“Daddy’s what?” demanded Martha.
“Uh, Daddy’s hungry. Yeah, that’s it.”
“I’ve never seen him like this.” Martha grabbed the drumsticks and put them back in their Rubbermaid container. “Something’s not right.”
“He started having a pretty bad cough,” Nicole said quickly, thinking on her feet. “I think he took some of that syrup in the medicine cabinet.”
“You mean the prescription? But he hates to take that stuff. Says it makes him loopy.”
Nicole shrugged. “It was a pretty bad cough.”
Martha looked down. “Is that what happened?”
Jim looked up. A loopy grin.
“Okay, let’s get you to bed.”
Martha got Jim to his feet and walked him up the stairs. Nicole followed, having the time of her young life.
A half hour deeper into the night.
The master bedroom of the Davenport residence. A woman’s voice:
“… Oh Jim!.. Oh God!.. Don’t stop!.. Yes! Yes! …”
The sheets moved up and down in the moonlight pouring from the south window.
“… Jim!.. Where’d you learn that?… You’ve never been this good!.. Oh yes!.. Do it again!.. Yes! Yes! Yes! …”
“Serge,” whispered Coleman. “They’re really going at it.”
“Stop listening to them,” said Serge. “It’s rude.”
“Must be the pot he took.”
“And stop whispering. She might hear you.”
“… Oh yes!.. Oh God!..”
“Serge?”
“What!”
“Why did we run up the stairs instead of taking off out the back?”
“Because Martha was just about to come through the front door, and there wasn’t enough time to make it down the hall without her seeing us.” Serge checked his glowing wristwatch in the dark. “Was hoping we could open a window and climb onto the roof, but they were all stuck.”
“And we ended up in the bathroom shower with the curtain pulled?”
“Too much clothes in the closet.”
“So what do we do?”
“Sit tight in this bathtub until they fall asleep. Then creep out like thieves.”
“I think they stopped.” Coleman strained to listen. “Yes, they’ve definitely stopped.”
“No more talking.” Serge eased himself down onto the bathtub and checked his watch again.
The night wore on.
Serge’s closed eyes fluttered open. He shook the fog from his head. “Must have dozed off. What time is it?” He checked his watch. “Four-thirty? Time to be going.” He started getting up. “Coleman? You awake?… Coleman?” He reached out in the darkness and felt only air. “Coleman, where are you?”
Then a familiar sound.
Serge grabbed the hair on his own head and pulled. “Fuck me.” He yanked the shower curtain back and stuck his head out. “Coleman, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I have to pee.”
“Stop!” he whispered harshly. “She might hear you!”
“I can’t. The stream’s already started.”
“So cut it off!”
“It’s impossible-”
The door suddenly opened and the lights came on.
Martha stood in shock at what she saw: Serge’s head poking out from the shower curtains, and Coleman standing at the toilet, looking back over his shoulder at her, his piss stream spraying all over the floor.
Serge grinned sheepishly. “I can explain.”
Chapter Ten
Serge stared out the front window with binoculars. “Man, I’ve never seen a woman as mad as Martha. And I’ve seen a lot of women mad.”
“She yelled at us way too much.”
“Coleman, after all we talked about over here, did you have to pee on her floor?”
“I think she was mainly mad that we were just there.”
“But what made you tell her you tried hard not to hear them banging each other?”
“I thought that would be a nice thing to say.”
“For future reference, any random sentence from a library is nicer.”
“I’m just glad she didn’t call the cops,” said Coleman.
“She would have,” said Serge. “Thank heavens Jim and Nicole were there to talk her down from that idea.”
From behind: “You guys are buffoons.”
“Great,” said Serge. “Taking it from all angles.” He lowered his binoculars. “I need to find a way to make it up to them… Coleman, stop staring over there. How many times do I have to tell you?”
“But City and Country are making out. I can’t help it.”
City looked over at Coleman. “Why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer.”
“Serge, can I borrow your camera?”
“Shut up!”
“I didn’t know they were lesbians.”
Serge raised his binoculars again. “They’re not.”
“But they’re making out.”
“That’s because City’s current other option is you.”
“You mean they’re doing that for me?”
“Uh, yeah, Coleman. That’s exactly what’s going on.”
“Do you think they’ll take requests?”
“Coleman, just… hold on, what’s this?”
“What do you see?”
“It’s that Ram pickup again.” Serge shortened up the focus on his binoculars. “One of the vehicles from yesterday. It’s the third time I’ve seen it on the street today.”
“What’s it doing?”
“Slowing down and looking at Jim’s house. It’s like he’s casing the place.” Serge pulled a cell phone from his pocket. “I don’t like the looks of this.”
“Who are you calling?”
“Shhhhhh! It’s ringing… Jim? Me, Serge. Don’t hang up!.. Something important might be happening… Well, like, do you have any enemies?… Given your demeanor, I didn’t think so… How about your job? What kind of consulting do you actually do?… What do you mean you don’t do any consulting? Then what do they pay you for
… Could you repeat that last part again?… Why didn’t you tell me that before?… Just relax and forget I called.” He hung up. “Damn.”
“What is it?” asked Coleman.
