A Day Off
I’d spent so much time at home lately that Ryan wanted to treat me to coffee and comics. It’s something we used to do once a week, but since Grandpa died, I hadn’t managed to make it to The Comic Cellar even once. Grandma was next door with her friend, Mrs. Turner, so I felt pretty confident leaving for an hour or two. And frankly, I needed the break.
We each had a bag full of comics as we sat in the café and ordered.
“Can I see your Sandman?” Ryan asked, slurping a Frappuccino smothered in whipped cream and cookie crumbs.
“You need to wipe your hands off before you touch Mr. Gaiman’s best work.” I shoved a pile of napkins at him.
We spent the next hour or so reading Spider-Man, Deadpool, and The Dark Knight, and arguing about who would win in a fight: DC vs. Marvel version.
“I feel like Deadpool would fight dirty, so he could kick Aquaman’s ass,” Ryan said.
“Oh my god…is there anyone you think could beat Deadpool?”
“No. Because no one is as awesome as Deadpool.”
“Wonder Woman could beat him,” I sniped.
“And you think Wonder Woman could beat anyone. She couldn’t even beat Aquaman, and he’s lame!”
“She can!” I told him. “If Aquaman gets his powers from the ocean, how is he supposed beat Wonder Woman on land?”
“Well…he takes the power with him…” Ryan was floundering. I loved when he floundered.
“He takes it with him? Like in a bottle?” I teased.
“Oh, shut up.”
Tara, our waitress du jour cleared our cups.
“I’m closing up, guys. Do you want something for the road?”
I literally felt the color drain from my face.
Shit.
I looked at my phone.
Eight o’clock.
We had been gone for six hours.
“I need to go home right now!” I jumped up, stuffing my comics back in the bag, not caring if they got damaged.
“Shit. I’m sorry, Lucky.”
“It’s my fault. I should have been watching the time. Just…we need to go now!”