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“So, what are you two fighting about?” Kile asked sourly.
“Money,” Ajay replied as he sipped at his coffee and slumped at the
small table in his parent’s kitchen.
“Not original and completely expected,” his brother snickered as
he drank his own coffee and then planted an unlit cigarette at the corner of
his mouth.”You take in a fancy poodle from uptown, they’re going
to want stuff you can’t afford.”
Ajay glared and grumbled into his coffee cup. “That’s not what’s
wrong.”
His brother’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Well, then you have
me stumped. Are gay guys like women when they argue? My wife is mad about roses
that she didn’t get. Yellow ones. What the hell is that all about, I ask
you?”
“It’s your anniversary,” Ajay pointed out. “She decorated
the church in yellow roses when you were married.”
Kile grunted, mystified. “Why didn’t she just say so?”
“You’re supposed to remember things like that,” Ajay replied.
“Okay, Mr. Smart Ass, then what the hell is your problem with your ‘sweet
heart’, if you know so much about things?” his brother demanded in
angry embarrassment.
“He wanted to pay for a new office,” Ajay replied sourly.
Kile stared at him for a long minute and then asked, “And?”
“I wouldn’t let him,” Ajay replied.
“Because?” his brother pressed in disbelief.
Ajay’s jaw worked and then he replied tightly, “Because it’s
my office. The business should pay for itself.”
Kile snickered, “Bet you got the lecture about what’s yours is mine
and what’s mine is yours, and if you don’t think so, you don’t
really love me, right?”
“Yes,” Ajay admitted.
“Knew you’d screw this up,” his brother replied. “I’m
just surprised you managed two months.”
“Don’t be stupid!” Ajay retorted. “It’s not over!
We just argued, that’s all. We’ll work it out.”
Kile eyed him critically and then leaned forward, switching
his unlit cigarette to the opposite side of his mouth. “One thing you gotta learn, brother,
is that you have to swallow a lot of crap to make them happy. Look at me. I have
to go buy the biggest bunch of yellow roses I can find to let her know, yeah,
I’m a stupid, insensitive lug, and I get why she’s mad. What are
you gonna do?”
“Explain better,” Ajay replied as he stood up and grabbed his coat. “I
can’t let him pay for my office, but maybe I can explain better why not?”
His brother chuckled. “Good luck with that. Better toss a gift through
the door first.”
-------------------------------------------------------
As Ajay walked home, he considered that a gift might not be a bad idea. On
a cold winter night, hot tea and coffee, with something sweet to go with
it, might be a way to smooth the road before he explained to Devon why he
was standing his ground.
Ajay pulled out his cell to call Devon, intending to ask him to dress warmly
and meet him at the coffee shop. The call connected just as a woman ran full
tilt into Ajay. Cell flying from his hand, Ajay tried to recover his balance
and keep them both from falling onto the snow covered sidewalk. As Devon’s
voice said, “Hello? Jay, is that you?” the phone clattered into
the street and was promptly crushed under the tires of a passing garbage truck.
The woman pushed off of Ajay, looked fearfully behind her, and then tried to
hurry past him. A petite blonde in high heels, she was wearing expensive clothes
and looked barely in her twenties. Ajay’s protective tendencies kicked
into high gear. He forgot about his destroyed cell phone, and his confused
lover, and hurried after her.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, “Is someone bothering you?”
She stopped and gave his size and strength a wide-eyed look. Her expression
turned calculating as she grabbed onto Ajay’s black coat and pulled him
close. “Maybe you can help me, Boy Scout,” she told him. She rifled
in her purse, produced a fifty dollar bill, and then slapped it into his hand. “I’ll
give you a hundred more if you play body guard until I make it to where I’m
going.”
“That’s not necessary,” Ajay replied as he tried to hand the
money back, but she gave him a disgusted roll of her eyes.
“I just broke your cell and I may need you to protect me from the guys
trying to catch up to me. That’s worth fifty.”
“More than fifty,” Ajay conceded, but then shook his head as he tried
to hand the bill back to her again. “We should go where there’s a
phone and call the police.”
She snatched the bill out of Ajay’s hand and jammed it back into her
purse. “Look, I don’t need you, if you’re going to make even
more trouble for me, Boy Scout. Get lost.”
She began walking quickly again, her heels clicking on the pavement.
Ajay looked back the way she had come and couldn’t see anyone out of the ordinary.
Still, she seemed convinced that she was being followed. He hurried to catch
up to her. “All right, I’ll take you where you need to go.”
She smiled at him, not slowing her stride. “You really are a boy scout.”