"How about here?" Kirk asked.
"Wonderful. I love crИpes."
"I'd rather have a Gino's Giant, but what can you do?"
"You've got no couth, Kirk. You'll like it."
They went into the restaurant. It was almost empty. Kirk wheeled up to a table for two and Amy sat down. A waitress came with menus and quickly left. Kirk lit a cigarette.
They both looked over the menu.
"What kind of a place is this anyway? No pizza crИpe?"
"Funny boy," Amy said. "I think I'll just have a dessert one. How about a CrИpe Grand Marnier?"
"Fine. Me too. It better be good or I'll break your leg."
"Just try it. Why can't you be romantic like the guy in the movie?"
"I'm not your lover. If you put out for me, I'd bring you candy."
"My, aren't we suave tonight? It's not part of the game, I'm sorry to say."
They ordered the two CrИpes Grand Marnier and ate them with delight. They tasted the sweet powdered sugar, the thin crisp crИpe and the sharp flavor of the liqueur. The dim candlelight and quiet music were the backdrop, and they sat for a long while after they had finished eating.
"It's so nice to be away from the hospital for a night. Sometimes it gets to seem like it's the only world there is," Amy said.
"I know what you mean, although sometimes I wonder if it's such a bad world compared to the real one."
"I liked the movie tonight. But it was so sad. I wished the girl hadn't died in the end."
"They always die in the movies. You know that. It's tough, but so what? It's only a movie."
"Have you ever cried in the movies?" Amy asked. "I cry all the time. It's silly, I guess, but I can't help it."
"Yeah, I cried once. I was five years old and I was taken to see Bambi. I cried when the mother died. I was just a little kid then."
"I guess I shouldn't let movies get to me so much. They are just movies after all."
"I had to leave my seat once when I was six," Kirk said. "It was during The Wizard of Oz. I took a dollar from my mother's purse. I sneaked out of the house one Sunday and went by myself. Well, when those flying monkeys came swooping down and picked up Dorothy, I almost wet my pants I was scared. I ran up the aisle and watched the whole rest of the movie from the lobby."
"You're funny," Amy said. "It's cold in here too. Let's get going. I guess I should have brought a sweater after all. We should be heading back soon anyway." She coughed quietly.
"Yeah, I guess so. Brent must be wondering where we are."
They paid the bill and went back to the deserted sidewalk. They passed by store windows on the quiet street.
"I wish we could bring something back for Brent."
"Why don't we?" Kirk said.
"Nothing's open."
They passed a shop full of handthrown pottery and original jewelry and a shop with jeans and jersey tops.
"What do you take a guy in the hospital when none of the stores are open? I wish we had thought of it earlier. At least we could have taken him a cup of popcorn or something," Amy said.
"We could break a window and steal something," Kirk laughed. "Pull a heist, so to speak."
"What kind of a getaway could we make with you in a wheelchair?"
"Slow."
"Exactly."
"I can see the headlines now: 'Mono Bonnie and Wheelchair Clyde Strike Again.' Somehow it seems a little too dramatic."
Kirk stopped the wheelchair and leaned over. He picked up a candy wrapper from the sidewalk.
"How about this? Do you think Brent needs a used candy wrapper?"
"Aren't you thoughtful, but I think he has enough already."
"That's the trouble with trying to find a gift for someone who has everything. We could take him flowers," Kirk said. "You always take people in the hospital flowers."
"Kirk, that's a wonderful idea. Where are we going to get flowers at a time like this? I didn't notice an all-night florist on the way to the movie."
"Yeah, I know, but I bet I do know where we could get some flowers at this hour."
"Where?"
"There's a cemetery less than a block from here."
"You've got to be kidding," Amy said.
"No, really, I'm serious. There are always tons of flowers lying around a graveyard begging to be picked up."
"We couldn't do that."
"Sure we could. No one would ever miss them. A flower here, a flower there, what's the difference? They practically have 'Pick These' signs all over the place."
Amy laughed. "I guess you're right. I hope we don't get caught."
"Now who would catch us at this hour?"
The bank clock on the corner said eleven thirty.