"Kind of. Yes. I've been working on it for a few days. I think I found her, actually. I went back to that neighborhood today at lunch."
"Gram and Pa's old house?"
"Yeah."
"That's in Pontiac."
"I know, but it's not that far. It seemed further when we were kids."
"You're kidding," Dominic said. But he knew EJ well enough to know he was serious. "Is that what you were talking about when you first brought up a lady? Is it someone in Pontiac?"
"Yes. I went to that house and bumped into a neighbor who remembered Savannah's mom. She remembered Savannah's name. Rodgers was her last name. She said she's been living there for a long time, and she remembered the family I was talking about. I guess Savannah's mom lived there for a couple of years with the guy who owned the house. She said the kids' last name was Rodgers, and that seemed right even though I couldn't remember. This Savannah girl was the only person who liked me, even when she didn't know who Dad was. I went that whole summer and never told her."
"So, that's what this is about? Your plan is to just look for this woman now and call her up, see if she wants to go out with you?"
"Yes. I found a girl by that name, Savannah Rodgers. She only has a few photos on her social media, and most of them are at a salon."
"She works at a salon?"
"Uh-huh, it seems like she does hair, which makes sense because she cut mine one time."
"I remember that."
"I know. I told Gram I did it. We got into so much trouble that summer, Dom. Not bad trouble… well, sort of. We made out like eighty times, and we burned a few things. We took her stepdad's cigarettes. That was the first time I ever smoked."
"Are you sure you even want to get in touch with this girl?" Dom asked reasonably.
"Yes, and it's not like that. We didn't get into bad trouble."
"Just smoking cigarettes and making out at twelve years old. Burning things, EJ?"
"I was about to turn thirteen, and when you say it like that, it sounds worse than it was. She was a nice person. Probably still is. I'm going to see her to get a haircut. I'll go to her salon. It works out great that I could see her in that capacity. She got me in tomorrow, so I arranged everything and took the day off."
Dominic laughed because he thought his brother was joking. The boys didn't take days off for one, and secondly, it took one hour to get a haircut. Most of the time, the boys had someone meet them at the gym to do it.
"I'm being serious. I won't be at work at all tomorrow. She does have a few pictures of her face online, and I know it's her. I just have to see her one more time. I think a haircut is a great way to do it, actually. She probably won't even remember me. And there's always a chance it's not even the right girl. I've got to scope it out."
EJ pushed buttons on the microwave to heat up his food.
"Okay, but why do you need a whole day off to go get a haircut?" Dominic asked.
"Because it's in Pittsburgh. I thought I said that."
"P-Pittsburgh? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania?"
"Yes."
Dominic scoffed. "For real?"
"Yes."
"What are you thinking? Even if she's the right girl, that would never work."
"I'm not thinking, Dom. Not overthinking, at least. It was a good suggestion by Caleb. I like Caleb, and I respect his opinion."
"What? This has nothing to do with liking Caleb or respecting his opinion. What if you go all that way and it's not even the right girl? Can you call her and make sure of that first?"
"No, I can't call her. I don't want to. I'm just going to get a haircut, that's all."
