08.20.08
Orphan fighter, pt. 7
Ferdinando called me later that week asking to hang out. I was down with that, so it wasn’t long before we convened at the old diner. Oddly enough, he was already in the booth by the time I got there. It wasn’t normal, I tell ya. He’d never beat me to the punch in his life. I brushed it off, though, citing some quip I heard once about broken clocks being right twice a day.
“Yooo, Ferd! What’s the good word?”
He reached over and bumped my outstretched fist.
“Jus’ chillin’, bro. You know how it go.”
“Word.” I sat myself down in the booth across from my old friend and gestured for a waitress to come take my order. “Coffee,” I said, “and a slice of lemon pie.”
Ferdinando took a sip of his brew and wiped his mouth before striking up the convo.
“So how you doin’?”
“Oh man, things are starting to fall into place. I gotta give you credit, though. That underground orphan thing is the gift that keeps on giving.”
“Yeah?”
“Totally. I went up 7.5k in one night, and now it looks like I’m going to be going deeper into the biz.”
He smiled half-heartedly on my behalf. You could tell he wasn’t totally feeling the positive vibes.
“Hey man, what’s up? You don’t seem too thrilled.”
“Ah, don’t read too much into it. I’m happy for you, for real.”
“Nah, you don’t gotta be like that. What’s on your mind?”
He leaned over the table, all serious-like.
“Don’t you ever think about doing something with your life?”
I was surprised to hear that — especially coming from him.
“What the hell, man?”
“You know, don’t you ever want to stop making a living doing stupid shit all the time. Maybe start up a family and all that.”
I didn’t feel much like going down this road, so I stuffed my face full of pie. Somehow, he missed my cue and kept going.
“After I went and paid off all my debts last week, I started to get the feeling that it was time to get my life back on the tracks.”
I just nodded. “Uh huh.”
“I’m gonna start interviewing for jobs and shit later this week. And I’m thinking of getting serious with Sarah.”
Damn, what the hell was wrong with him? This wasn’t the Ferd that I had grown up with, and it was pissing me off. He was always the measuring stick for me. Every time he lost his life savings betting on some sports team he knew nothing about, it was another feather in my cap. No matter how bad things were for me, I could always look at him and say, “At least I’m not the Ferd.” If he was serious, what did it mean for me? It was a lot to swallow, so I took a gulp of coffee to wash it down.
“Well, I guess it’s my turn to be happy for you.” I was doing my best to be supportive.
“Thanks, man. I knew you’d understand.” He was never very good at reading, especially between the lines.
“I hope you don’t mind if I stick to the old life for a bit longer, though. I’m not as eager to make that jump as you.”
He smirked. “Wait ’til you find yourself a woman, Jack. That’ll do it for ya.”
Man, who was this condescending bastard? I could hardly stand to listen to him talking to me like he was some worldly dude talking to a little kid. I pushed the rest of the pie into my pie-hole and drained my mug.
“Well, it was good talking to you, Ferd. I hope everything goes your way.”
“Aw man, you leaving?”
“Yeah, I’ve got business to deal with later.”
“Alright man, I’ll catch you later then.”
I reached for my wallet, but he stopped me short.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the check.”
Fuck! That bastard! He was really pissing me off with that new act of his. It was all I could do to flash him a smile — all friendly-like — and get the hell out of there as fast as I could. It was time to find some new friends, and I wanted to get started right away.