"Well, first time for everything." He sipped his coffee, cradling the cup for warmth."You got some weird new neighbors, dude," he said to Colby. "Couple of them were going by, said hello and I asked if I could come inside for a second to warm up. They looked at me like I had the plague and shut the fucking door in my face. Thing is, there were other guys coming and going almost the entire time I was here. One of them came up and asked me where he could score some shit. One or two saw me and looked all paranoid. They turned around and left. Like I was a fucking narc or something."
"They probably thought so," Colby said. "I don't know them, man. It was empty a few days ago. Now, all of a sudden, it's Grand Central."
"Oh, great. There goes the neighborhood," Gavin said with a shrug.
Once Gavin was warmer, Colby loaned him a jacket and they went to his place to get his keys and coat. Afterward, they went to Alice's apartment to deal with her car.
"Why didn't you just call instead of wandering around?" Stan asked as they put the jumper cables on Alice's battery.
"We would have come and let you in."
"I didn't think about it. You're usually home."
He had a point. I was rare that they were both gone at the same time, unless they were together. Then, Gavin was with them as well.
Gavin stayed in Colby's car. They didn't even want him around when they were jumping the car. He wasn't allowed to gun the motor or anything. Sullen, he waited for them to finish.
"I don't know why I can't help," he muttered when Colby got in his car. "I'm not a complete incompetent."
"Stan is being overly careful. It's not his car. It's not that we don't trust you, Gavin—"
"No, it's exactly that. And you shouldn't. I can't be trusted with dick." He glanced away, staring out the window as he bit his thumb knuckle.
Colby felt bad, but he also knew that Gavin was a little too flighty to have operating electrical devices. He was a great driver, and could fix all manner of mechanical things in their cars, but he couldn't be trusted with electricity, whatever the form. They weren't even likely to ask him to replace batteries in electronic devices because events usually took an abrupt, and unhappy, turn.
The car finally started with a roar. They let it idle for a few minutes before disconnecting the cables. Once that was accomplished, Stan drove out to the highway and they went a few miles down the road with Colby following. They made a turn near their favorite fast food joint, so Colby gave Avery a call.
"You two hungry yet? We're up here at Rascally Tom's."
"Oh, I was going to fix lunch," Avery said, sounding a little upset.
"Rather have your cooking!" Colby said, knowing the other men would agree. "Can we get anything while we're out?"
"I've got everything. I was going to do hot dogs and beans and Alice has a killer recipe for potato salad. We've got the taters cooking and she's chopping onions as we speak."
"Okay. Sounds great to me. Do we have enough beer?"
"We could use another six," she replied.
"I'll pick some up."
"Great! See you soon!"
Gavin had already texted Stan about the meal. They stopped at a nearby grocery store and picked up some IBC as well as fruit salad and dessert. Avery loved turtle pie, and could rarely afford it. A quick call assured them that Alice liked it too. Stan bought that. Gavin covered the IBC and Colby bought the fruit salad.
Contributions in hand, they headed back to Avery's. Her apartment was snug, but had a little more space and more chairs than the men had. Besides, that's where the food was. The guys rarely had anything that would constitute a meal.
Avery and Alice greeted them with hugs and kisses. Gavin was stunned, as well as pleased. He was glad to see Avery so happy. She positively glowed. This was the Avery he always knew was there, hiding under the baggy clothing and outrageously colored hair.
She was wearing a black tank top with a clinging, pink sweater over it. Her jeans fit nicely, following the contours of her legs. He saw more of Avery in five seconds than he'd seen in five years. Alice was similarly dressed, only her sweater was off white and her tank top gray. He couldn't help being a little jealous of his friends. He'd never had a steady woman, though he had dated a little. His experience consisted of kissing and some awkward petting. He wasn't good with people, women in particular, and he regretted his lack of social skills. His friends tried to help him, but they were so out of sync themselves, they weren't much assistance. Having them around, though, made all the difference.
"A meal fit for a king," Gavin declared as they sat down to eat.
"Colby, do you want to offer blessing?" Avery asked.
"May I?" Gavin volunteered.
"Sure." Avery blinked at him. Gavin rarely volunteered.
They bowed their heads, taking hands.
"Dear Lord," Gavin began. His was a semi-religious family. "We thank you for this great meal and good friends to share it with. Thank you for sending us Alice, cause she's smokin' hot—" He laughed when Stan punched his shoulder. "I'm kidding. She's a lot of fun to be around, even if she is taller than me, and dating my friend. But it's because of friends like mine that I'm so grateful to be here today. Thank you, Lord, for all these good people. Amen."
©2021 Dellani Oakes
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