Four Friends Read Online Free PDF Page A

health food co-op, but when she got back home in the early afternoon, she noticed that the kitchen carpenter’s truck was backed up to Andy’s open garage, and Andy’s car was there, as well. The pile of Bryce’s things was gone from the front yard. She couldn’t restrain herself any longer and she went into the house through the opened garage, guided by the sound of an electric screwdriver. When the noise paused she said, “Knock, knock.”
    The carpenter turned away from the shelf he was removing. “Hello,” he said.
    “Hi. Bob, isn’t it?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Is Andy here, by chance?”
    “She’s around here somewhere,” he said.
    “Whew, this is messy work, isn’t it?” she said to him.
    “I’m afraid it gets to be a real messy ordeal,” he confirmed, going back to his job.
    Sonja wandered through the kitchen and into the house. She called out to Andy and Andy yelled, “Back here.”
    In the master bedroom, Andy was folding clothes into a cardboard box. “Oh, boy,” Sonja said. “This doesn’t look good.”
    “Depends on your point of view,” Andy answered. “It’s probably long overdue.”
    “You’re moving him out?”
    “I’m packing up his clothes. He didn’t bring much into the relationship. Bryce has always lived kind of loose—few attachments.” She gave a sigh and folded a pair of jeans into the box. “I should have considered that.”
    “Does he have things like furniture?”
    “Boy things—a big-screen TV, motorcycle, sound system, computer. Basics.”
    “How are you holding up?”
    “Hanging in there. Noel is coming over later. I’ll explain to him, but he won’t be surprised.” She looked back into the box. “Or disappointed.”
    “Oh, Andy, I hate that this is happening...”
    “Like I said, it’s overdue. If I’d had a brain, I wouldn’t have gotten into it to start with.”
    “So what got you into it?” Sonja asked.
    She shrugged. “I think it was his basic equipment. Handsome, young, funny, endowed.” She looked up from her work. “I was just so lonely by the time he came along. You know?”
    Sonja shook her head sadly. “I’m going to go home and make you something for dinner, something healthy and fortifying. Plus, a plateful of chocolate cookies. Well, they’ll be carob without sugar, but it’ll get you over the hump, and carob is so soothing to the digestive tract. I’ll round up some tea that’ll calm you so you can think clearly and feel your body’s messages....”
    “Thanks, I appreciate the thought, but my body is sending me the message that it wants a greasy burger and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, with a gin chaser. Or two.”
    “Oh, I know that’s what you think you need,” Sonja admonished. “But that’ll just dull the senses and prolong the recovery. Trust me. And tomorrow morning, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to burn some sage and waft the essence through the house with feathers. To clear away his presence.”
    “Shouldn’t you wait until he picks up his stuff?” Andy asked.
    “I’ll do it again, after. Would you like something to equalize you? I could give you a massage and balance your chakras.”
    “No one’s touching my chakras today, Sonja. Not even you.”
    “I have some cleansing herbs, if you’d like to do a body cleansing. It can give you such a fresh feeling.”
    “Doesn’t that sound terrific? The shits for twenty-four hours? No, thanks. What I’d really like to do is get his stuff out of my space.” Andy glanced at her watch. “I have a doctor’s appointment in two hours, then Noel will be over.”
    Sonja’s face took on a startled expression. “Are you feeling sick?”
    “No. Just a precaution,” she said. “It turns out Bryce hasn’t been faithful.”
    “Oh, God! Oh, Andy! I’ll whip up a herbal drink for you!”
    “Due respect, Sonja, but if Bryce left me any souvenirs that drink will probably have to be made up of antibiotics.”
    Sonja actually got tears in her eyes. “I