Page 38 of Alonzo

“Just… listen to me for a moment.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Yeah. No. Kind of.”

“OK. What’s going on?”

“Do you think this is weird?”

“What? Phone-fucking?”

“No. Not the phone-fucking. The fact that we’ve never met in real life.”

“Mmm… a little. I guess.”

“You’ve asked me for hundreds of pics to prove who I was over the past two years.”

Fuck.

“And I never once asked you for one back.”

“But you’ve seen me. I promise, I’m not fugly.”

She chuckles a little. “I know. But—”

“OK. Do you want one now? What should I do? Wink? Stick out my tongue?”

“No. That’s not what I mean. I don’t need one, Lons. I just… I think I depend on you now. I look forward to you when I get home from work.”

“Well… that’s good, right? I look forward to you too.”

“Do you think this is real?”

“Real? Yeah.”

“You’re just saying that because I’m getting weird, aren’t you?”

“No. Tara. No. I’m not. I’m fucking serious. I like you. I mean…” I sigh. “I had a fucking day, ya know. My brother-in-law showed up and—”

“You have a brother-in-law?”

“Yeah. He’s kinda new on the scene. But he’s not the point. The point is he really pissed me off today and all I could think about was coming home to you.”

“New since when?”

Fuck. Why did I bring up Jesse? “Well, he just married my sister on Christmas Eve. But he’s been around since last summer.”

“Wait. You have a sister?”

“I told you that before, right?”

“No. You told me you were an only child and you had no family.”

“Oh. Yeah. I did. Well, that was a lie. I have a sister. I actually have two brothers too. And now this brother-in-law. And he comes with two brothers and a cousin. And Jesus Christ, they are a whole other story. I’m pretty sure they’re out to ruin my life or drive me insane. Maybe both.”

Total. Silence.

“Tara?”