Tonkotsu
how he is doing and to find out if he needs anything else. It’s a subtle hint which the man is oblivious to.
Just then the double doors open slowly and a young local girl wearing a white dress with embossed Catellya designs on it walks in. She makes a beeline to the table nearest the kitchen and takes a seat, the wife takes the girls order while the husband sees to their male customer. He asks for another bowl of the Tonkotsu while at the other table, the girl orders two bowls of char siu ramen, a glass of water for herself and soda for her boyfriend of whom she says will be joining her very shortly.
“We be closing soon so this will have to be your last order,” the husband says politely. However, by his facial expression, there seems to be some kind of hidden tension or nervousness. The man nods without any disagreement as he is cleaning up his first bowl and now waits for the second. His food arrives much quicker than he expected, and without hesitation, he begins to inhale his noodles. As he did with his first bowl, he now does with his second. He lets out a deep moaning sigh of pleasure, “I don’t know how the second bowl can be just as good as the first, but it just happened!”
He glances up and sees the young local girl with the two piping hot bowls of char siu ramen in front of her but she is not indulging. She’s obviously on her phone sending a text, her brow is furrowed and perplexed and before long, tears are falling from her eyes. The man waves the owner over and whispers to him, “If that girl isn’t going to finish her two bowls, can I have them since they’re already paid for?”
“Sir, I’m afraid this was your last order since we’ll be closing soon.” He smiles graciously but there it is again the tension.
“You wasting good food you!” The male customer was displeased but he wasn’t going to make a scene. He finished every last noodle and garnish and this time he didn’t bother using the soup spoon but instead put the bowl to his mouth and drank whatever remained of the broth. The owners were now hovering around the girl and offering her tissues to wipe away her tears. They were so preoccupied with the girl's distress while at the same time, encouraging her to leave that they’d forgotten the time, it was now 11:00 pm. The couple made a break for the kitchen and barely got out of the way when a huge Chevy SUV plowed right through the shop's window and sped right into the lone male customer, killing him instantly and dragging his mangled body under the front wheel. The velocity of speed in which the vehicle was traveling was so horrific that it hit the table in front of the young local girl with such force that it cut her in half. She wouldn’t realize her plight until she saw her lower extremities less than a few feet away from where her upper half lay. After that, she would die of shock and blood loss.
When it was all over, the tableau completely dissolved into nothing. Afterward, the couple wiped down the tables and put the chairs up. Then they began to sweep and mop the floor and last was counting the money and closing everything down and going home. Now they were leaving the building and walking to their car. “We close at nine but we can never go home because of the ghost of that man and that young girl. Every night same time, they show up and we have to wait until they die again and again and again before we can leave.”
“What you talking about?” The wife grabbed the husband by the shoulders and spun him around. He was now looking at what was left of their noodle house, it was dark, empty and burnt to the ground.
There was nothing left of it, the husband was mortified. “It’s burned down.………when did that happen?”
There was nothing left of it, the husband was mortified. “It’s burned down.………when did that happen?”
His wife hugged him from behind and nuzzled her chin up against his shoulder, “We’re in there too, we died along with all of them, including the driver of that truck who was completely drunk. That was an old building.…once that truck hit the gas line connected to the stove? That was all she wrote, poof!”
“Then how come we still here talking about it?” The husband was thoroughly confused as nothing made sense to him. All his wife could do was squeeze him tighter, “It’s because it’s the last thought we had on our minds remember? We wanted to go home and we were rushing those people out, even the girl who had her heartbroken. We were the heartless ones pretending to care when all we wanted to do was get rid of her so we could close up early.…and that poor man...he was lonely..he just wanted someone to talk to. He had no family, no wife, no kids. All he had was our noodle house and a bowl of Tonkotsu.”
The husband let out a long sigh and let his shoulders slump to his sides, he turned to face his wife and took her in his arms and held her tight.“We’re the ghosts too huh?”
His wife nodded with tears filling her eyes as she framed his face with her hands and kissed him deeply. “Yes my love, we’re the ghosts too.”
….………
Kyle and Laurie Shigetomi, the owners of the noodle house seem nervous and jumpy as their eyes go from the lone male customer, named Eddie Pang, to the clock on the wall and back to Eddie again. They don’t want to appear as if they are rushing him to leave but every minute on the dial, Laurie graciously approaches Eddie to see how he is doing and if he needs anything else. It’s a subtle hint which Eddie is oblivious to.
Just then the double doors open slowly and Rene’ Amorin who is wearing a white dress with embossed Catellya designs on it walks in. She makes a beeline to the table nearest the kitchen and takes a seat, Laurie takes the girls order while Kyle sees to Eddie. He asks for another bowl of the Tonkotsu while at the other table, Rene’ asks for two bowls of char siu ramen, a glass of water for herself and a soda for her boyfriend of whom she says will be joining her very shortly.
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