"Can I help ye?" he asked.
"Um, yes. Are you a regular here?" Taylor asked.
"Why, yes I am," Sam replied.
"So you do know Teresa?"
"Teresa? Ye mean the owner?" Sam asked.
Taylor's eyebrows raised. "You mean she owns this place?"
"Her mother bought it for her right after she got out of college. It's been here for long about three years…"
"Is this seat taken?"
"No sir," Sam replied. "Take it if ye like."
Taylor plopped down next to him. "Her boy? What's his name?"
"Casey," Sam said. "Er, pardon my asking, but why this sudden interest in Teresa?"
"It's nothing really," Taylor said. "How old is he? Five?"
"Ere about there. He just started school this year. Why, I've watched him grow since he was just a little bitty thing… Hehee, what a pretty feller he is," Sam chuckled. "No offense to him or nothing now. He's just a little boy. But he'll grow into a lady-killer, all right."
"Oh," Taylor said.
"Don't tell that to Teresa, though, or she'll have my hide and yours," Sam said quietly, glancing around as though to make sure there was nobody spying on them. He leaned close, and whispered, "She says she don't want her boy nothing like his scuzzbucket daddy. I heared her talk about that man with an ireful passion. She called him a runaround and a whore and just about every other name you could think of with a sting to it."
"He doesn't look much like Teresa, does he?"
"No, couldn't say that he really does," Sam considered. "He's blond as sure as I'm bald." The old man tapped his bare head, grinning a snaggle-toothed grin. "But, he got her eyes and her disposition. She's really a sweet young lady…"
"His eyes are brown?"
"Black, more along the lines. Say, you've seen him before?"
"Once," Taylor replied. "His smile? What's his smile like?"
Sam's eyes narrowed suddenly, looking at the young man sitting across the table with sudden curiosity and suspicion. "What's your name, boy?"
Thinking quickly, he replied, "Jordan. You're Sam, right?"
"Jordan…" Sam shook his head as though ridding himself of some though. "Yeah, I'm Sam. Why're you askin' so many questions, boy? Where do you come from?"
"I'm just curious. I'm from the Midwest," Taylor said.
Sam nodded. "Curiosity killed the cat."
"I'm not a cat, though," Taylor said.
"Of course not," Sam replied. "Of course. You be Casey's daddy, hey?"
Taylor paused. "I…"
Sam shook his head sadly. "You seem like a nice young man to me, Jordan - if that's really your name. Which I don't think it is. But, Teresa don't want you around here. And I suggest you leave. You see, she has a lot of good friends around here, and they won't hesitate in…"
"Leave?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah, you know, get outta New York. Leave the poor girl be, along with her boy. They're happy. They don't need you," Sam said.
"That's not what Teresa said," Taylor mumbled quietly, feeling as though he were going to cry.
"So then you'll leave?" Sam asked.
"I can't," Taylor replied. "I work just up the road in the new studio they just built…"
"You one of the famous boys who owns it?"
"Umm…well…"
"Don't deny it," Sam said. "I can read in the papers as well as a man dressed nice like you. So you're the Taylor that walked out on Teresa in her hour?"
"I didn't walk out on her," Taylor protested. "She said she was having an abortion. I couldn't make it in time. Planes…"
Sam nodded. "I know, it seemed impossible, but ye should've explained it to her that…"
"I asked her to wait," Taylor interjected.
Sam sighed. "Fine, boy. You say what ye believe. Who am I to stop ye?"
"I'm sorry, it's just that I saw her yesterday with him and I was just…wow. I thought, you know, we didn't…" Taylor paused and looked behind him as the bell over the door announced someone's entry. He turned to see who Sam was looking at behind him. Standing in the doorway was Teresa, with a little boy balanced on her hip while she hung his backpack on the coat rack and began to pull him out of his coat.
The little boy squirmed out of his mother's arms immediately after she'd gotten his coat off of him, and he ran back to the kitchen. Teresa's eyes bolted up and caught him just as he took off. "CASEY!" She was trying to hang the coat on the rack still, but it kept falling off. "CASEY!!" There was a loud crashing sound.
Teresa in an instant forgot all about the coat and darted back into the kitchen. Several eyes watched in amusement. A moment later she came back in with the kicking, writhing little boy slung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Sam!"
She hurried up to the table. "Sam, would you…"
She then noticed Taylor. "Huh?"
Sam reached up for the little boy. "Teresa, I'll watch him for ye."
Teresa stepped back, staring at Taylor in disbelief. "What's he doing here?"
"He just came in for some lunch," Sam explained. "He didn't know this was your place, Teresa."
"What are you doing here?" Teresa hissed at Taylor, trying to avoid a scene.
"I'm here to eat, honestly," Taylor said. "I didn't know it was yours until I saw you go out. Teresa, please…"
"Stay away from me," she whispered. "Stay away from both of us."
"You can't just do this," Taylor said back. "I have a right to see him."
"According to whom? Under the US law you abandoned us," Teresa said. "I informed you of the very real possibility that I would have a baby in the immediate future."
"You informed me of the very real possibility that you would abort," Taylor said, so low a tone that Teresa could scarcely hear him.
"I went," Teresa said. "I couldn't…"
"I tried to get a hold of you," Taylor told her. "Do anything…"
"I don't want to hear your lies," Teresa said.
"I want to see my son," Taylor replied.
"He's not yours," Teresa said. "He is mine and only mine. No one else's."
"You're not the Virgin Mary, Teresa. That only happens…"
"You know what I mean," Teresa said. "Don't insinuate that I'm delusional."
"I never said that," Taylor said.
"You implied it."
"That has nothing to do with it."
Taylor stood up, and took her arm. "Sam, would you watch Casey, please?"
"I intended on it," Sam said, taking Casey. Then, Taylor led Teresa out onto the street, where people were milling about. He led her down the road a bit so those in the restaurant wouldn't see the quarrel.