Page 24 of A Shared Mind

Ramon’s raucous laugh filled my mind, but I didn’t respond because I didn’t want the young woman to think I was as crazy as I believed myself to be. She handed me a menu and a young guy walked over to the table with a glass of water and a basket of sourdough bread and whipped butter. “Thank you.”

The kid, who was probably no more than seventeen, nodded and walked away.

After a couple of minutes, a man stopped at my table sporting a big grin. He was wearing a chef’s jacket with Marco embroidered over his heart. “Mia told me you know my Ana.”

Fuck him. She’s my Ana. Tell him about Sephora.

“I, uh, w-worked with her at Sephora. We k-kinda lost touch, and I’m in t-town for a few days. I wanted to try to catch up with her. She was an amazing young woman, and we got along well. I don’t have enough friends that I want to ignore one if I’m in town.” As I spoke, the nerves dissipated so the stutter went away.

The laughter in my head made me want to scoop out my brains with a melon baller.

I’m sorry, Kid. He can be a nice guy, but if you piss him off, you’ll have your brains all over the wall behind us. Marco’s a shoot first ask questions later guy.

“Well, unfortunately, Ana’s in Chicago. Her friend, Ivy, is getting married, and they went to Chicago for the bachelorette party. She’ll be back on Sunday. You want me to text her your number?”

Ask about Gina and Nico.

“Uh, how is Gina? Ana talked about her little sister a lot. Oh, and Nico. He’s her big brother, right?”

You’re sharp, Kid.

Not really.

“You wanna meet Nico? He’s in the kitchen. Ana’s always quiet when people talk about the family. Her papa wasn’t around at all. My sister had to raise the kids on her own. I did what I could for them, but my sister is the strongest woman I know except for our mama.”

That’s right. My Marcy’s amazing. Ask about her.

“Ana’s mother, is she still in St. Louis? Ana talked about Marcy so often that I’d love to meet her.”

“My sister’s a hairdresser, and she’s at a hair show in Miami. Give me your number, and I’ll have Ana call you. What’s your name?”

Make up a name and number. We’re getting nothing here.

I stared at Esposito for a moment before smiling. “Tell her Teddy Banks says hi. I’ll leave my number on the check.”

Just then, a tall, handsome guy came out of the kitchen. He glanced at me for a moment before walking to the table. “Uncle Marco, can you come look at the pizza oven? I think it’s runnin’ hot. We burned two pies.”

“Sure. Nico, this is Teddy Banks. He knows Ana.” Marco looked at me and smiled. “Nico, get his order. It’s on the house, Kid.” Marco hurried away, but Nico stayed.

“You know my sister? You go to high school at St. Andrew’s?”

He was staring at me intensely, and I couldn’t help but fidget. “Uh, no. We worked together at Sephora on, uh...”

Jameson. The strip mall on Jameson.

“Jameson. That strip mall there.”

“You dated her?”

He stared at me like he knew I wasn’t straight, so dating a woman was out of the question. “No. She and I were just friends. I’m not dating anyone right now.”

Oh, shit. Is my son gay? I didn’t see that comin’.

I wanted to ask the jackass if that was a problem, but Nico spoke again. “You busy later tonight?”

Say no. Say no.

“Uh, n-no. I’m not busy.”