Let's Go on an Italian Date

It was 5:50 PM on Friday, May 1st and Will and Shinobu were getting ready to leave for their date tonight. Mark woke up from his nap to say goodbye. Him and Emma hugged their parents goodbye and they left the house. Shortly after, Emma went upstairs to play and Mark sat in the living room with Gertha. They both watched TV until Gertha broke the silence. 

"Is everything okay Mark?" she asked, softly.

"I don't know," Mark said with a sigh. "Mom wasn't happy about the radio this morning."

"Did it go off?" asked Gertha. 

Mark hesitated to answer but decided to tell the truth.

"Yes it did," he said. "What does that mean?" "Mom said it didn't work."

"Mark, do you really want to know the secrets of the radio?" asked Gertha.

He sat there pondering on what do to. He ultimately decided to hear his grandmother out. The radio had already gone off, the proof that it works he had already witnessed. 

"Yes I do," said Mark.

Gertha took a deep breath and picked up the radio that was next to her.

"Your grandfather made this radio," she started. "He made it because he strongly believed in the paranormal." 

"The paranormal?" questioned Mark. 

"Sound ridiculous I know," said Gertha. "I also thought it was nothing but tomfoolery but even then I still loved him for who he was." 

"So what did making a radio have to do with the paranormal?" asked Mark. 

"Well, he wasn't the only one that believed in it," said Gertha. "Matter of fact there was a whole group of them that believed in it and during one of his trips to Cairo, he discovered a strange metal."

"What kind of metal?"

"He called it Soul Steel, he doesn't know where it came from or how it is able to do what it does."

"What does it do?" 

"It makes static sound similar to that of a radio when it detects a paranormal anomaly nearby."

Mark sat in silence as he put all the pieces together. 

"So that means," he said, slowly. "That there was something nearby the house last night."

"Yes, a good chance," said Gertha. "Sometimes the noise will scare whatever was detected off so just in case it happens again I want to keep it with you at all times."

"But what if mom and dad find out I have it?" asked Mark. "Surely they will take it away from me."

"Only keep it with you when it's just you and Emma or when your someplace without them," said Gertha. "Your safer with your parents anyway so bringing it when your with them will only cause trouble."

"I just can't believe this all real," said Mark.

"If you don't believe me," said Gertha. "As much as I don't want you looking for trouble, you can always see for yourself."

"Don't worry grandma," said Mark. "I believe you and I won't go looking for trouble, if I hear the static noise I'll do my best to get away from whatever is there until I don't hear the static anymore."

"Thank you Mark, I knew I could trust you with the secret of the radio," she said. "I like that we can talk and I can tell you things I wouldn't be able to tell anyone else."

"Same here," said Mark.

Mark gave Gertha a hug and they both continued watching TV. At 6:10 PM Will and Shinobu arrived at Fugo's and found a place to sit. A minute after they sat down a waitress came up to them. 

"What can I start you off with tonight?" asked the waitress. 

"Two ice teas please," said Will.

"Coming right up," she said.

The waitress went to go get their drinks while Will and Shinobu looked at the menu. 

"Wow, everything looks good," said Shinobu. "Even the standard spaghetti and meatballs."

"I think I made a good choice tonight," said Will. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"So, where exactly did you get this brilliant idea?"

"A patient recommended it to me today."

"Well if you ever run into him again you'll need to thank him, this place looks delicious."

The waitress came back and put the ice teas on the table. 

"Have you decided on what you would like yet?" she asked.

"Yes, I would like spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread," said Shinobu.

"And I'll have the chicken pesto please," said Will. 

"Okay, it'll be around 15-20 minutes," she said, writing the orders down.

She took the menus from them and walked away. Shinobu put her arms on the table and put her hands together. She rested her chin on her hands and looked at her husband lovingly. 

"What?" Will asked. teasingly. 

"Just thinking how nice this," said Shinobu. "Just the two of us." 

"It is nice," said Will. "That is one good thing about my mother moving in is that we could potentially have more time to ourselves."

"Do you really think the kids will be fine at home alone with her?" asked Shinobu.

"Of course they will," said Will. "Emma will probably just stay in her room and play and Mark and her have always gotten along."

"That's what worries me, they've always been close," said Shinobu. "What if she ends up convincing him about her superstitions."

"I wouldn't worry too much," said Will. "Let's just enjoy tonight and I have some good news."

"Oh, what is it?"

"I now have saved up enough money to where we could afford a new car."

"That's wonderful, we've been talking about this for months."

"Yep, so I was thinking it's been a while since we all did something as a family, how about we all go to the car dealership tomorrow and have a look around."

"That sounds nice."

Will and Shinobu continued to talk for another 15 minutes until the waitress arrived with their food. Shinobu moved her arms off the table and the waitress put their plates of food on the table. 

"Enjoy your meal," said the waitress. 

She walked away and the couple picked up their forks. The moment Will picked him his fork he was reminded of the incident that Diego described to him. Suddenly Will felt extremely uneasy as his wife went to take a bite of her food. She took a meatball and wrapped some spaghetti noodles around it. When she took the bite she flinched which caused Will to panic for second. He thought the fork stabbed her in the roof of her mouth. 

"Ah, hot!" said Shinobu, taking the fork of her mouth. 

As a result the meatball fell off and on to the floor. The meatball rolled across the floor of the restaurant. It stopped in the middle of the aisle where everyone walks. 

"Aw man, that's a waste," said Shinobu. 

She went to go take sip of her tea and when she got done she bit down causing a crunch. Will still feeling uneasy thought she bit into some glass and that caused him to push his fork into his plate so hard it bent. Shinobu chewed on her ice and then noticed Will's bent fork.

"Honey your fork is bent," she said.

Will snapped out of his daze and looked down.

"Oh, so it is," he said, still feeling uneasy. 

Shinobu waved down the waitress and she walked over. While she was walking over Will had noticed the meatball disappeared off the floor. The waitress gave Will a new fork and he just stared at his food. 

"What's wrong?" asked Shinobu. "Not hungry or would rather have something else?"

"Oh no, I was just thinking about something that happened earlier today," said Will. 

He used the fork and picked up a bit of pesto with a piece of chicken. He cautiously took a bite of his food. When he removed the fork from his mouth nothing had happened. 

"Oh!" he said, with delight. "This is great."

The couple ate the rest of their food in peace without incident. After they paid for there meal they headed towards the door. Shinobu's heel on one of her shoes stepped into the meatball that fell earlier causing her to slip. Luckily Will caught her in his arms as she fell. 

"Woah!" said Shinobu. "That was close, the meatball almost got me."

"I could've sworn someone had cleaned it up," said Will. "It definitely didn't fall over here."

"Must've been a magic meatball," said Shinobu, jokingly.

"Must've been," said Will, forcing a laugh.  

Will helped his wife back on to her feet. Although he tried to play it off, he knew something wasn't right. He saw where the meatball landed and saw it had vanished. This combined with fork incident left Will uneasy for the rest of the night.