The Holes

Short Story Day 171 of 365

When he went anywhere nowadays, Jack Sumpter took his cane with him, mainly for balance as he walked, but often to lean on when he could go no further. At 78, Sumpter was now enjoying the retired life like many of his peers.

As he stood in line at the Hound Dog Café, he tapped a 20-something on the shoulder and said, “Pardon me, Miss, I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not but you have a few holes in your jeans.”

The young lady turned to see who was talking with her, smiled and nodded. “Yes, I’m aware of it. Thanks.” She turned forward.

“Really?” Sumpter said. “You know there are holes in them and still wear them?”

Again, she turned towards Sumpter and said, “I bought it that way.” This time she continued to face the old man.

“Is that so?” he said “Do you pay extra for it?”

“No,” she said. “There’s no extra charge.”

“I’m sorry for being so nosey, I don’t mean to be, but I’ve just never seen anything like that. Is this a new style or fad?”

“It’s not new. Maybe about 15 years old. It’s a cool look, ya know? When all my friends at school wore them, we all did. Then when we graduated, we kept it up.”

Jack lifted his golf cap and scratched his head. Looking around the room, he noticed two more girls with holes in the knees and thighs of their jeans.

“Boys and girls?”

“Mmm. Mostly girls.”

“So, if my wife came in here with that on, she’d be cool?”

The lady looked at Jack and thought about it.

“Possibly,” she said but you could tell she was thinking about it as she said it. “Yeah, I think she would look cool with it. But mainly…”

“The young crowd?”

She nodded and then tilted her head, looking at Jack.

“Can I ask you a question, sir?” she asked.

“Certainly.”

“What color was your leisure suit back in the day?”

Sumpter smiled. “I see what you did there, young lady. Very clever. If you must know, it was light powder blue and my brother’s was canary yellow.”

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