A Killing Rain Read Online Free PDF Page B

knew the answer. It was the same reason he didn’t want to go over and help Susan tonight. Friendship was messy. It required putting yourself out there.
    Mel had retinitis pigmentosa. He was forty-five with no family, an ex-cop living on disability. He was slowly going blind. Friendship didn’t get much messier than that.
    “So you going to take the vitamins?” Louis asked.
    “Why not? Vitamin A is supposed to help you get woodies. I may not see who I’m screwing but at least she’ll be happy when I’m done.”
    Louis laughed. He knew Mel hadn’t had a serious woman in his life for years. Neither had he, for that matter.
    “So how’d the big date go?” Mel asked.
    “It didn’t”
    “What, did she back out on you?”
    “Worse, her ex showed up.”
    Mel let out a low chuckle. Louis didn’t say anything. He didn’t really want to talk about it, or maybe he did and just didn’t know how. Mel had come over for dinner the night before his appointment with the eye specialist in Miami. Louis had opened up some about Susan, finding comfort in the fact that Mel couldn’t see how his expression changed whenever he mentioned Susan Outlaw. Which was stupid because he knew Mel could hear more in a voice than most people saw in a face.
    Louis heard the click of a lighter and the sound of Mel inhaling his cigarette.
    “So you gonna tell me what happened?” Mel asked.
    “Nothing to tell. We all had dinner together. It was all very civilized.”
    “Until you lunged across the meatloaf and choked the guy.”
    “We had steaks.”
    Another pause. The wind was picking up. The screen door squeaked and Issy came running in.
    “So what are you going to do now, Rocky?” Mel asked.
    “I don’t know,” Louis said, watching the cat.
    “You want me to slip her a note in homeroom for you?”
    “Fuck you.”
    Mel laughed. “Sorry.”
    Louis was quiet, his eyes on Issy. The cat was stretched out on the terrazzo floor at his feet, meowing and twitching.
    “The ex is going back to Australia,” Louis said. “He asked Susan and Ben to go with him.”
    “And?”
    “She’s going to tell him no.”
    “Going to?”
    “He’ s leaving tonight.” Louis was watching the cat as it pawed at his feet. “Susan asked me to come over and be there.”
    “Just be there?”
    “Moral support.”
    “What, she afraid of him or something?”
    “Not exactly. But he’s...” Louis shifted the phone to his other ear. “He’s her ex. They’ve got a history together.”
    It was quiet on the other end of the line.
    “Good-looking guy?” Mel asked finally.
    “Shit, I don’t know. I guess.”
    “Money? Charm? Taller than you?”
    “I don’t need this, Landeta.”
    “So you going over there or not?” Mel asked.
    “I told her no.”
    “Big mistake, Rocky.”
    “Why? Why the hell should I go over there?”
    “Defend your turf. Mark your territory. Make your claim. To show her you care, for crissake. Shit, no wonder you never have a date.”
    “I have dates. ” Louis stared at Issy. The cat was acting really strange now, writhing on the floor and meowing loudly.
    “What the fuck is that noise?” Mel asked.
    “My cat.”
    “Sounds like you’re strangling it.”
    Louis rose off the bed. “She’s in heat. It’s annoying.”
    Mel laughed. “Get her a boy cat.”
    “Forget that, man. I don’t want kittens.”
    “Then you better get her fixed.”
    Issy let out a wail like a crying baby.
    “The thing’s going nuts. I’ll take her in first thing tomorrow,” Louis said.
    “ What about Susan?” Mel asked.
    Louis sat back down on the bed. “So you think I should go over there?”
    “Yup. Show her you care. Women like men who do that. You’re already in her head, Rocky. Now you got to get in her heart.”
    Louis was quiet .
    “If you don’t go, you’re going to end up in worse shape than that cat ,” Mel said. “I need some sleep. I’ll talk to you later.”
    Mel hung up. Louis put the receiver back in the cradle