TBC Publishing Pride Month Flash Fiction Challenge, 22 of 30
Title: Provincetown Restaurant
Author: R. Scott Tyler
Genre: Mystery
Word count (500 max): 491
Henry had just celebrated his 25th birthday with his family and friends in Iowa, trying to be cheerful about being in the center of the country, the breadbasket, the central plains, the state most notable for rows of corn growing right up to the highway. But it was hard to be excited as a young, single, gay guy in Iowa with a degree from Iowa State in Hospitality Management. So far, all the degree had gotten him was wait staff positions.
A month after his birthday, Henry was starting to get desperate when his mom came into his room with tears in her eyes.
“Your uncle Phil is sick and I’m going to visit him,” she said, choking up as she said the words.
“You’re going to Boston to visit him?” Henry asked. “Can I come with? I haven’t seen Uncle Phil in five years.”
“Honey, I don’t think Phil is going to make it. He’s got lung cancer,” she said, hanging her head.
“Then I want to come. Phil was always my favorite uncle!” Henry exclaimed.
When Henry and his mom landed in Boston, they took a taxi directly to Phil’s hospital. Phil was nearly 70 and had been alone since his partner, Evan, had passed away from a heart attack in the restaurant they owned a couple of years ago. Even so, Henry was not prepared for how bad his uncle looked. His face was pale and bony now, tubes dripping thick brown liquid into a bag on the side of his bed.
Several hours later, his mom was cried out, her face also pale and sad. “I need to get some coffee in the cafeteria, Henry. Why don’t you stay and keep your uncle Phil company until I come back? Then we’ll have to check into our hotel. We can come back tomorrow,” she said.
When she left, Phil became a tiny bit more animated and began telling Henry about his life with Evan and the restaurant they owned in Provincetown. He said they had built it up from nothing into a destination for lobster rolls and fish and chips on the Cape.
He had a coughing fit and then said, “Henry, I want to give you a chance to get out of Iowa and live with your people on the Cape.”
Coughing some more, he continued, “I’ve given you the restaurant and house in Provincetown in my will. I hope you will find it as inspiring and purposeful as Evan and I did.”
Phil died in the night, before either Henry or his mom could see him again.
A month after his uncle’s funeral, Henry was in Provincetown for the first time, and he was excited. His mom had balked at the thought of him moving halfway across the country, but his dad thought it would be an excellent experience for him.
The restaurant was full of gay boys and lesbians, and that was just the waitstaff.
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