They Ignored Me on My Birthday, So I Cancelled Them novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: Late for It

My mother called at nine on Sunday morning and told me to be at Pearl's by noon.

"For what?"

"For eating, Miles. Wear a clean shirt."

I wore the blue one.

The sign on the diner door said CLOSED FOR PRIVATE PARTY in marker, and I stood on the sidewalk reading it for a while.

Then I pushed the door.

"Surprise," said about fifteen people at once, not very well.

My mother stood in the middle of them with her hands clasped.

The clinic director was there, and both partners, and the front desk women, and two of the younger therapists who had pushed their lunch breaks to the weekend.

The old woman with the bad shoulder sat in the corner booth with her cane across her knees, and her daughter beside her.

"I'm early," she called. "I'm always early. Happy birthday, Miles."

"It was two weeks ago."

"Then you're late for it," my mother said.

The owner of the diner came out of the kitchen with a pie.

It was lemon, in a tin, with a ring of candles around the edge.

She set it on the counter and counted the candles out loud as she lit them.

"Twenty-eight. You're a baby."

I stood there with my hands at my sides.

I had thought about that day for two weeks. I had thought about the walk past me, and the back of four heads, and the umbrellas.

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