"A buffet?" you wondered aloud. You look at what Kyle's pointing to, and see a chinese buffet that advertised "All You Can Eat: only $6.99 for lunch!" On the surface, it didn't seem like such a bad idea. Kyle could get full and it would certainly cost less than trying to buy all that food yourself. But, you knew that if the owner caught wind of what was happening, they might kick you out. After all, you figured, a boy eating tray after tray of food was bad for business.
"But Kyle," you said, realizing something. "Last time we ate chinese you said you hated it and never wanted to have it again."
"I knooooow," Kyle whined a little. "But I'm soooo hungryyyyy." He rocked back and forth slightly in his seat, rubbing his stomach.
"Okay," you gave in, and pulled the car into the lot. As soon as you put the car in park, Kyle unbuckled his seatbelt and bolted out of the car and into the restaurant. "Hey, wait up!!"
As you entered, you shook your head in slight embarrassment as Kyle was already at the buffet, filling up his first plate. "Uh," you muttered to the kind, elderly Chinese woman at the register. "One adult, and one kid," you motioned Kyle's direction.
The woman looked over at Kyle, peered over the edge of her glasses, and then turned back to you. "I'm sorry, but our children's price is for kids ten and under."
"But he's--" you stopped yourself from protesting, realizing it wasn't worth the fight, especially for a two dollar difference. You pulled the credit card out of your wallet and paid the price, then walked over to Kyle, who had piled up the plate with a mountain of sweet and sour chicken. He headed over to the table he had picked out, and without saying anything to him, you grabbed your own plate, and started putting a small amount of food on it.
By the time you sat down, however, half the mountain of chicken was gone, and the rest was vanishing into your brother's mouth at an unbelievable speed. At some point, you put your chopsticks down and just watched him eat. It was amazing, like something you had seen on a nature documentary about certain animals eating five times their body weight at one sitting.
When he finished the first plate, he went back and filled up another plate, this time with beef spare ribs. Again and again he would pile up his plate with enough food for an entire family, and each time he would come back and devour it within minutes. Four, five, six plates piled up on your table, and he kept going. You prayed that the owner or any of the other employees of the restaurant weren't watching.
As he went up for his seventh plate, a middle-aged woman who had been sitting two tables behind you walked by. "Boy, he sure has an appetite, huh?" she asked. "He's your brother?" You nodded. "How old is he?"
You hesitated, not wanting to give away Kyle's true age, especially when it could cause a bit of confusion or commotion. So, thinking fast, you asked, "How old does he look like to you?"
"I'd say twelve, maybe thirteen. I remember when my Alex was that age…"
"You know what," you said, trying to cut the conversation short before Kyle got back to the table, "you're absolutely right. He'll be thirteen next month."
"He sure has a young face," she said. "I'm sure puberty will take care of that, won't it?" She chuckled, and you feigned a polite smile. Finally, the woman left, and Kyle came back to the table.
"How are you feeling, Kyle," you asked. "Are you full yet?"
He looks up at you, then thinks for a moment. "Almost," he said. "I think this'll be my final plate."
"Good," you said, then looked at your watch. 2:30. It had been over ninety minutes since you had arrived at the restaurant, and you knew that someone was gonna have to come by soon to throw you out.
Kyle actually had two more plates before finally leaning back and burping loudly. "Ahh," he said, patting his protruding belly, "that's better. Okay, big bro, I'm full now!"
"Finally," you said. You threw down ten dollars for a tip. It was almost as much as the meal itself had cost, but you figured you owed the restaurant that much, especially since they had to clean up so many plates from Kyle. You held your breath until you got back out to the car.
"Hey, big bro!" Kyle said as he buckled up. "Is it alright if we..."