"You surprised me, I didn't think you were coming," Genise said from the sidewalk.
"Jesus Christ!" I jumped.
"Sorry," Genise giggled. "Didn't mean to scare you." Genise was dressed almost Shannie-like, Khaki shorts, a lose blouse and her hair pulled under a UNC baseball cap.
"No problem," I mumbled, not sure if I liked her new look. She was much more attractive dressed like a slut. She seemed, well, too ordinary, not anything like the plaything I was hoping for. "I didn't think you were home."
"Nope. I'm always here. I was in the playground reading," Genise said. In her hand I noticed a well-worn paperback copy of Great Expectations.
"Dickens. Great Expectations," Genise mouthed.
"Never read it," I quipped.
"You've never read Great Expectations?" Genise asked.
"Nope," I looked down at my old adversary.
"Wow, It's one of her favorites. She never made you read it?"
"Who?"
"Shannie, you goofball."
"Why would Shannie make me read it?"
Genise wrinkled her brow. "She never insisted that you read Dickens?"
"Nope," I chirped.
"Hell, she brow beat me. I would have never read 'em if it wasn't for her. Now I'm hooked. Too bad for you, you don't know what you're missing."
"I guess not," I answered. The old envy flared.
"To think that reading the stupid book was almost a condition of being in a relationship."
Our gazes interlocked. I saw the Genise that I knew lurking under the shadow of her baseball cap.
"You hungry?" Genise asked.
"Sure."
"Cool, let's get something to eat. Anyway, I'm tired of looking up at you. Get your ass down here where we can see eye to eye."
Despite a warm breeze off the bay, the air inside Genise's apartment seemed cool. Being in Genise's apartment without Shannie was reminiscent of trudging through Fernwood after Count's death. Christ, what's it been -almost five years since Count died. I thought of our days playing football in Fernwood, when death was nothing more than a three-foot hurdle. Christ, it seems like yesterday, where did time go?
"You okay," Genise's voice called from afar. I felt her warm grasp on my arm. "James, you okay?" she repeated.
"Yeah, sure."
"You look like you just seen a ghost or something."
"I kinda did. I was thinking about Count. That it's been so long since he was killed."