
Then Eileen signed upon pushing past the hanging beads. "That friend of yours is a piece of work."
Steve knew it was the kind of work he could handle, he had a number of times before, and that's why under his breath, still smiling, he muttered, "Tell me about it," knowingly.