“Are you ready for your first taste of freedom?”
“You know it. It's only been a few weeks, but it has been pretty quiet around here.”
I was on the phone with Sam. He was coming home for Oyster Fest. He had only been gone for a few weeks, but I guess this was a perk of going to college close to home, you didn't have to miss events like this. Besides, once the season got underway, we weren't going to see him much until the spring. His parents bought him a car as a graduation gift, so we planned to be all over New York sooner or later. I couldn't wait to get out there. Good food, good drink, good company. I knew the girls would be out. I just needed to get outside. Not that I regretted being inside with Alyson's visits.
Sam pulled up in his 2007 Nissan Altima and blew the horn twice. I threw on my Yankee cap and ran out the door. I expected to see Alfredo in the car, but Sam was riding solo.
“Where's Fredo?”
“I don't know. I called him, but he didn't answer his phone.”
“Now that you mention it I haven't heard from him in a while either. He knew we were going out today, right?”
“Yeah, he knew. He sent me a text Thursday to make sure we were still on for today. I don't know what's going on with that guy.”
As we headed toward the expressway, we saw Alfredo with some guys over in Carroll Park.
“Stop the car, Sam.”
I headed in his direction, but he saw me coming and jogged toward me before I could meet his "friends".
“I thought you were rolling with us today?”
“Uh, yeah. I forgot I had something to do today, so I'm not going to be able to make it.”
He kept looking over his shoulder at the guys that he was with which led me to believe he was in some kind of trouble.
“Is everything cool?”
“Yeah. Um, I gotta go. I'll catch up with you guys later. Maybe we can go to Marco Polo for lunch tomorrow. I'm sure you guys are going to be eating and hanging out at Ulysses all day.” He started to walk away before I could answer.
“I'll catch up with you guys later,” he called over his shoulder.
Sam gave me a look as I got back in the car.
“Well?”
“He said he had something to do and he was going to catch up with us tomorrow.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Sam said as he put the car in drive and pulled off.
Something about that situation didn't sit too well with me. And I was going to get to the bottom of it.
----------------------------
Sam and I sat at our usual table at Marco Polo waiting on Alfredo. He set this lunch date, so where the hell was he? I was just about to pull out my cell phone when we saw him walk thorough the door.
“What's up, guys?”
“You tell us, man. We haven't seen you in a while.”
“I've been busy. I've been helping my cousin with his store and running some errands for my uncle.”
“What kind of errands, man?”
He was saved by the waiter coming to take our orders. When he left I repeated my question.
“Chill with all that, man. My aunt has been sick, so I've just been doing some runs. Going to the dry cleaners, grocery shopping. **** like that.”
Sam and I gave each other a look and both said, “Right.”
He decided to change the topic.
“So how's Syracuse?”
“It's good. I mean, I haven't been there long, but its good. The girls are cute. And being on the basketball team doesn't hurt. I met this girl at the library the other day.”
“Damn, already? So what does she look like.”
“She's cute. Her name is Michele. She's a junior, majoring in Mass Communications.”
“A junior? Sounds out of your league, Sam. Does she know you're a freshman,” I asked laughing.
“Yeah, she knows. It's college, man. **** like that don't matter. It's not like we're getting married. I just bumped into her in the library. I don't even know if I'm going to see her again. It's like twenty thousand people on campus.”
"You would if you changed your major from Business to Mass Communications," said Alfredo.
“You'll see her again. Especially when the season starts,” I said.
“Once she sees you lighting up the scoreboard for the Orange, she'll be trying to hunt you down, kid. You know, for "interviews" and stuff. So how does she look?”
Sam looked between Alfredo and me as we waited anxiously for a response.
“Gabrielle Union.”
Alfredo and I nodded our head in approval.
“You have to find her, man.”
Our conversation continued as we fell back into our normal routine of talking about girls and sports.It felt just like we were in high school again. But in the back of mind I couldn't help but wonder what Alfredo was really up to.
05-30-2010, 06:40 PM
