Casey hadn’t opened the menu, but told Manny, “I'll have the pancakes, please.”
“Of course, the pancakes are excellent here,” he told her, then turned to William.
“And young Mister Further, what will you be getting today?”
“I'll have the western omelet and a side of hash browns,” he responded. He handed
his menu to Manny, and Casey followed suit.
“Your grandfather's favorite!” Manny exclaimed. “Looks like his good taste is
finally rubbing off on you,” he said, tilting his head toward Casey with a knowing
smile, clearly not referring to the omelet.
William shot Manny a look, silently pleading with him not to embarrass him. Manny
appeared to take the hint.
“Your orders should be up shortly,” he said, heading back to the counter.
After Manny left to submit their orders, neither spoke. Both scanned around the
diner for an awkward moment. Once their eyes met again, Casey said, “Let's play a
game while we wait for our food.”
“A game?” William inquired, intrigued. He imagined they would play I Spy and
scanned the room for an object he could pick.
“Yes, a game,” Casey told him. She smiled and explained, “I will ask you a simple
question. I'll provide my answer. Then you answer. After you answer, you will ask
another question and provide your answer.”
“Okay, I think I can handle that,” William said with confidence.
“But the questions can't be too complicated and it shouldn't be questions that
would result in a long answer. Simple questions. Simple answers.” She paused for a
moment before continuing, “And there are no follow-up questions. If you ask a
follow-up question, then you lose. You also lose if you can't answer a question or
think of a question to ask. Do you understand?”