Chapter 7
Pete
That was her. That was the girl.
My neighbor, Sultry Voice Woman, who soothes me with her absolutely dreamy voice, is also Naked Animal-Rights Woman.
I take a breath and blow it out. I don’t want that to be true.
One woman is a woman I look forward to hearing, who soothes my soul and whose voice gives me rest and calm at the end of a difficult day. The other is one of the worst memories of my life and a person I wouldn’t mind if I never saw again.
I am not hungry anymore, which I find ironic, since I still paid for Animal-Rights Woman’s food, even though I’m not getting any myself, and so technically I upheld my end of the bargain.
She was the one who didn’t uphold hers. Although, it does not escape my memory that I am the one who left on Tuesday when we were supposed to have a drawing lesson, and then, on my way out the door, I stop and gasp.
I was supposed to have a drawing lesson with her, Animal-Rights Woman, on Tuesday. Then, on Friday I was supposed to have a date with her. Neither time did I know it was Animal-Rights Woman.
Lord ?
I know people believe in coincidences, luck and all of that, but I don’t. I believe that God has a hand in the universe, and he’s intimately involved in the lives of his creation. I know that’s kind of unbelievable considering that there are eight billion people in the world, but since God created the universe and we can’t even figure out where the end of it is, it’s pretty amazing, awesome, really. I suppose after I get around to creating a new universe, and I’m still not able to keep dibs on eight billion people, then I’ll say it’s impossible.
Until that point, if God says He can do it, I believe Him.
Regardless, twice in one week I was supposed to get together with animal-Rights Woman, and I knew nothing about it. Until I met her.
What are You trying to tell me?
“Buddy, move out of the way, if you’re not going to go through the door, don’t just stand in the middle of it.”
People don’t talk to me like that when I’m wearing blue, but they’re right. I shouldn’t be standing at the door, having a revelation, and trying to figure it out, while blocking everyone’s path.
This is pretty unbelievable. I know it’s not a coincidence, but I don’t understand what God could be trying to get me to do, other than...
Okay. You’re right. Probably calling her Naked Animal-Rights Woman in my head is not the nicest thing I could ever do, and it’s not very loving. I roll my eyes at myself, and say that in a not very respectful way to the Lord.
I feel guilty immediately. When I’m wearing my uniform, I don’t appreciate people who don’t feel like they need to show me some kind of respect. I don’t mean that they have to bow down every time I walk by, but just honor the uniform.
God deserves a lot more honor than a policeman in uniform, and I know that.
I’m sorry.
I sighed.
I still don’t know what you want me to do.
Taking a jog will clear my head, so I turn up the street, and walk toward the gym where I have extra clothes stored in my locker.
There is no way I’m going back to my apartment right now. Even though I’ve never met Naked Animal-Rights Woman... Okay, she has a name. I’m not sure I know it though.
Lord, what am I supposed to call her when I don’t know her name?
All right, I’ve never met Sultry Voice Woman (are you happy Lord?) in our apartment building before, or else I would have known exactly who she was.
Still, I don’t want to take a chance, so I go directly to the gym.
I change out of my semi-good, button up shirt, the same kind of shirt that I would wear to church on Sunday or to a family dinner, when Cal and Leo walk in.
“Pete!” Cal says, slapping my shoulder. “How’s your anteater doing?”
“I guess he hasn’t starved to death. They’re still taking the money out of my account every month,” I say. Cal has a thing for anteaters, and he convinced me to sign up to adopt one as a pet. Pet is a very loose way of saying that the anteater lives in another country, while I pay for it’s extravagant lifestyle. It sounded like a scam to me, but it made my friend happy, and, truly, Cal is a decent guy. A loyal friend, and is honest and has integrity. He also happens to be a star hockey player for the Icebreakers, which is where Leo used to play too. Although now he’s retired, and is working on becoming the assistant pastor at my church, with the idea that he’s going to be taking over the senior pastor spot when the current pastor retires.
I often work out with them, but my schedule is a lot more unpredictable than theirs is, and they pretty much worked out together all the time. Although now that Leo doesn’t play anymore, I assume he’s knocked things down a notch. I guess I haven’t been around enough to know.
“What are you doing? Taking a jog?” Leo says, coming up beside me, already dressed to work out.
“I was thinking along those lines,” I say. “I just can’t stand to hear that bird I’m babysitting say your name anymore.”
Leo starts to grin. “Does he say, “Leo and his love bunny?”
“Did you teach him?” I asked.
“What is wrong with you?” Cal says. “Love bunny? Who to be called love bunny?”
“Nora doesn’t mind. In fact, she likes it,” Leo says, but the tips of his ears are bright, bright red.
Cal and I roll our eyes. “I just bet she likes it,” I say, moving around Leo. I have no idea what Nora likes, and if she likes to be called Love Bunny, good on her.
I’ve never met a woman who would like that, but then again, I seem to have a knack for meeting women who don’t like much of anything.
Except for Naked Animal-Rights —
Sorry, Lord.
Except for Sultry Voice Lady.
“That’s not driving you out for a run,” Leo says, looking at me with this new understanding he seems to have been attaining while I was just working on being a cop. Being a pastor is a perfect fit for Leo. He really does know people, and he cares about them too. I don’t particularly want to share my life story with him, although I am frustrated enough to say, “I was supposed to meet someone for dinner, but she stood me up.”
“Really?” Cal said, as he propped his foot on the bench and tied his shoe.
I assume that Cal and Leo had changed their minds about working out and are taking run with me.
It’s nice to have friends, although I was really going to push myself, because of my frustration. I wanted to come back, dead tired, too tired to think, too tired to sit down in my recliner and try to listen and see if Animal —
Sorry .
Sultry Voice Woman was working on her book.
“People are just rude anymore,” Leo says, and then he adds, “I guess I shouldn’t lump everyone together. We’re all redeemable, I’m sure of it, because it’s not God’s will that any should perish, but sometimes that’s hard to swallow when people are nasty.”
“And that’s coming from a preacher,” Cal said, slapping Leo on the arm.
We file out of the locker room and out onto the street.
We stretch a bit, as Leo says, “So what are you gonna do about it? I mean, do you know her?” He’s stretching his quad, and I wait until I drop my arm, lifting my other arm, stretching my triceps before I answer.
“I figured out who she was when I heard her talk.”
“She’s that girl with a good voice...?” Cal says, and I remember that I’d actually told him about the woman who lives beside me.
“She is,” I say, and then, because I know my buddies will appreciate the irony I say, “I figured out who she was today.”
“Your neighbor,” Cal says, like we hadn’t already gone over that.
“Not just my neighbor,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose, because it still gave me a bit of a headache when I thought about how messed up this whole thing was.
“Not just your neighbor?” Leo says, bending over and putting a hand flat on the ground, looking up at me. “What else?”
“Do you remember that woman I arrested a year ago, who had thrown her shirt at someone, and I booked her for indecent exposure?”
“Yeah, when you were grabbing a hold of her you accidentally grabbed her —”
“We’re in a public setting. Don’t say that word,” Leo says in a warning voice.
“What? I’m not allowed to say parts of a woman’s anatomy?” Cal says, lifting his arms up. He shakes his head. “Men are so much simpler than women.”
“Anyway, she’s my neighbor, and she was also supposed to be my date tonight, but she saw me, didn’t want to eat with me, ordered food, but didn’t bring anything with which to pay for her food, and I ended up paying for it.”
“Why? When she was going to stand you up, and when she’s that woman that you’ve been avoiding forever,” Cal says, sounding like he can’t believe how ridiculously dumb I am.
I have trouble believing that myself sometimes.
“I didn’t know it. I didn’t know it, because I never see my neighbor, and I never talk to Naked Animal-Rights Lady.”
Sorry Lord, but they won’t know her as Sultry Voice Woman.
“So I never heard her voice, and I asked my neighbor out without seeing her.”
“What were you doing? Walking around the building with a blindfold on?” Leo asks.
“No. I can hear her through the wall in our apartment.”
“Yeah. He’s told us about that,” Cal said, pulling his leg up, and stretching his quad.
“So you ask her out without knowing anything about her?” Leo said.
“Yeah. You haven’t heard her voice. You’d have done it too if you didn’t have Nora.”
“I disagree, but go on.”
“Anyway, after I paid for her meal, she thanked me, and that’s when I heard her voice and I put two and two together because I recognized her when I saw her as it’ll Naked Animal-Rights Lady but I didn’t recognize her as my neighbor until I heard her.
“Wow. You live a really messed up life,” Cal says, as we start jogging together. There is an alley that leads to a path that goes through the woods. It’s about three miles long, and perfect for a short jog. I set a brisk pace, and figured if my friends want to keep talking with me they’re going to have to keep up, and they’re going to have to talk around breathing.
Cal is still in pretty good shape, because he’s still playing hockey, but I figure Leo is probably going to lag behind, and I’ll be just fine. That way it’ll be two against one.
I just told them everything I know. And I didn’t wait around to see what their reactions were, although I figure that they’re both probably pretty annoyed with me. After all, how dumb can one person be?
“So now that you know who she is, it doesn’t really make a difference, right? I mean, the lady that you arrested probably was a little excited about attending the rally, and lost her head for a bit. She could turn out to be a really nice girl.”
Our feet pound on the path. Leo is keeping up better than I thought he would.
“I don’t think I want to find out. I’m not that desperate.”
“My sister told me that you checked out some really weird books in the library.” Cal came up on my other side and blindsided me. I was not expecting that.
“Aren’t my library book borrows protected under confidentiality rules or something?” I say, knowing that that probably wasn’t true, but still. People are gossiping about what books I checked out at the library?
I don’t even know why I’m surprised. This is what you get when you live in a small town. It’s annoying, but it’s also really nice, because people really do take care of you.
“How did your sister find out about that anyway?”
“She is best friends with the sister of the girl who works at the desk part time.”
Yeah. And in a small town, everybody is connected somehow. Unless you just move there, and then you’re at a disadvantage.
“Nice.”
“Why did you do that?” Leo said. “Asking in my official capacity, because if you’re doing something weird with little girls, I think I should know about it. I know Mrs. Higginbotham asked you to do the face painting at the festival, but if you’ve got a thing for little girls, I’m going to have to pull you from that assignment.”
I keep my mouth closed. Could I be that lucky?
But then, everybody will think I have a thing for little girls.
“If I tell you a secret, do you promise not to act on it?” I say.
We go around the corner, and merge into a single file line as we pass a mother pushing a baby stroller.
Leo waits until we pass the mother before he comes back up beside me, our feet tramping in tandem on the hard ground.
“What’s your secret?” Leo says, and I can tell he’s worried about me. He loves me like a brother; we’ve been friends forever. He’s really concerned that I’ve got some kind of problem. I almost find this funny, if it weren’t so serious. There really are people who have that kind of issue, and it’s not funny, especially not for the girls who are victims.
“My secret is that I don’t have a thing for little girls. I checked those books out of the library because I was supposed to be meeting someone to teach me how to draw, because my stick figures look like a solar system gone awry, and I didn’t want to be sued for accidentally drawing something that looked crude or inappropriate on somebody’s face.”
“I don’t understand how that has anything to do with anyone?” Leo says, sounding completely confused.
“I hired someone to give me drawing lessons, and I was going to meet them at the library. Turns out that the person who was going to give me drawing lessons was none other than Naked Animal-Rights Woman.” Sorry Lord.
“So did you take lessons from her?” Cal says from my other side.
Leo ignores him. “So you don’t like little girls? Then why did you check out the books?”
“No, I didn’t take lessons, and I checked out books because I needed an excuse to be in the library. After I saw her there was no way I was going to walk over and introduce myself.”
“But how did you know it was her?” Leo says, raising his arms up and sounding frustrated.
“Because she was sitting there with a pack of crayons sideways beside her. That was how I was going to know it was her, since I hired her online without knowing her name or anything. When I saw her face, I recognized Naked Animal-Rights Woman,” sorry Lord, “And I realized that I needed to have an excuse to be in the library and the first thing I thought of was that I am going to spend the next month as private security for a ten-year-old girl, and I don’t know anything about girls, so I got a few books at the library that might help me relate to ten-year-old girls if I actually read them.”
“Your life is so messed up,” Cal says, shaking his head, and sounding like he wasn’t even breathing hard.
I’m gasping for breath, and Leo is too, which makes me feel a little bit better. It’s frustrating that Cal is in such good shape, although I’m happy for them. He needs to be. After all, that’s his job.
Of course, in my line of work, it’s pretty important that I stay in shape as well.
“So you’re telling me that God brought this woman into your life twice this week, without you even realizing it, and you’re not doing anything about it?”
“That’s why I’m taking this jog,” I say, exasperated. I know it. I know that there is a reason. I know there’s something going on, but I don’t know what it is.
“Maybe God just wants you to learn to love her.”
This is a good point. “So, I’ve taken to calling her Sultry Voice Woman instead of Naked Animal Lady, but I haven’t been doing that just now because I knew you guys wouldn’t recognize her if I said that, and, you’d probably think there was more between us than what there is, but there’s not.”
“I don’t know. Sultry voice kind of sounds... Romantic. Are you romantically interested in Sultry Voice Woman?” Cal says, teasing me.
“No!”
That is not even open for discussion.
“But you bought her dinner today?” Leo says from my other side.
This is the downside of having friends. They’re not going to let it go, and they’re going to make fun of me for the rest of my life about this. So annoying.
“I think you might have a thing for her.”
“Seems like the Lord wants him to have a thing for. Since He keeps bringing them together.” Cal shakes his head. “And yet he keeps fighting it. Pete, go with the Lord’s leading,” Cal says, like that is the rational thing someone should do, when in reality, that is not necessarily what I’m supposed to do at all, in any way.
The guys don’t say anything for a moment, and I appreciate it, because I’m out of breath, and wondering why in the world I thought pushing myself on a hard jog would be a good idea.
“So you’re quitting the force?” Leo says, like that has just penetrated his brain, and he finally processed the fact that I am going to be doing security personal security.
“I didn’t really have much of a choice about that,” I say, grateful the end of the trail is ahead.
Cal pushes hard toward the end and pulls ahead of us. Leo and I both struggled to keep up, running stride for stride.
We burst out of the woods, into the clearing with the picnic tables and pavilion, and we slow to a walk. I put my hands behind my head, as I catch up with Cal who looks like he is barely sweating.
I wish I would have brought a towel, because I feel like I need to wipe my face big time. I look around, don’t see anyone who’s going to faint at the sight, and pick up the bottom of my shirt, wiping my face with that.
At least I don’t feel like I’m a sloppy mess anymore.
“How did you not have much of a choice about that?” Leo says, still panting. He looks as hot and sweaty as I am, but it must be something to do with being a preacher, because he doesn’t lift his shirt up. Although he does wipe his face on his shoulder.
“Apparently there’s some woman who’s going on a trip to Paris, and she’s worried about her daughter while she’s gone.”
“Must be some filthy rich woman, if she’s hiring private security for her daughter.”
“Yeah. Well, it’s not just private security. She’s paying twice my normal wage, although I haven’t seen any money so I guess I’ll believe that when I see it,” I say, knowing that sometimes people say they’ll do things and they end up not keeping their word. I guess I’ve seen it all now, maybe I’ve gotten a little bit of a hard crust on me, dealing with the dregs of society.
“Wow,” Cal says. “You can adopt another anteater.”
“No. One in this family is enough,” I say, in the firmest voice I can muster, even though I’m still panting.
We’re walking around, but not so much that we can’t talk, and Leo says, “So that’s it?”
“Oh, wait, that’s not all. She made a huge, seven-figure donation to the force.”
“Now I see why you couldn’t say no.”
“It would have been hard for me to say no, but I became a police officer because I wanted to be a police officer, not personal security. And, definitely not to a ten-year-old girl. I think I would have still said no, but the chief didn’t give me a choice. He told me I was getting put on unpaid administrative leave, so that was that.”
“Yeah. I guess you can’t really afford to live if you don’t have a job.”
“No.” All of them knew that I sometimes moonlighted as a security guard for the Icebreakers home games, and that brought in a nice little extra amount every once in a while. But, it certainly wasn’t going to be enough to pay my bills if I wasn’t going to be a police officer. And I’m not sure that the chief would hire me back if I would have said no. We didn’t even get into that.
“So who is it?” Leo asked again.
“A little girl named Baxley Unger.” I shrugged. “I don’t know any Unger in town, but I don’t know any millionaires either. At least, not many.” I actually do know a few. Cal and Leo, for starters. But the millionaires I know are millionaires who don’t look like millionaires, if you know what I mean. You pass them on the street, and you wouldn’t know them from anyone else. They’re not millionaires, like millionaires who live the high life. Of course, being a millionaire isn’t what it used to be.
And it’s not like I have to worry anything about that. I’m in no danger of becoming a millionaire. Ever.
“Wow. So... You have to follow this girl around? And go to school?” Cal says, as I know he’s asking me because he’s curious, but he also wants to know exactly who this girl is whose family has all this money, because he sees a whole family of anteaters being adopted by the cash donations of these rich people he didn’t know existed.
“I’m not going to have to go into the school,” I say.
Leo punches my shoulder. “That’s a good thing.”
We laugh, because all of them know how much I hated school. It’s kind of funny that I became a cop, but it wasn’t that I hated rules, I just hated cages. And classrooms look way too much like cages.
We start walking slowly back toward the gym, the evening air settling down, feeling cold against my sweaty skin.
I’ll be happy to take a shower and get changed into dry clothes.
We talk about some other things, including Cal’s upcoming games, and married life for Leo. I asked him if he wants the ladies’ bird back, since Trixie will only say Leo’s name, and refuses to learn any new words for me.
Finally, I’m feeling better. Not just because of the run. It’s because of my buddies. They’re good guys, and maybe they didn’t exactly set out to cheer me up, but it always feels good when you know you’re not one person against the world.
We part ways, and I walk back toward my apartment, while Leo gets in his car to go meet Nora at her bake shop. Cal is heading back to the rink to get in a little bit more practice.
I for one can’t wait to sit down in my recliner, and I’m hoping I will hear Sultry Voice Woman. Even though she’s also Naked Animal Rights Lady.
I just want to hear that voice.
That’s all I’m thinking about as I walk in, and Trixie says, “Leo and his love bunny. Leo and his love bunny.”
“I almost gave you away today because of that. My name is Pete,” I say, as I walk across the kitchen, throwing my keys on the counter.
I check Trixie’s water. It’s low, so I open the cage and reach in and get it.
I try to clean his cage on a regular basis, which would be easier if I had a regular job with regular hours, but I get to it about twice a week. I had just done it the day before, so it’s not too bad.
I know from experience that if I let it go too long, it stinks. Who knew that birds smelled so bad?
Still, I appreciate his presence in my kitchen, and that I don’t walk into my apartment and face it all alone like I used to.
“Pete. Pete.” I say, trying to enunciate clearly so the bird can understand.
I have no idea how to teach a bird how to say a word.
And I kinda shrug as I turn, going toward the sink to rinse out the water, and to refill it with fresh.
“Precious. Precious,” Trixie says.
I freeze, with the water running over the water container, as I tilt my head.
I turn around and look again at the bird.
“Say that again?”
Trixie just looks at me.
At least he’s not saying Leo and his love bunny. That’s nice.
There is a knock on my door, and I turn the water off, opening it and wondering who it is.
“Dude. I thought you were going to the rink?” It’s Cal.
“I was, but I remembered that the ladies had asked me to deliver this to you, and I kind of forgot about it. They didn’t want to leave it down in the lobby, and I know that they’re going to ask me about it again tomorrow, so I needed to make sure I gave it to you.”
He points behind him to an end table or something like that. It’s kind of different looking, but, whatever. My apartment is not fully furnished, and I suppose I’ll welcome anything that people will give me.
“Do I owe them anything for it?” I ask, putting my hands out, like I need to defend myself. I don’t know anything about this.
“No. They mentioned something about giving it to you for watching their bird or something.
“Precious. Precious.” Trixie pipes up from behind me.
“That’s a new word,” I say, kind of proud of my bird. “I think that’s the way he says Pete. I’ve been trying to teach him my name, so he’ll quit saying Leo and his love bunny.”
Cal gives me a look. “Precious doesn’t sound anything like Pete,” he says, in that slow manner that someone might use to say something to someone who has a limited ability to understand.
As I’m standing there staring at Cal, trying to think of any other reason why my bird would have all of a sudden started saying a word that I certainly wasn’t saying, my neighbor’s door opened, and I see her head in the crack, as though she is looking out to see what the commotion is in the hall.
“I’m sorry,” I say automatically. “We were making a bit of noise. We just need to get this piece of furniture in.” And then I stopped. It is Sultry Voice Lady. It was also Naked Animal-Rights Lady, who is also...my neighbor.
“That’s fine. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t miss a knock. I just got out of the shower.”
I notice that her hair is wet, and she’s wearing what looks like... Jammies.
I’m just happy she has clothes on.
“Oh. Your...neighbor.” Cal says, walking over to her door with his hand out.
I want to grab him by the hair and yank him back.
Not just because I don’t want him to talk to her because Cal can be very very charming, and this woman is mine.
Wait. No she’s not mine , mine. She’s just my neighbor, my Naked Animal-Rights Lady, my Sultry voice Woman. Mine that way. Not mine , mine.
“I’m Cal. Pete’s friend,”
“Oh, nice,” Sultry Voice Woman says.
“Yeah. I can say some interesting things he’s said about you, like his nickname for you,” Cal says, slanting his gaze at me, with a wicked gleam in his eye. Then he gets serious. “But I actually wanted to talk to you about adopting an anteater.”
Before Sultry Voice Woman can answer, there’s a flash, and she lets out a startled, “oh, oh!” While Cal does some kind of weird dance like he’s on a hot tin roof, and something skitters by my legs - I think she went between them - and I almost lose my balance, although I’m not sure why.
I turn around. Something has just run from Sultry Voice Woman’s apartment into mine, and I see a cat on my table.
It seems to be trying to get to my bird.
“Oh my goodness. I think my cat likes your bird,” Sultry voice woman says, and her voice is so much better in person. So much better. I do not close my eyes, but a warm sensation does go down my back, and I can’t answer right away. “Can you get him to talk again? I mean, I think my cat would like it if you did.”
I could not tell that voice no. Not for anything. And so I say, “Trixie, say precious. Precious?”
Come on bird. If you are going to talk, this is the time.
“Leo and his love bunny. Leo and his love bunny.
That was not what I wanted it to say, but at least it said something, and it made Sultry Voice Woman sigh, which, her sigh is almost as smooth and velvety as her voice, and she puts a hand to her chest.
“Look at Flipper! He loves it!”
“Did you feed Flipper supper? Because Flipper could be hungry,” Cal says from behind us.
I know I just said how much I appreciated my buddies, but if Cal would have dropped through the floor at that very moment, I’d take my good old time walking down the steps to the first floor to see if he was okay. Just saying. And I wouldn’t have been sad.
“Yes. I’m sure he’s not hungry. He just wants to be friends,” Sultry Voice Woman says.
Then she moves forward, and picks up Flipper, who leans against her. I've never seen a fluffier cat, or an uglier one, truth be told. It has one of those smashed faces that makes it look like it ran into a wall at a very high rate of speed, and lost its nose in the process. But, she obviously loves it, and while I’m not exactly a cat person anymore than I’m a kid person, I like this cat, because well, because Sultry Voice Woman is holding it and petting it.
“Flipper. Maybe our neighbor will invite us over sometime so you can get to know —” she looks up and blinks at me, and I see those big green eyes, and I’m not sure that I ever thought about getting lost in anything before, but I could dive into those eyes and swim around for ages, and be perfectly happy being lost. “What’s the name of your bird?” she says, prompting me, when I don’t figure out that she wanted me to supply it.
Maybe if I’d have been paying attention to her words instead of her eyes I might have known.
Behind me, Cal snorts.
“Trixie. His name is Trixie.”
“He?” she asks, tilting her head a little bit at me like she isn’t quite sure that I really meant to say that.
I hold both hands up. Like I would expect a suspect to do for me when they’re completely innocent and not try to get away with anything.
“I do mean him. In fact, unfortunately, he’s not my bird.” I say unfortunately. I didn’t really mean to say that out loud. Anyway. “I am babysitting him for the ladies downstairs.”
“That’s what this piece of furniture is for - payment for birdsitting. If you don’t mind, we’ll just slid that in here, then I can be on my way and you guys can chitchat all you want to, although I’m sure Pete will tell me all about it in the morning, won’t you buddy?” Cal winks at me.
I make a face, and shake my head at him, lifting my hands. What in the world? We’re not gossip buddies. I don’t spill my heart to him on a daily basis. He’s just being an idiot and making fun of me.
I guess rightly so, since I was struck a little mute. But, I didn’t expect to get to be face-to-face with Sultry Voice Woman tonight. I wish I would have taken a shower first. I realize I can smell myself and she can’t leave fast enough, except all I can think is that I want to say something that will make her stay.
“Yes, it’s a boy. And I don’t know why they named him Trixie, and we’ll definitely have to have you over sometime. I have number. I’ll text you,” I say, and she seems a little surprised, but follows me to the door, and when she’s on the other side of the threshold, I pick up the end table and carry it in.
“See ya,” I say, as Cal grabs the door and slams it behind him.