I walk in the door of the diner. I hear the lone employee seating two
black women.  


"...all the booths are reserved, but you can spread out along the
counter." 



     I look around and see a thin scattering of people filling
only a handful of booths.



     From the door I watch them sit down on stools along the counter.
I stand there, waiting to be directed to a seat. The man hurries over
to me, smiles, and winks to me saying "your booth is right over here."
He directs me to the 'reserved' booth the farthest away from the two
women. I indicate the map and ask to be seated at the counter instead,
implying that I might want to ask him for directions.



     I walk to the counter, seating myself by the two women,
but leaving a couple of empty seat between us. I wink at them behind
the man's back but make only customary greetings of politeness overtly.
We order food and mine seems cooked with loving care and presented with
a flourish, while theirs is more in the style of a prison meal.



     I unfold out the map and begin to pour over it. After letting the
man give me directions, I notice the women looking over at the map.  I
say "You two aren't from around here, are you" more as a statement than
a question when they look over at the map.



     "No, but we just inherited a house here and just thought we'd 
drive down to look it over"



     A look of horror crosses the man's face. "You could probably sell
it for something nice," he says to them.



     The meal continues in this fashion. The man is kind
to me and rude to them. I get service with a smile, for them it is a
chore the man barely tolerates.



     After we finish eating, I reach over to hold one of the women's hands.
The man gasps. In a moment of exagerrated bravado, I twist her around
and say "may I have this dance", making mock ballroom dancing motions.
The man looks on in offended disbelief. We dance for two seconds and I
say "I love you, will you marry me" to her.



     She laughs out loud and kisses me. I start laughing too, at the
absurdity of it all. The man's face takes on a look of anger, outrage,
and betrayal. I drop a twenty dollar bill on the counter, take my wife
and her sister by hand, and we walk out the door of the diner.