“She’ll be here soon, just…look through your phone, it’ll kill time,”
Maurice looked to the arena across the busy street, glad to be seeing Boom Sheik, but even happier about seeing Freddy. Happy and very nervous. Yes, this was the day. Even though she invited a third wheel, he was determined to let Freddy know how he felt. As long as he sat next to her, it would work out.
“So how long have you known Freddy?” Between the street noise and his own distracting thoughts Maurice almost missed the question.
“Uhmmm…if I have to think about it, I would say a good five years. I met her in tenth grade, and we just wound up at the same college.”
“Cool. You guys must be close.”
“Yeah, I guess. You?”
He barely registered her answers. His thoughts were on that last comment.
Yeah, we must be close. And about to get closer. Five years they’ve been together. Well, not together. But it feels right. We should be a couple. All this time talking and leaning on each other, he felt closer to Freddy than anyone he knew. And now he wanted to make it official.
“So what are you studying?” Tracee asked.
Another interruption from his thoughts. “Oh, uhm, calculus. You?”
“I’m going for my English major”.
“Cool” he replied. He hated the way some people end their sentences like they were questions. Like Tracee just did. That’s so annoying, like they’re asking if they are correct about what they say. It’s no wonder Freddy asked him to get a third ticket. She was always looking out for people.
That’s when Freddy’s cab pulled up. She climbed out the back and stopped short of them. She looked at her, then at Maurice, then asked, “What?”
Arid Testimony 