“How the heck will you even know if I pinky promise?” she said with a laugh.
“Are you joking? I’m freaking Spider-Man, remember?”
“I pinky promise,” she told me, and I believed her, though a million people wouldn’t, and experience had told me I probably shouldn’t. “So... you doing okay?”
“I’m hanging in there,” I answered honestly.
“Have you met a girl yet?”
“Nah.”
“Lie, lie, lie.”
I laughed. “Fine. I thought I had, but probably not. Don’t tell Mom.”
Jiana made a happy squeal of pleasure. “I want details!”
“Call me with Nicky and I’ll tell you everything...”
“Wow, you’re a sneaky bastard,” she said, but I could hear her grinning. “Fine, you got half an hour, and I wantdetails.”
“I will give you all thedetailsyou can handle.”
I heard her gasp, and I heard the mouthpiece get covered, and I just knew who was in front of her.
“Ji?” My foot started tapping.
“One minute,” she said hurriedly. Her hand was over the phone again, but not the same as before. “I don’t want to talk to you, asshole. Leave me alone.”
I was pacing again. If he touched her, God himself couldn’t stop me from putting that motherfucker in the ground.
“Hey, it’s me,” she sounded breathless. “I’m getting my coat, right now. Stay on the phone with me?”
“Always.”
I sat back down, wincing as the background decibels sounded like static through the phone. I heard muffled voices, too much chatter, a loud bang, and then suddenly silence.
“Ji?”
“I’m here.” She was out of breath. “That party got huge really quickly.”
“Did he hurt you? Threaten you? Tell me.”
“No. Neither.” She inhaled. “He told me to tell you he said hi.”
“Asshole.”
“What did you do?” she asked suspiciously. “Why’s he being a dick about you?”
“Nothing.”
“You have spidey sense when I’m at a party, well, I have them for when you’re lying.”
“Bullshit.” I chuckled, trying to relax. She was okay; she was going home. “You walking?”
“It’s two blocks to Pops’, D.” Her breathing was picking up, and I knew she was walking fast. “Now give me details. Is she pretty?”
“Gorgeous.”
