Lost Echoes

35

Next day, in his apartment, lying on the couch, hands behind his head, contemplating the date with Talia, running it over and over in his mind, especially the parts out there on Humper’s Hill, the phone rang. Slowly he got up from the couch, went over, and looked at the caller ID.

It was Joey.

It rang three times and the answering machine kicked in.

There was a pause.

No message was left.

“Damn,” Harry said. He picked up the phone and dialed Joey.

“I just called,” Joey said.

“I know. I saw your name. I couldn’t get to the phone in time.”

“Must have been taking a shit. Small as your place is, you can get anywhere under, say, oh, I don’t know, two seconds.”

“You’re right. I was on the toilet.”

“The other night, your friend—he don’t like me much, Harry.”

“Figured as much.”

“He tell you about it?”

Harry lied. “No.”

“Want to know about it?”

“No.”

“He hurt my feelings, man. He didn’t treat me like I was your friend.”

“Got to admit, Joey, sometimes I got to look real hard to find the love.”

“Come on, man. Don’t go homo on me. This all got started over some girl. We don’t want shit like that to come between us. Thing is, though, I wanted to ask you. You really end up seeing her? Talia?”

“Yeah.”

“No joke?”

“No one laughing here.”

“She a good fuck?”

“Come on, Joey.”

“Is she?”

“I got nothing to say about things like that.”

“You must be lousy. That must be the thing.”

“Joey?”

“Yeah.”

“Blow me.”

Harry hung up.