“I will come. I didn’t know you were religious.” Bonte snorts a laugh. “I’ll be there shortly.”
“Wait, why did you call? I mean, besides missing the sound of my voice.” I think that might be true.
“I had a question about winking.”
“God, I love you. Now get over here.” Bonte hangs up, not expecting me to say “I love you” back. She knows I do.
It doesn’t take me long to make it into the city. The gate to enter the warehouse is partially open, and I go through and down past the docks. The large warehouse door opens, and I pull right in to park.
My cousin Eros had it redone years ago. We have converted many warehouses. There is one where we all hang out. I will stay there from time to time, but normally I always make my way back home.
I jog up the stairs, and Bonte opens the door before I can reach her, two orange kittens in hand. They are wiggling all around, and I fear she might drop one.
“Here.” I offer to take one from her. “They’re going to fall.”
“Shut up; you know you just want to hold the kitten. You can admit it in front of me. No one else is here to overhear you.” She hands it over.
“He is cute.” I tuck him close to my chest and pet him under his chin. He’s so tiny and vulnerable. When Bonte doesn’t respond, I lift my head as she snaps a picture.
“Are you sure you should baptize them? I don’t think cats care for water.”
Bonte bursts into laughter. “I was messing with you. I’m not going to baptize my cats.”
“This family does strange things. You never know.”
“This is true, but I love that you were still down to do it with me.”
“Well, next time I might need to make a request, then I won’t be judged for the strangeness of it.”
“I cannot bury a body.” She lifts her arm. “I don’t have the strength for it, and have you ever tried to actually dig a hole?”
“Yes.”
“Right, stupid question.” She nods for me to follow her into the living room. I like how they kept the space open except for the bedroom and bathroom. Where would I live if I got married? Not here, I suppose.
“So winking,” she prompts.
“Why do people do it?”
“Don’t ask Eros to do it. He’s terrible at it. Actually, ask him so we can both get a good laugh.”
“Why was he winking?”
“He was being flirty and teasing me.”
“Why else would a person wink?”
“Who’s winking at you?”
“A man.”
“Okay, that takes out half the population of planet Earth. You want to be a little more specific?”
“Actually, it’s a little less than half. The male population has grown. It’s unfortunate but true. A hundred and two males to every hundred females.” I sidestep her other question for the time being.
“Great, now I’m not even down to half, and I have to live with the fact our numbers are decreasing and us women won’t be achieving world domination.” This is true.
“He was having a meeting with my father, and when he left, I passed him, and he winked at me.”
