Episode 19: Johann's Pizza

School is back in session in Neighborful Station, from the preschool up to the college. You have been spending some late nights at work, helping out with activity fairs and first year orientation. Tonight, it is already after dark when you are leaving your office. You pause at the front entrance of the building, looking out over the quad. You touch the smooth yellow brick facade, feeling the residual warmth of the sun. You see a group of students sitting in a circle on blankets, one of them strumming an acoustic guitar. You hear the crickets in the forest on the ridge above you, and you breathe deeply.

A text arrives from Emily. It says, “Hey, You! A bunch of us teachers are heading to Johann’s Pizza. We just finished with Back to School Night. I know you’re working late. Wanna join us?”

You smile to yourself, patting your rumbling stomach, and you write back, “Yes, that sounds amazing. See you in a few.”

Johann’s Pizza sits on the edge of the college campus, where Stevens Lane meets College Avenue. It’s just a short walk from your office. By the time you arrive, the teachers are claiming a picnic table beneath the large awning on the side of the careworn brick building. Emily waves you over and says, “Well, hello, You! Thanks for coming.”

You say, “Thanks for inviting me. This was a good idea.”

Emily shakes her head and says, “Back to School Night always takes it out of us. They have a catered dinner at school for us and everything. But every year, we come out of there ravenous and wild-eyed.”

You say, “I can understand that. How many sections are you teaching?”

Emily replies, “Four, this year. Not too bad. But it’s something like 150 parents? And the thing is, I know a lot of their names, but of course, they all know my name.”

While you are talking, a server arrives with pitchers of water and birch beer, and sets them down on the table, along with a stack of battered red plastic cups. One of the teachers starts pouring and serving drinks for the table.

The food arrives only a minute later, as you are sitting down. Emily leans forward to say to someone at the other end of the table, “Good call ordering ahead, Adhi.” Everyone else chimes in with their appreciation. The pizzas are Detroit style, and gluten free, as are the garlic breadsticks. 

You savor the strong scent of butter and oregano, as Emily serves you a slice of pizza. Nodding to her in gratitude, you lift the slice and take a tiny bite, since it’s still too hot to eat for real. The tomato sauce is rich with spices, and the burnt cheese on the edge of the slice crumbles in your mouth. You listen to the happy chatter around you subside, as everyone begins exploring their own plates, and you take a relaxed breath.

As the group begins to slow down in their steady demolishing of the pizzas, an older man in chef whites appears at the end of the table, with a kitchen towel slung over his shoulder. He looks down at you and says, “Hello, friends. Are you enjoying your meal?”

You say, “Yes, it’s wonderful.”

He beams at you and says, “I’m happy to hear it. I don’t think we’ve met before. Are you new in town?”

You say, “Yes, I suppose so. I’ve been here about six months.”

He says, “Six months? What took you so long? I’ve got the best pizza in town. Well, better late than never, I guess. I’m George. It’s nice to meet you.”

You say, “Good to meet you as well. But I’m a little confused. Why is the place called Johann’s? Did you take it over from someone else?”

Everyone at the table chuckles, and George claps his hands together. He says, “Yes, yes, of course. So: I did take this place over, when all of these characters were teenagers. It was called Jake’s Joint, it was open to all hours, and the pizza was terrible.”

Emily raises a hand and says, “It was good bad pizza. We all loved it.”

George says to her, “Yes, you did, and you hung around on my picnic tables all the time. Bothering my other customers, with your tomfoolery. So I wanted to scare all of you away.” Turning back to you, he continues, “I got this notion to play classical music out here. I thought it would annoy them, and they would go be teenagers somewhere else.”

From the other end of the table, Adhi says, “Little did he know….”

George shrugs and says, “I fell in love with the music myself. Never liked it before. And I didn’t know all these kids were in the youth orchestra, so they loved it too.” Everyone laughs. “A few years later, I renovated, and I decided to name the place after my main man, Bach.”

You smile up at George and say, “The Cello Suites!”

He thrusts his hands at you and says, “Exactly! The Cello Suites.”

The late night pizza party breaks up not long after. When the bill comes around to you, there is already twice as much money as the actual total, from everyone else who has already chipped in. You look up at Emily in confusion, since she had just handed the receipt and the pile of cash to you. She says, “Go ahead, add your share. We like to be generous with the tip. We all worked here as servers back in the day, after George figured out he couldn’t get rid of us.”

You start walking back to your house, along with the other teachers who live in your neighborhood. They peel off as they reach their streets, and soon you are walking in happy solitude, feeling full in every way. You hear the nightingales carrying on their own late night party, feeling your heartbeat slow down, as you take an easy breath.

When you climb the steps to your own front door, you feel the perfect kind of tired to settle in for a deep sleep. 💤