“R?” Ginger asked Gus.
“Good morning.” I Interrupted the game of hangman.
“Good morning. Why are you here so early?”
“I saw your cars in the lot, so I stopped in to say hi.” I thumbed through a stack of finished hangman games. “So you guys have been here all night?”
“Yeah, since about 11.” Nick answered. Ginger shifted on Nick’s lap, resting her head on his shoulder and rubbing the pink around her eyes. “A?” Nick asked Gus.
“Yep, there are two A’s. That’s the last letter.” Gus grinned and held up the paper as he read the answer aloud, “If you were a door, I’d slam you all night long!” I rolled my eyes and rested my knee on the table. Gus rose to his feet and stretched his thin arms as he laughed at his own joke. “I’m taking off now.”
We waved goodbye. I read the answer to the hangman game on top of the stack. “Xylophones are cool?”
“I tried to spell it with a Z...” Ginger began. She brushed loose strands of red hair from her face. I could see the answers had simplified as the night wore on. One of the answers at the bottom of the stack was “systolic and diastolic.”
“So when did you guys get here last night?” I asked. I realized I had already asked that question.
“Around 12, I think.” Nick answered.
“I was going to come here around 12, but fell asleep early. I hate it when I fall sleep early, then wake up at the crack of dawn with nothing to do. I was going to find a nice place to take a walk, or something.”
“Am I crushing it with my leg?” Ginger asked Nick.
“Sort of...ow.”
“I think I should take a nap in my car. Will you be here in a half an hour to wake me up? I’ve got to work at 9.” Ginger said to me.
“I don’t think so. I’ve got no money, so I don’t plan on staying here long.” I wanted to walk the trails surrounding the marsh. On damp mornings like this, gravel covered nightcrawlers try to inch across the path before the sun can dry them.
“You’ve got an alarm on your cell phone, right? That will work.” Nick said.
“We should probably be out of here soon, though. I know when Lil is working, she kicks us out at 6.” I said.
“Yeah. People will be here for breakfast. They’re not used to seeing us.” Ginger laughed and squashed her cigarette butt into a crowded ashtray. I wished I had a cup of coffee I could fill with sugar. Rather than ordering coffee, I lifted myself out of the ragged IHOP booth.
“Well, have a nice nap. Good luck at work.” I waved and made my way to the door. The syrup in the carpet made my shoes stick.

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