I hung up from my conversation with Mark and Kyle. What a pair! They were fun and funny, and I thought about how much fun they’d have, and maybe how much chaos they’d create, at Laura’s party on Saturday.

I looked at the clock next to my bed. It was a couple minutes before four. I closed my eyes and fell asleep almost immediately. I had a very weird dream about Don chasing me down the street in front of school. I ran just fast enough to keep ahead of him, no matter how fast he tried to run. I kept yelling back at him that he’d never catch me. To taunt him I slowed down so he was able to catch up, then I’d speed up just a bit and let him try to catch me. I never got winded, I was in control. Don was pathetic, and I kept laughing at him as I ran.

Suddenly something smashed me in the legs. I woke up to find Tom sitting on my legs, grinning at me.

“Hey, Curt! Get up and come see the cool clothes I got.”

“I would if you’d get your fat butt off my legs.”

“You’ll see how absolutely not fat my butt is when I show you some of the stuff I bought.”

He stood up and held out his hand to help pull me up. We walked into his bedroom and there were a bunch of shopping bags on his bed and the floor.

“Okay, first close the door, okay?”

I turned and closed the door, and when I turned back he was getting undressed. He had already taken off his shoes and socks and pulled off his T and his jeans, and I watched him pull off his briefs. He turned so his back was to me. He patted his butt with both hands and looked at me over his shoulder.

“See? My butt is not too big, it’s just perfect.” He slapped his butt cheeks, hard. “My butt’s hard. That’s because I work out and run and play baseball.”

He turned and pulled open one of the shopping bags, this one marked American Eagle. I put my hand over my eyes, with my fingers spread so I could still see his dangly bits — which were a lot more than just ‘bits’.

“Get a room, man!” I joked.

“I’ve got a room and we’re in it, Dork!”

“I don’t need the nude show, man.”

“Hey, you see naked guys in the locker room and showers every day at school, Curt.” He held out his arms. “So what’s so different, other than it’s in my bedroom.”

“Nothing except that it’s in your bedroom. Why don’t you show me the clothes you bought before you end up getting a cold standing here in your nudeness?”

“Okay, okay. Take a look at these very ultra-cool boxer briefs,”

He pulled out a bunch of packages of boxer briefs, each with a white waistband marked with the store name in black letters.

“Look at these.” He walked over to me, which made me a little uncomfortable because he was nude and he was right next to me, but it was my problem and not Tom’s. “I got four each of three different patterns. Hot peppers, ice cream cones, and this one’s my favorite.” He held a pair of blue boxer briefs that had yellow trim around the fly and leg openings and a pattern that looked like splotches. “Look at the pattern. It’s lemons halves, and look at the words around each lemon.”

I took them from him and started to laugh. “It reads ‘Squeeze Me’. That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen on briefs.”

“I know. And look, there are four of ‘em right where my package is going to be.”

“Too bad you can’t go Laura’s party wearing these.”

“Why not? I can go swimming in them.”

“Tom, they have a fly opening. You can’t wear those to go swimming. Your junk might sneak out of the fly.”

“Spoil sport! Anyway, I bought some trunks. Check these out.” He pulled out a pair of low rise blue trunks that had narrow horizontal white stripes all around. “See, the color matches my eyes.”

“You have brown eyes, Tom. These are blue trunks. What, are you color blind or something?”

“Wrong, my friend. They do match my eyes. The white stripe matches the white of my eyes.”

I busted up laughing. “Alright, alright, I guess that does count as a match of your eye color. Put ‘em on and let’s see what they look like.”

He pulled them on and adjusted his package. The trunks were made with a big bulge in the front that let Tom’s junk fill them out so not much was left to the imagination. Let me correct that. Nothing was left to the imagination.

“I wonder what Laura’s dad is going to say when he sees you in those and sees Kyle in the Speedos you loaned him. And there’s a question, why aren’t you wearing Speedos? You have a drawer full of them.”

“They’re too tiny for me now. My, uh, ‘junk’ is too big to wear Speedos out in public now.”

“Well, these trunks you’re wearing now don’t leave much to the imagination. I wonder what they’ll show when they’re wet.”

“Easy to see. Come with me.”

I followed Tom out of his room into the bathroom. “Shut the door, okay?” I shut the door. Tom leaned into the shower and turned on the water. He waited a bit while the water warmed up, then stepped in and shut the shower door. He took the hose and sprayed his new trunks and got them and himself wet all around from the waist down. He turned off the water and stepped out.

“Well?”

 “I don’t see anything more than what I saw when they were dry. Maybe if we were outside in the sun it’s possible that they’d show but I don’t think so. You’re pretty well camouflaged.” I looked at him then walked around him, looking at the front and back. “They look good on you. They, in fact, look hot Mr. Williams. You’ll have all the girls and a few of the boys all over you on Saturday.”

“Ooooo! Is that a promise, Mr. Fischer?”

“What? You mean me?”

“Damn right, Curt. You are hawt, man!”

“Uh, remember I’m going to testify in Don’s trial and they’ll ask me embarrassing questions. I want to be able to answer them truthfully so no messing around, okay?” I started to laugh.

“Okay. You know I was kidding, right?” I just stood looking at him, smiling. “I was kidding. Okay, Curt?”

I busted up laughing, and his response was “Dork!” Then he started to laugh too.

“Come on, lemme show you the rest of what I bought.” He grabbed a towel and dried himself off. We walked back into his bedroom and I closed the door without him asking.

“You keep saying ‘I bought’ but I thought your mom went to the mall with you.”

“Yeah, she did, but I picked everything out and most of the time I didn’t let her see me when I was trying stuff on.” He pointed to his new, somewhat damp, trunks and grinned. “She bitched at me about these, but I held steady and she ended up giving up. She told me that if something didn’t fit or look right on me that she didn’t watch me try on, then I was on my own. Her primary duty was to pay the bills. That’s a good job for parents.”

“You know what the next step is going to be?”

“No, what?”

“When your mom tells you that you have to pay for everything yourself. That won’t be fun, you think?”

“Oh, it’s gonna be ‘woe is me!’ when that happens.”

“I agree. But it’s coming, just make sure you’re aware when it’s around the corner.”

“Will do. Thanks, man. You know, you always have good advice, Curt. Now, let me show you what else I got.

“First, new pants.” He held up a bunch of jeans and khakis. “I’ve been growing… stop grinning! I’ve been growing taller, and most of my pants are too short. I’m also bigger around the shoulders and chest, and my arms are longer, so most of my long-sleeve shirts are too small.” He showed me six shirts which I had to agree were very cool. “I bought all of the T’s, hoodies, and fleecies I already have in extra-large so they’re fine. Beside the blue trunks I got two more, one in orange and one in yellow and both with white stripes. You’ve seen my new underwear. Oh, yeah, my jackets, socks, and shoes are all still fine. So now I’m good to go for the start of school next month.”

“Jeez, is it next month already?”

“Yup. That also means your summer Algebra 2 class should be ending in a couple of weeks, right?”

“Yeah. It sucks that I haven’t been able to pay full attention to that class. Tomorrow I’m going to finish up the assignments I missed, and read ahead in the book, and see if I can finish the problems in the workbook. Then I need to study for the final. That’s going to be week after next.”

“What if you have to be in court on the day of your final?”

“The teacher already said she’d work around the court schedule. The final is on the Wednesday before the last day of class, that’s…” I looked up my class calendar on my smartphone. “…Wednesday, August the eighth for the final, and Friday August tenth is the last day of class. That’s when we get our grades.”

“Talk to my dad. He can talk to the judge and maybe they can make an accommodation, I think they call it, so you can take your final. When is your class?”

“Usually it’s nine to noon, three hours, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That’s a good idea, I will talk to your dad. Say, I forgot to ask. Did your dad tell you about your deposition tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I think that’s going to be very interesting. You had your deposition today, right?”

“Yup. And so did Kyle, Mark, and Mark’s grandmother.”

“How long did it take?”

“Well, mine was long, about an hour. It seemed to go faster, though. It was pretty easy. The others took like twenty minutes to a half hour.”

“Anything you can tell me to make mine easy?”

“Just tell the truth, and only answer exactly what you’re asked. Don’t add any other information.”

“Cool. That’s exactly what Dad told me.”

“Your deposition is at two o’clock, right?”

“Yeah. Dad wants to leave at one thirty because parking’s a bitch near the court. That way we’ll be there on time. Maybe we’ll have time to get something to eat first.”

“Get something to eat? At two in the afternoon?”

“Hey, I need to feed these massive muscles!” I laughed as Tom flexed his biceps. He does have massive muscles.

“There’s a Micky D’s on the way from the parking structure to the building where Beth Wolman has her office. You can stoke up there. Just leave off the onions. You don’t want to have her smell onion breath.”

“I love onions on my burgers. But you’re right. I’ll probably get one of those coffee drinks or a chocolate shake. Yeah. A chocolate shake, that’s the way to go. One of those triple-thick ones. You gotta eat those suckers with a spoon.”

“Whatever. At least your breath won’t reek of onion.”

“What are you going to be doing tomorrow? Besides studying, that is.”

“Since it’s a pool party on Saturday I want to call the doctor and find out if I can get my cast wet.”

“How’s your arm feeling? Does it still hurt?”

“Sometimes, when I rotate my forearm. So don’t expect me to be swimming or messing around in the pool. I just want to get into the water and hang with everyone else. It would suck to have to just sit on the edge with only my feet in the water.”

“Did you get a birthday present for Laura?”

“Oh, shit! I completely forgot. Maybe your mom can drive me downtown and I can get her something. Did you get her a present?”

“Yeah, when me and Mom went to the mall yesterday.”

“That should be ‘when Mom and I’ not ‘me and Mom’.”

“Enough with the English lesson! Anyway, just ask Mom and she’ll take you. You know she loves shopping, so it won’t be a problem. Did you know that Saturday is Mark’s birthday?”

“No. Did he tell you?”

“No, Mom was talking with Mark’s grandmother when we had dinner over there the other night, and she found out. So she had me buy a present for him, too.”

“Well, I need to add him to my list. What did you get him?”

“A CD, Changes by the Dirty Virgins.”

“How did you decide on the Dirty Virgins album?”

“I saw that he had some other techno CD’s but no Dirty Virgins. So it was a no-brainer.”

“Cool. I’ll have to think about what to get him. Say, does he have an iPod?”

“That he does.”

“I’ll get him an iTunes gift card. That way he can get whatever he wants.”

“Good idea. Hey, I’m hungry. Want a snack?”

“Didn’t you have something at the mall?”

“Yes. But remember I have to…”

I interrupted him, “I know, I know, you have to feed your massive muscles.” I looked at my watch. “It’s almost six thirty. Isn’t it almost time for dinner?”

“Let’s go down and find out. If dinner isn’t ready then we can have a snack.” I shook my head, and Tom continued, “Hey, just a small one like some carrots or celery.”

“Okay, that sounds good. Something healthy.”

Tom took off his now-dry trunks and got dressed then we went downstairs to the kitchen. His mom was sitting at the table reading a magazine.

“Hi, Mom! What’s for dinner?”

“Chinese. We’re going out, to Hsiang’s.”

“Oh cool! I love Chinese. How about you, Curt?”

“Yeah, I love Chinese food, Mrs. Williams. I’ve never heard of Hsiang’s, though.”

“Oh, man, it’s the best, isn’t it Mom?”

“Yes, I agree with you. The food is wonderful, not real salty and no MSG like some other places where we’ve had Chinese.”

“I love the Mandarin beef and the sweet and sour pork and this shrimp dish, what’s it called, Mom?”

“I think you mean the crystal prawns. They have some kind of almost invisible coating on the prawns that crackles when you bite into them, and the shrimp are plump and perfectly cooked so they aren’t dried out.”

“That’s it. You, Curtis Fischer, are absolutely going to love Hsiang’s! But now, how about a snack to tide us over? Do we have any celery in the ‘fridge, Mom?”

“Yes. Help yourselves.”

Tom fixed us a plate full of celery cut in about four inch pieces. We sat down at the kitchen table with his mom and all three of us crunched on celery. For some reason this casual family time with me and Tom and his mother made me wonder what my mom was doing. I hadn’t talked to her since I saw her at the bail hearing. I added a mental to-do to phone her tonight when we got back.

Dinner at Hsiang’s was even better than what Tom and his mom said it would be. I love Chinese food, and everything we had was excellent. The crystal prawns was my favorite dish, and I was glad that Mr. Williams got two orders. He also ordered a spicy string bean dish that was a close second. I could have eaten an entire order of it by myself. We had twice cooked pork that was real spicy and delicious, with viscious little red and black peppers. I made a mistake and chewed on one of them. Woof! It took two glasses of water to cool down my mouth. Tom wanted shrimp chow mein with crispy noodles and he and I ate most of it by ourselves. Mrs. Williams likes fried rice and that was good, but I still think plain white rice is best with Chinese food. Anyway, by the time we were finished with the seven dishes that we ordered we were stuffed. They brought fortune cookies and oranges cut into wedges and that was plenty for dessert.

I broke open my fortune cookie and pulled out the slip of paper with my fortune.

Tom asked, “What’s it say, Curt?”

I read the slip out loud, “‘Good happenings are just around the corner.’ I hope that’s true.”

“Well, that’s better than the one I got,” Tom told us. “It’s one of those generic ones that doesn’t mean squat. ‘Study hard now, enjoy your life later.’”

“Now Tom, don’t be so quick to dismiss that fortune,” his dad told him. “You might think it’s generic but it offers very good advice.” He saw me nodding. “You agree, don’t you, Curt.”

“Yes, I do. I’m studying so I can get into Cal and get a degree in computer science so I can get a good job, maybe with a startup, and make a ton of money and retire young and enjoy my life.”

“I am too!” Tom complained. “What I meant about my fortune is that it’s not as specific as Curt’s, that good things are coming up for him just around the corner. Now, that’s a real fortune, if you ask me.”

When we got home I decided to call Mom, my mom, to say hello. I went to my room and closed the door, pulled off my shoes, and sat on my bed leaning against the headboard.

Her phone rang three times before she picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mom. It’s Curt.”

“Why, hello Curt! It’s so nice to hear your voice.”

“Is this a good time to talk?”

“We can talk for a few minutes. I’m about to leave. I’m going to your grandma’s house for the weekend. I felt like I needed a break before the trial starts on Tuesday.”

“Say ‘hi’ to Grandma for me. Is she okay?”

“Yes, she is. She wanted to know if you’d be coming with me. I told her no, and when she asked why I told her a little white lie that it was because you have to study for your Algebra final exam. I hope that’s okay with you.”

 “It’s perfect because that’s exactly what I am going to be doing tomorrow. Finishing my homework that I haven’t done yet and studying for the final.”

“So it’s not even a white lie. That’s a wonderful coincidence. What are you doing this weekend?”

“Saturday we’re going to Laura’s sixteenth birthday party. They have a pool so it should be fun. I just have to phone the doctor and make sure there’s no problem if I get my cast wet. Oh, that reminds me, can I have the Doctor’s name and phone number?”

“It’s Doctor Lane McIntosh. Hang on; I’ll look up his phone number.”

She gave me the doctor’s phone number and we chatted for a few minutes about my Algebra 2 class, the pool party and who would be there, and Tom’s shopping trip for new clothes.

“That reminds me. I’ll mail you a check so you can buy some new clothes. You must be growing out of what you have.”

“Thanks, Mom. That’ll be a big help. I haven’t totally outgrown what I have so it’s not a big problem yet, but things are a bit short and are getting tight so new clothes will be great.”

She said she had to go so we said our goodbyes. I laid down and thought about the call. It was friendly, but sort of impersonal. We only talked about safe subjects, and never mentioned Don or the trial. I was curious if he was staying at my… no, not my house, I had to remind myself that it was just Mom’s house now. That was sad.

I got up and went downstairs. Everyone was in the family room watching Glee on TV. I sat down and joined them. I like Glee, but the people they have playing high school kids are too big and too old looking. They look more like the college kids when I went to the community college to take a computer class last semester.

After Glee we watched the ten o’clock news. I was most interested in the weather forecast for Saturday. The weather guy said it was warming up and in our area it would be around ninety degrees. That’s just about perfect for a pool party.

I was starting to fade, so at eleven I said goodnight and went up to bed. After cleaning up I felt a little more alert so I thought I might do a little reading. Thing is as soon as I got into bed I felt like I was about to go to sleep, so I turned off the lamp and I was out like the light bulb.

When I came down for breakfast Tom wasn’t there yet, but Mrs. Williams had plans for me.

“I’m fixing you some scrambled eggs and bacon. There’s a sliced bagel from Noah’s. Put it in the toaster if you’d like, and there’s some cartons of shmears in the refrigerator in the deli drawer.”

“Thanks. I’ll get out the shmears and put them on the table so they’ll be there when Tom comes down.”

I put my bagel in the toaster and opened the refrigerator. There were three cartons of shmears, a plain, a smoked salmon, and a garden veggie, so I grabbed all three and put them on the table. I poured a cup of coffee for me.

“Would you like a cup of coffee, Mrs. Williams?”

“I have a cup over there. You can warm it up with some of the hot, please. And I have a favor to ask you.”

“Sure. What’s the favor?”

“Stop calling me Mrs. Williams. It makes me feel old.”

“Okay, what should I call you?”

“How about my name, Barbara?”

“That feels a little impolite. How about Mrs. W?” I pronounced it like ‘Miz W’.

“That’s better. So, from now on you call me Mrs. W.”

I grinned. “Okay. Whatever makes you happy.”

I brought our coffee cups to the table and sat down. Mrs. W set a plate with scrambled eggs, four slices of thick-cut bacon, and my toasted bagel. I started to slather one of the halves with the veggie shmear when Tom started to come downstairs, running as usual.

“Thomas Williams! How many times do I have to tell you, don’t run in the house, and especially don’t run on the stairs,” his mom shouted, as usual.

“Oops, sorry Mom. It’s just one of those habits from when I was ten or eleven that I don’t know how to break.”

“I know how,” Mr. Williams said as he walked into the kitchen from his office, “we’ll put shackles on your ankles. You’ll be able to walk downstairs, but you won’t be able to run. Just think of that every time you start to come up or down those stairs.”

We talked as we ate, telling what each of us was going to do. I asked Mrs. W if she could take me shopping to buy birthday presents for Laura and Mark.

“What time would you like to go?”

“Whenever it’s convenient for you.”

“How about after breakfast? I’ll be ready in, say, a half hour from now?”

Since I wanted to go to the Apple Store we went downtown instead of the mall. I bought Mark a twenty-five dollar iTunes gift card. We stopped at the card shop and I got him one of those musical birthday cards, and I got another for Laura. Now, what gift to get for Laura?

“Mrs. W, what sort of gift do you suggest that I could get for Laura? You helped Tom yesterday. I need help today.”

“What about a CD?”

I shook my head. “If you’d see her room you’d know why that’s not a great idea. She must have a thousand CD’s. Her dad is some sort of executive for a distributor of music CD’s and videos and he gets them free, I think.”

“Hmm. Well, Tom said Laura likes sports. She swims and plays tennis, what about something that fits that kind of active life?”

“Yeah, that sounds okay. I don’t want to get her a gift card, I don’t want to get her clothes that won’t be the right size, I can’t afford anything like a tennis racquet, and buying her a couple tubes of tennis balls is sort of lame.”

“What about a sport watch? Since she swims, you could get her a waterproof model.”

“I don’t want to spend more than fifty bucks including tax. I wonder if we could get one for that amount of money.”

“I think so. Let’s head over to Macy’s and see what they have.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

We found the women’s watch department but they were all too expensive. The clerk told us that their department for sport watches was across the street in the men’s store, so we went there and I saw a blue sport watch. Blue is Laura’s favorite color, it was only twenty bucks, so it was a done deal. On the way out of the store I saw a display on a counter. There were some keychains with a little digital picture frame that held ten images. It had a built-in USB connector so all that Laura would have to do is plug it into her PC and copy small versions of whatever pictures she wanted to have with her all the time. They were a closeout for only twelve dollars, and they came in a bunch of colors including a blue that matched her watch. Another done deal.

“You’ve done very well, Curt. You have all of your gifts and the cards to go with them.”

“Yeah. Now, Mark’s gift card will go inside his birthday card. But I want to wrap Laura’s gifts together in a box. Where can I get something that will hold these two boxes?”

“There’s a Container Store a couple of blocks from here. I remember seeing some colored gift boxes there. Let’s walk over and see what they have.”

“Okay. The Container Store name makes it sound like they’d have something I could use.”

They had some boxes about six inches on each side that the watch and the keychain fit in with some room left over. The one I liked was printed in a blue gradient that went from a dark blue color on the top of the box and flowed over the sides to a much lighter blue at the bottom. To top it off there were sparkles glued all over the sides and the top. It came with some light blue ribbon that had the same sparkles. It looked sort of girly and I turned it over and looked at the price. It was nine ninety-nine. Woof!

“Man, it’s almost ten bucks. Plus tax. That’s a lot of money for a box.”

“Curt, look at this sign.”

I looked where she was pointing. These boxes were on sale for half price, so it would cost me five bucks plus tax. That was a lot better, and anyway, this was for Laura. I bought the box and we headed home.

“Thanks for taking all this time to wander around downtown with me. Having you along was perfect. You gave me the idea about what to get Laura and where to get a box for her gifts.”

“It was fun for me. I almost never turn down an opportunity to go shopping.”

“That’s what Tom tells me.”

“That boy needs some talking to. Imagine, telling the family secrets! Of course, you’re part of our family now, so I guess it’s okay for you to know my shopping proclivities.”

“Thanks for saying that I’m part of your family. I feel that way, too.”

I grabbed her in a hug. I was starting to tear up, so when I pulled away I turned my head to the side. She saw anyway.

“Curt, don’t hide your emotions. Let them out, let the person you’re with know what emotion you’re having, let them share. Tom’s learned that. Try to learn it for yourself.”

“I love you, Mrs. W. You’re filling in as my mom, and I appreciate that. A lot.”

We hugged again and I headed upstairs to pack the gifts I’d bought Laura. When I finished I looked in Tom’s room but he wasn’t there, so I went downstairs and into the kitchen.

“Do you know where Tom is, Mrs. W?”

“Yes. Michael left me a note. Right after we left Beth Wolman called and asked Michael to bring Tom for his deposition at eleven. I’d guess they’ll be home in fifteen or twenty minutes.”

“Oh, okay. I think I’d better call the doctor and see if it’s a problem if I get my cast wet tomorrow at the pool party.”

I phoned Doctor McIntosh’s office and asked for the advice nurse.

“This is Sandra. Can I help you?”

“I hope so. Doctor McIntosh set a break in my left arm. I’m going to a pool party on Saturday. So I’d like to know if I can get my cast wet by going into the pool. I won’t be swimming, just standing in the water.”

“Your name, please.”

“Curtis Fischer. My last name is spelled f-i-s-c-h-e-r.”

“You saw Doctor Dennis McIntosh or Doctor Lane McIntosh?”

“Doctor Lane McIntosh.”

“And the date?”

“Let me think. It was July thirteenth. One week ago today.”

“Let me check the records.”

Some stupid music-on-hold came on while she was off looking for my records.

She came back on the line almost immediately. Maybe they have their records on a computer.

“If you get your cast wet, especially if it’s under water for any length of time, the plaster will dissolve and you’ll have to have it recast. However, if you go to a drugstore you can buy an arm cast wrap. Basically it’s a heavy plastic bag designed for your arm, with special tape that will seal the bag to your arm so your cast shouldn’t get wet. These cast wraps aren’t expensive, but they are single use. They usually come in a box of five wraps.”

“Wow. Thanks. That sounds perfect. I’ll get a box of them.”

“I’d recommend that you have someone like your mother or father put on the wrap to make sure it’s sealed. Also, don’t put it on until just before you need it, and take it off as soon as you’re finished whatever you’re doing in the water. Also, be sure to keep your arm in a sling. If it feels like water is getting inside the cast wrap get out of the water and remove the cast wrap immediately.”

“Okay, thanks for that advice.”

I wished I’d called before we went shopping so I could have bought it then. I thought for a minute. There was a drugstore not very far from the Williams’ house. I walked into the kitchen.

“Mrs. W, I’m going to walk to the drugstore. The nurse at the doctor’s office recommended that I get a cast wrap to keep my cast dry tomorrow when I go to Laura’s pool party.”

“It’s about a half mile from here, Curt. I can drive you.”

“No thanks. I’d like the exercise anyway.” I looked at my watch. It was eleven thirty. “I’ll be back about twelve thirty for lunch, if that’s okay.”

“That’s fine. Be sure to take your cellphone with you.”

“I will Mrs. W. Thanks.”

I headed out and up Penrose to Homestead and turned left. When I got to the corner of Homestead and Walnut I had to wait for the signal to change. I noticed a car parked at the corner across the street, going in my direction. I couldn’t believe it, the driver looked like Don. It was hard to tell, the sun was shining on the driver’s side window making it difficult to see the driver clearly. Whoever it was, he was staring at me and it didn’t look like a friendly stare. The signal changed and neither of us moved. I stood there, frozen on that spot, watching the car and the driver.