"Mocha, please."
My head whipped up and, sure enough, it was Steve.
"Well, well, well," was all I could say before I turned my back onhim to get his drink request started.
I poured the oldest, strongest coffee, the one with the grounds,into a mug and mixed it in with the chocolate.
"I've missed you," he said.
"You have a funny way of showing it."
"That's why I came. I'm glad you're here. I need to talk to you."
"Let me finish this, " I said. I pointed the whipped cream can inhis direction. "Whipped cream?"
He nodded, backing up slightly, as if he could read my mind.
I didn't shake the can. Since there wasn't much pressure builtup, the watery cream shot weakly into Steve's coffee. Igrabbed a heaping spoonful of little chocolate sprinkles anddumped them onto the white coating. There was so many of them,they pushed down into the cream and sank.
I pushed the mug towards him, spilling it down the side withoutbothering to wipe it up. I snatched the five dollar bill out ofhis hand.
Watching him put it to his lips and grimace, I wished I'd spit init, too.
There's always a next time.
"I-I came to talk to you about Greg."
I folded my arms. "I don't give a good goddamn about him, frankly.We have parted company."
"No, I know that. I...he...look, Hugo, he lied to me."
"You're not the only one," I said.
He brushed his hair out of his eyes with a hand. "I know that.Now."
"Now?"
"This never would have happened..."
"This?"
"Our 'rift,' for lack of a better word. It never would havehappened if he hadn't lied to me about you."
I nodded, indicating for him to proceed.
"He said you were a chicken hawk. That you liked little boys."
"You believed that?" I wasn't sure what to be morepissed off about-- what Greg had said or that Steve believed it.
"He told me a story about this hustler you picked up atthe mall."
"I never picked up a hustler, Steve."
"Greg said that you talked the kid up to a hundred bucks so that youcould screw him without a condom."
"He said that?"
"Yes. He also said...you'd drug me to screw me while I was passedout. I don't know why I believed him."
I was stunned. "I don't either, Steve. I never did anything to you.Do you believe I'm be capable of something like that?"
"Hugo," he sounded hurt. "I-I found out he was lying aboutyou when he got me drunk, took my clothes off...andI woke up in the middle of it." Steve was crying now."I'm breaking up with him. I came here because I need your help.Greg's evil. I'm scared of him."
