Romeo of the Streets by Taylor Hill Page A

again, “they just need some time. Let me buy you a beer and talk about it.”
    Jesus Paulie, I thought, a beer at lunchtime? The cocktails from last night probably hadn’t even left his system yet… But nonetheless I had to hand it to him, because it did the trick as Lou appeared to resign himself to his fate. “I’ll call you baby,” he shouted back to Lisa as Paulie led him away and I reached out to put my hand over hers. Yep, the jerk had really done a number on her this time.
     
     
    That night we hit the books for another test coming up (no rest for the wicked and all that, except for maybe the occasional cocktail now and then, of course). I’d asked Lisa if she wanted to talk about it after the confrontation with Lou in the cafeteria but she’d just shrugged and said she was fine, which I knew from experience meant that yes, she did want to talk about it, although she needed some time to think it over for herself first. That was ok by me and I was just happy to be there to keep her company until she was ready to open up and let the waterworks flow, if that’s what it would take to see a smile on her face again.
    At about eight that evening Paulie and Cassandra called around unexpectedly and I got up to let them in, resigned to another night of very little study after all (if Paulie wasn’t gay I would have sworn there was something going on between those two. I mean Cassandra was great and all, but jeez, lately the two of them seemed to be joined together at the hip).
    “Hi!” I said, sharing hugs and kisses as I ushered them inside.
    “Where’s the sorrowful princess?” Paulie asked and I directed them into the living room.
    As Lisa got up to greet our guests my phone beeped in my pocket and I whipped it out to look at the message.
    “ Hi ,” it said, “ I need to see you. Can you meet me tonight? ”
    Weird, I thought, I didn’t recognize the number. “ Who’s this? ” I sent back.
    “ ROMEO ,” came the reply.
    I looked up in stunned silence not knowing what to do or think. At that moment I saw Lisa return from the kitchen with her box of Star Wars Monopoly and of course, that old faithful, the cocktail kit. If nothing else I knew I had to escape from yet another indulgent night of mojitos and margaritas with my increasingly study-shy friends.
    I looked back at my phone and started tapping. “ Where and when? ”
     
     
    He asked me to meet him at Flip N’ Chip’s, which was only a five minute stroll across the busy main thoroughfare from our apartment building, and by that time I’d already agreed to meet him so it was too late to back out. Was Lou working that night, I wondered? Why else would Romeo have asked me to meet him there? It seemed like, not only was I now going to have to deal with Lou pressurizing me to let him see Lisa, but I would also have to endure the silent and moody treatment from Romeo too. Great.
    And yet still I couldn’t help but feel a flutter of excitement to be on the verge of seeing him again. Rightly or wrongly, I was curious to hear his side of the story and maybe find out just what the hell they’d been up to that night. While the idea of Lou getting involved in that stuff filled me with dread, I couldn’t help but be intrigued thinking about Romeo deliberately walking into the face of danger, even if I did wholeheartedly disapprove of his behavior. And, being honest, while spending the last few days comforting Lisa about the way her man had let her down, part of me was also thinking of and missing Romeo too. I needed to see him again, if only to find out once and for all if he really was just a tough guy asshole like he acted. At the very least, I might finally get some closure on him.
    The bar was quiet that night and I spotted him immediately, sitting by himself in a corner booth and sipping on a glass of ginger ale and ice with a straw. I quickly scanned the bar for Lou and was both surprised and excited to see no sign of him. Perhaps he wasn’t