Page 17 of The Girl with No Name
Fucking forwards.
I heave a heavy sigh. Well, if I’m going to the office tomorrow, I might as well take advantage of the fact that I ducked out early today.
Reed: I’ll head over soon
Dunn: That’s my boi
4
REED
“BLACK BETTY” – RAM JAM
Charlie Dunn’s parents live in a two-story house in the western suburbs of Chicago, a few blocks from the tracks of the BNSF line. So I can work on my laptop during the trip, I ride the Metra from Union Station out to La Grange, then walk the couple blocks to his place. I keep my shirt and tie on just in case I have to jump on an impromptu zoom call.
When I arrive, I knock on the door and have a look around their porch. I still remember the spot in the street that was the finish line for Charlie and me when we would go on runs together and sprint to the end.
After a few moments, Mrs. Dunn answers the door. She has glasses, medium-length brown hair, and always a half smile. “Well, if it isn’t little Reedy the Reedster.”
I laugh. The nickname has no meaning. But Mrs. Dunn gave me and all of Charlie’s high school friends nicknames. I hug her, and she invites me in.
“Hey, Mr. Dunn!” I call as I enter the living room. The old man is in his seventies, and he likes sitting in his easy chair, watching movies, and talking politics.
“Reed! What a great surprise.”
He stands to shake my hand, and I join him when he sits back down. He’s watchingSaving Private Ryan.
“Charlie should be down in a few minutes. He’s just upstairs with Wendy.”
I nod. Wendy is Charlie’s wife as of last summer. “How many months along is she?”
“Eight months and a day.”
“Well, damn. The baby is due soon then.”
“You bet.”
I hear loud talking upstairs, and then a few moments later, footsteps on the stairs.
“Hey, Reed!” Wendy says as she comes down, holding her belly.
“Wendy!”
I stayed with Charlie and Wendy for a week last summer when I got back from the Peace Corps and they were on base in Louisiana. They’re my favorite couple of all time.
“What’s up y’all?” I grin and give Wendy a light hug, careful around the baby. “You know who took your parents out to dinner and got them drunk so they had a baby? Yes, you do!” I address her belly in my best baby-friendly voice.
“What?” Wendy looks surprised.
“What do you mean, what?” I laugh. “I took you guys out early last October when you visited. You said you hadn’t had a drink all fall. It’s eight months later. So I’m expecting you’ll name him after me?”
Dunn appears and gives me the kind of big bear hug only old high school best friends give each other. “You son of a bitch. Did you guys sleep together?” He looks between me and Wendy.
Wendy’s eyes go wide. I just chuckle. Dunn’s always had a weird sense of humor. He gets away with it because he’s the most solid guy you’ll ever meet. And we both know that if I did sleep with Wendy, he has ten ways to murder me in my sleep.
“You know I’ve never been into blondes,” I say. “Sorry, Wen.”
“That’s right. That was a trick question. And you passed.” He glances at Wendy. “You, however…”