“Okay, okay,” Kim said, struggling to control himself. “How about we go to the Onion Ring on Prairie Highway. Just you and me. It’s just up the road.”
“Fabulous!” Becky perked up, and despite her seat belt, she managed to lean over and give Kim a peck on the cheek.
Kim marveled at how adroitly his daughter could manipulate him. He felt better now that she had reverted to her normal, vivacious self, but after a few miles Becky’s comment began to gnaw at him again. “For the life of me,” Kim said, “I don’t understand why you have this thing against Ginger.”
“Because she made you and Mom break up,” Becky commented.
“Good gravy,” Kim snapped. “Is that what your mother says?”
“No,” Becky said. “She says it was only part of it. But I think it was Ginger’s fault. You guys hardly ever argued until Ginger.”
Kim went back to drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Despite what Becky had said, he was certain Tracy had to have put the thought in her mind.
As he turned into the Onion Ring parking lot, Kim shot a glance in Becky’s direction. Her face was awash in color from the huge Onion Ring sign. She was smiling in anticipation of their fast-food dinner.
“The reason your mother and I got divorced was very complicated,” Kim began, “and Ginger had very little..”
“Look out!” Becky cried.
Kim redirected his gaze through the windshield and saw the blurry image of a pre-teen on a skateboard off the right front fender. Kim jammed on the brakes and threw the steering wheel over to the left. The car lurched to a stop but not before colliding with the rear of a parked car. There was the unmistakable sound of breaking glass.
“You smashed the car!” Becky shouted as if it were a question.
“I know I smashed the car!” Kim shouted back.
“Well, it’s not my fault,” Becky said indignantly. “Don’t yell at me!”
The skateboarder, who’d momentarily stopped, now passed in front of the car. Kim looked at the child, and the boy irreverently mouthed: “Asshole.” Kim closed his eyes for a moment to control himself.
“I’m sorry,” he said to Becky. “Of course it wasn’t your fault. I should have been paying more attention. And I certainly shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
“What are we going to do?” Becky said. Her eyes anxiously scanned the parking area. She was terrified lest she see one of her schoolmates.
“I’m going to see what happened,” Kim said as he opened his door and got out. He was back in seconds and asked Becky to hand him the registration packet from the glove compartment.
“What broke?” Becky asked as she handed over the papers.
“Our headlight and their tail light,” Kim said. “I’ll leave a note.”
Once inside the restaurant, Becky immediately forgot the mishap. It being Friday night, the Onion Ring was mobbed. Most of the crowd were young teenagers in a ridiculous collection of oversized clothing and punk hairstyles. But there were also a number of families with lots of small children and even infants. The noise level was considerable thanks to fussy babies and competing ghetto blasters.
The Onion Ring restaurants were particularly popular with children mainly because the kids could doctor their own “gourmet” burgers with a bewildering display of condiments. They could also make their own sundaes with an equivalent number of toppings.
“Isn’t this an awesome place?” Becky commented as she and Kim got into one of the order lines.
“Just delightful,” Kim teased. “Especially with the quiet classical music in the background.”
“Oh, Dad!” Becky moaned and rolled her eyes.
“Did you ever come here with Carl?” Kim asked. He really didn’t want to hear the answer because he had an inkling she had.
“Sure,” Becky offered. “He took Mom and me here a couple of times. It was cool. He owns the place.”
“Not quite,” Kim said with a certain satisfaction. “Actually the Onion Ring is a publicly owned company. Do you know what that means?”
“Sort of,” Becky said.
“It means a lot of people own stock,” Kim said. “Even I own stock, so I’m one of the owners too.”