Please see the Chronicles of Buckaroo Banzai and the Hong Kong Cavaliers for more Word Challenges.
Leaving her comment hanging in the air, Liz went out to the parking lot, and sat at one of the picnic tables. Peggy threw her husband a quirked eyebrow, as if to say, "what's her damage?" and followed her out. The intern Banzai had assigned to the stranger earlier wandered out after a few moments and pretended to smoke by the bus, where he could keep an eye on her. Peggy watched him set up, then sat next to the odd woman. "So," she began, "you and your father on the outs?"
Liz looked up from her slumped position, brows together, "I'm not sure how to answer that."
Peggy thought for a moment, "Then you are, and you don't want anyone to know, or you're not, and want people to think you are." Liz chuckled and lay back onto the table. Peggy continued, "But if either of those were the case, you'd have lied, having an answer thought up already. So you probably had a fight, which left you and your tent in the road for some reason, and you still haven't made up you mind."
Liz chuckled again, "That's quite a set of deductions. You're, um, Peggy, right?" She sat up and offered a shake, "Pleased to meetcha."
Peggy shook, "Tom said you didn't know who we were? That you denied knowing Buckaroo?"
The girl frowned briefly, then shook her head as if to clear it, "That was a random direction change. He's right, I've never heard of Dr. Banzai or his ‘Cavaliers.' Not that that should signify anything, there are times I don't pay a whole lot of attention." A beat later she realized why her hostess had said that, "Oh, you were talking about how I knew your name. I heard it at the table several times. Being one of the few normal names used, I figured it would be easiest to remember." She snorted, then muttered, "Buckaroo."
Peggy laughed, "I know, it's a weird name. Sometimes even I can't say it with a straight face, and I'm married to the man!"
"D'oh!"
"What?"
"If I'd know that I'd have kept quiet." Liz squirmed around, looking for a comfortable way to sit on the damp wood.
Peggy smiled, "It's ok, there are plenty of people who think it's not his real name. How, they ask, could someone have named their child Buckaroo?"
The squirming finally coalesced into a supposedly comfortable position, "And?"
"His father was Japanese. He thought it sounded good. By the time it was on the birth certificate, it was too late for anyone to argue with him!"
Please see the next chapter.