Between the Lanterns(4)

August shrugged his shoulders and decided that, although this was just some stupid marketing holiday, free food was free food. And this was REAL food. He opened an app called RFF, Real Food Finder, and searched for the closest non-Nutricator restaurant. The results showed a diner, a pub, and a Chinese food restaurant.

The first was Cheryl’s Diner, described as home-style cooking like your Great Great Grandmother used to make. The second was Big Guy’s Pub, touting the best real burgers and beers in town. A beer did sound nice right now. The third was Xiao Li’s Kitchen and, apparently, was the only place in Alabama to get authentic Shanghainese food.

Well, Chinese food never sat very well with August for some reason. Probably because his diet mostly consisted mostly of fake, cheap, Nutricator -made garbage, and Chinese food is so full of spices and sauces that it just upset the peaceful balance in his gut.

So it was really down to the pub or the diner. The pub had beer, which was a real draw for August. He hadn’t had a real beer since his 21st birthday three years ago. The Nutricator beer served in most bars tasted like cardboard and only had an alcohol percentage of 2.1%. It wasn’t even worth the Credit, honestly. So a real beer sounded just plain amazing. The diner, though, well… it had chocolate pie.





Chapter 2





CHOCOLATE PIE





Chocolate pie. Just like his granny used to make for August when he was young. His parents may have been too hard on him and never supported any of his dreams or hobbies, but his granny had always nurtured in August the desire to work with his hands. She used to break her remote control for the TV so that August could fix it.

While he worked, she would make meat loaf, green beans, and home-made biscuits for lunch. Afterward, she always had a slice of chocolate pie for him. August missed his granny a lot. She had died ten years before very suddenly when she had come down with the new cancer.

About thirty years ago, Montek.Pharm had cured all cancer. A single pill of their cure could eradicate cancer of any kind from anyone on Earth. And they had given the cure out for free. Montek didn’t need the Credit, and so they used this as a marketing ploy. Give away the cure for cancer, and people will be loyal to you forever. It worked.

Years later, though, a new cancer started showing up in people of all ages, races, and tax brackets. No one could figure out where it came from or how to cure it. Montek’s cure didn’t even work. They tried over and over again to find a way to stop this cancer, but they just couldn’t.

The good news was that it only affected about 1one in every 10,000 people at first. It was also not a painful way to die, as were the cancers of the past. It was the strangest disease ever to affect the human race. Basically, it was a timer set for death. Once diagnosed, the doctors could track it via the proteins in your blood the cancer attacked. You felt no pain at all. You could go on living your life just like normal, except for becoming a little bit forgetful. But once you contracted this cancer, you had an expiration date, and they could tell you the exact day you would die. For that reason, the disease came to be known as The Countdown.

When August’s gGranny became sick, the doctor did all the tests and told her it was the new cancer. Once her Countdown had begun, the dDoc said it would be 27 days before her death. Exactly 27 days.

She never told August about it. He came and visited her several times over those last 27 days. He was older now, so she didn’t break her remote control anymore. He would just come over and sit with Granny. They would talk for hours about her life, his dreams, or what he was building and fixing up. Granny would always tell him how proud she was of him. His parents never once said to August that they were proud of him for anything. Granny told him every time they were together.

On day 27 she fixed him meat loaf, green beans, home-made biscuits, and of course… chocolate pie. After lunch, she hugged August tight and held it for an unusually long time.

“Granny, are you ok?” he asked. “What’s the matter?”

“Not a thing, youngin. Not a thing,” she lied to her grandson. “I just love you ever so much. Have I told you how proud I am of the man you’ve become?”

“Yes, ma’am. You tell me all the time,” he said. “Though, I’m not sure what you’re proud of me for doin’. I ain’t never done anythin’. I ain’t never even kissed a girl, Granny. I’m just a dud.”

“Don’t you dare ever say that about yourself again, you hear?” Granny scolded him. “You’re a good man. You have a warm heart, a carin’ soul, and you can do things with your mind and hands that most people couldn’t ever dream of. You got more talent in your pinky than the entire Wiregrass area combined,” she told him point-blank, and with a wagging finger for emphasis.

She went on to say, “One day you’ll meet the right girl and y’all will be happier than anyone else ever has been. Listen to your granny, now. She knows everythin’.”

“Yes, ma’am,” August said respectfully. “Can I do anythin’ around here before I head back home? Anythin’ need fixin’?”

Granny smiled at August and started to cry. He had never once seen this strong, old woman cry. She wasn’t unemotional; she was just tough as nails and only cried behind closed doors.

“Granny, really now,” August said, worried to death, “what’s the matter? Tell me. Whatever it is, I’ll take care of it.”