hope.”
“Okay, Fletcher. Why don’t you come to the service? We’ll check out your health.”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“Oh, we’re sure you are. By health, we mean just everything. We’re friends like you never had before. We take care of all of you. You do exercise, don’t you?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Well, we want to check out your skin tone, your muscle tone, your diet. Exercise you through to sexual fulfillment. You’ve never had friends like us before.”
“I’m sure.”
“We take you all the way, my man, from simple stretches, through deep breathing, to ecstasy.”
“Ecstasy! Wow!”
“You don’t believe?”
“I’ve just never heard
“You’ve never called Ben Franklyn Friend Service before.”
“Not for anything without cheese.”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
“You going to come right over?”
“Not right now. Someone’s waiting for me. How about tomorrow?”
“Sure. I guess we can fit you in.”
“Ha ha.”
“What time?”
“Eleven o’clock.”
“In the morning?”
“Right. I want to have my skin toned up.”
“Fletcher Jaffe. Eleven o’clock tomorrow morning.
We’ll see you then. All of you. And you’ll see all of us.”
The phone clicked.
Fletch hung up.
And then did some deep breathing exercises.
“Wow!”
“These bugs are gettin’ to me.”
“Heck with the bugs. Listen to this.”
Sitting on the beach in her swimsuit, Barbara Ralton was scratching her elbow with one hand and her back with the other. “Fletch, the bugs really take over the beach when the sun gets this low.”
“Appropriate for what you’re about to hear. Listen.” His back propped against her beach bag, Fletch read:
