I wiped my face with a napkin.
"Yes," I said.
"What do you want to know about that old place?" he said.
He sneaked into the canteen and sat on the bench opposite me.
"Can you?" He said after he sat down.
"Of course," I said.
"My name is Silas." Silas Nelson," he said.
He was waiting for me to introduce myself, so I introduced myself. He shook hands with me on the table.
"I remember Sugerman's," he said. "This is a good old place. Do you remember?"
"No," I said. "Never been here."
"Of course. Yes," he said. "We closed it a long time ago. Changed the name. Now it is Candy House Cafe. The surfboard was Kevin's idea."
"They are beautiful," I said.
He snorted contemptuously. "The past life has no problems. People like it."
His wet eyes swept across my face. Blink. Try to concentrate.
"I am familiar with you," he said.
"Really?" I said. "We have never met each other."
What I didn't say is that I also think he is familiar.
"So, do you know my son Russell? Or his son Kevin?" he asked.
"No, I don't think so."
My headache came back, and there was a sharp throbbing pain at the base of my skull. I rubbed it.
"Maybe I just have a familiar face?" I asked.
"I don't know why you lied to me," he said. His voice became sharper. "You don't have to do this."
"What?" I said, startled. "I did not lie."
I looked around the restaurant, people at other tables were busy eating and chatting. No one noticed us. On the other side of the room, I caught Kevin's attention. I raised my hand to pay the bill, and he strode over.
"Bang," Kevin said, putting his hand on the old man's shoulder. "I'm still wondering where you went."
"Child," the old man said sharply. "I'm not going anywhere. Don't treat me like that."
"Sorry, old man," Kevin said, he was serious. "Your ticket," he said to me, and put the ticket face down on the table.
Silas Nelson allowed Kevin to lead him to get up and leave the bench.
I wrote twenty dollars on the bill.
"No change," I said, and then began to slide out of the bench.
The old man quickly walked over from the table without any complaints, grabbed my chin and my face. He yanked me towards him until we agreed.
"I saw you," he whispered. For an old man, his grip was unexpectedly strong, stronger than when I shook hands with him. "I can see you."
I tried to pull away, but he refused to let go.
"I saw you. I saw the face on your head. I know who you are!"
"Dad!" Kevin scolded, startled. "What are you doing?"
Silas Nelson pressed on again.
"I don't know why you came back," his voice trembled with excitement. ""But you are here! Listen to me, listen well, don't go tonight. Russell is a good boy. he loves you. You are safe with him. If you leave tonight, you will die in a car accident!"
"Let go of her." Kevin demanded to grab the old man's hand and tried to force him to release his control over me. His voice is very low and his words are calm. It is useless to try not to attract people’s attention to this scene, because almost everyone in the restaurant stopped to eat and looked at the three of us, but those few didn’t pay attention. Those who have reached this point, when the old man shouted: "When you are going to die, stop and stare!"
"My goodness, old man, stop! Stop! Stay away from her!"
The old man's hand relaxed. He let go of my face. I can still feel the pressure of his fingers poking into my skin. He blinked again. Suddenly, he shivered. Every part of him. Trembling. He suddenly took a step back. His knees bend, the cane slipped from his hand and fell to the floor with a crash.
"I'm sorry," Kevin said to me. "I'm very sorry."
Kevin took the old man's arm. He bent down and picked up his cane from the floor. Before taking the old man away, Kevin looked back at me and then at the twenty people on the table.
"It's free," he said. "I don't know what happened to him. I'm sorry."
Silas Nelson shuffled away under the arms of his grandson. I heard him ask quietly: "Where is the girl who wants to know the Sugerman Bar?"? That is a nice old place. I want to talk to her. "
"She's gone, Dad. Maybe next time."
The wedding will be held at the beach resort hotel.
I managed to drive past the hotel. three times. I could have let myself go. After all, the restaurant incident is not over yet, my body function can only withstand 60% of the energy. The headache that has tortured me for several days continued to erupt intermittently, like a beacon, the beacon revolving in my mind, Jǐng told me in advance. The sky looks too bright, the shadow looks too dark, and occasionally I feel nauseous. When I act boldly, the situation gets worse. If I drag my feet, it’s better to just look at my feet. NS. But these are not important. The prison is full. The prison is full. I am not slack at all. I have made it thin enough, there is no more to give, and of course there is nothing left to cut. I need to sort out my clues. This job is very important. I can live on this income for three or four months.
Nick Erickson was my friend and later photographer. He was waiting for me in the lobby of the hotel. He leaned against a gleaming wooden pole with a camera bag slung over his shoulder. Nick has a lovely way to relax everywhere. He is from Hawaii. Although he left Hawaii a few years ago, Hawaii has never left him. His sunny hair, approachable smile, and inadvertent strides always betray him.
In fact, Nick had just returned from Hawaii at that time and had just finished a family visit. I can only assume that he was surfing the whole time. He arrived in Portland a few days ago and came here directly. Why are you here two days in advance? Of course it is to surf. Nick doesn't move around the world like the rest of us, but from wave to wave. It doesn't matter which place is better, what matters is that it is different and new. When surfing on the Oregon coast, it is cold even in summer, but a person who loves surfing has never given up surfing because of this.
"How about surfing?" I asked Nick as I approached, dragging my camera bag and pushing a cart with wheels full of my remaining equipment.
"It's too cold," he said. "Done some kitesurfing. Have you done this kind of thing?"
"Ha, no," I muttered, knelt down to check my gear, and double checked to make sure I had everything.
"You should give it a try. He paused," but you know I like rough ones. "
The last part, I'm very sure, is to see if I noticed--I didn't--at least not fully noticed, maybe half. I stopped rummaging in my camera bag and looked up at him.
His facial expression immediately changed from joking to caring.
"Are you okay?" He squatted beside me.
"I'm fine. Just recovered from the virus. Why? Do I look bad?"
"What is the scar on your face?" He stretched out his hand and gently stroked my cheek, where the restaurant owner prodded my chin with his fingertip.
"Nothing," I said, touching my chin, and in the process, took his hand away from my face again.
I looked back at my bag. I suddenly wanted to cry.
I said frustratedly: "What did you just say? Do you like to be rougher?"
"Of course," he said, "but I mean surfing. Don't think about it, Neely."
"Haha," I said.
He laughed, even though I was in a bad mood, I couldn't help but laugh.
I looked up angrily from my camera bag. I have experienced it three times. I even took out most of the contents last time. "I can't find a spare battery, Nick. I swear I packed it."
He reached into my camera bag, took out the battery, and held it up with the palm of his hand.
"Thank you," I said.
"You're welcome," he said.
This location is breathtaking. The weather is good and hot, but at least fifteen degrees lower than Portland. The cool sea breeze feels good on my skin. Local weather forecasters tracked a coastal storm, which is expected to make landfall later today or tomorrow. Looking at the blue sky, there is no cloud in all, and there is no sign of a storm. It seems impossible for him to be right.
Nick and I discussed plans for tonight while we were walking around the venue. The ceremony will be held under a custom-made wedding pavilion. The beautiful green plants climbed up, winding hopefully to the top of the arbor arch. The lush grass is covered with white satin chairs; the chair cover is tied to the back of the chair with green satin ribbons. The background of all this is bright, blue sky, perched on a cliff overlooking the sea. The waves beat in the distance, and a string quartet came alive on the lawn. Men and women in uniforms were busy around, with tables and chairs on display and luxurious flowers. The reception will be held in a luxurious designated banquet hall inside. There is an open bar, a full five-course dinner, a choice of main dishes, a separate dessert table, and dancing, dancing, and dancing.
I don't even know how much the wedding cost. I have attended many weddings and have never seen such a scene. Nick whistled softly when he saw the reception hall.
"I know, right?" I said.
"Wow." One word sums it up perfectly.
Nick left to join the best man to prepare the photo. I changed clothes in the bathroom of the hotel lobby, took cold medicine, and then went to the room of the bridesmaid hotel.
Before I got there, I knew I had found the right room. The giggles and occasional hoarse laughter floated down the corridor. The sound of my knock on the door caused a louder laughter.
"Not decent!" screamed a girl's voice.
I heard the voice of the bride. "It's a photographer. Be jealous, ladies."
The lock clicked and she opened the door, just wide enough for me to squeeze in.
I walked in--well, I wasn't even sure what I walked in at first. Four dizzy bridesmaids stood in front of the mirror in dresses, putting the tape from one to the other.
The youngest one bent down. She hugged the rǔ room with one arm, and pulled the tape from one side of the chest cavity to the other with the other hand, and stuck it directly under the rǔ room. adhesive tape.
"Ouch," I said.
"They are trying to squeeze each other out," the bride said coldly.
"I won!" the little girl said when she suddenly appeared in the mirror to check her results. She did seem to be the clear winner, and when one of the other girls tried to retake the video to take the lead, the other two girls poured more champagne and encouraged her.
The bride put her arms around me and gave me a big hug. She smelled something edible, unlike four dizzy bridesmaids jumping around in the room like electrons, she was calm and serene. There is a kind of calm and confidence in her that I admire. Just look at her and anyone can tell that she is a woman who has fallen in love. This is indeed the happiest day in her life. She looked radiant, and I told her this. (To be continued) (End of this chapter)