“Yo, I’m going away for a bit.” Dan informs. “You can stayhere and watch the place for me.”
After Itake a sip, I ask. “How long are you going away for?”
Danshrugs. “I don’t know. A couple of weeks. I’ve gotta go sourcethose parts for that hot rod.” Dan’s one of those guys thatrefurbishes classic cars and resells them at like a thousand timeswhat he paid for them. “I’ll be going to a bunch of places, too, soI’ll be on the move.”
Chrislooks at me. “You want some company?”
“Naw, man, I’ll be fine.”
“You put a bid on that house?” Chris asks.
“Yeah. Fell through.” I admit. “Ellie’s sure found herself anice place though.”
“Why don’t you move in with her?” Dan teases.
“Fuckoff.” I chuckle, drinking more beer.
“Funny how a mortgage broker is technically homeless.” Danpokes.
“Ah, shove it.” I say under my breath.
“Keep it up and you’ll need another house sitter, man.” Chriswarns, good-naturedly. Then he addresses me. “Hey, you thinkEllie’ll still give me free stock advice?”
Ellie,my ex-wife, is a commodities broker. It’s in her blood. Both herfolks work for the NYSE, residing in New York, where both her andher sister lived for a while. Sloane, Ellie’s sister, while sheisn’t into stocks, she’s a force to be reckoned with, too, earningat least six figures as an executive of a huge beverage company.Ellie’s probably more than that if I had to guess.
“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her yourself?”
“What, you’re not talking to her anymore?” my brotherasks.
“Sure, we talk. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“What does she think of you living here?” Dan asks.
I shrug.“Doesn’t really matter.”
“You didn’t tell her.” Dan says flatly.
“Why should I?” I bark. “She’s got a place. We sold our place.We’re divorced. What’s the big deal?”
“If you ask me, she got out because she got sick of giving outfree commodities advice….to you.” Dan pokes again.
“Dude, do you want to wear this fucking beer?” I ask. He’spissing me off.
“Come on, admit it. You tried to beat her salary by playingthe stock market.” He jibes.
“Dan, man, give it a rest.” Chris advises.
“It’s true.” Dan scoffs. “You’re always bragging about howmuch money you made on stocks. Well, I’m glad that you’redefinitely not getting any more advice out of your ex-wife now.Maybe you’ll shut up about it.”
“You’re just jealous that I still have an in, man. And you’reout. Especially now, with your big mouth.” I mutter.
Dansucks his teeth indignantly. I drain my beer.
“Hey, you mind if I bunk in with you, brother?” I askChris.
Danscoffs. “Pussy.”
I ignorehim, realizing that I’ve overstayed my welcome. I’ve been here forover a month. While he’s been in and out of town with his business,this past week he’s been constantly here, and I think it’s a lot toask of two dudes who are used to seeing each other on a semi-weeklybasis.
