Florida Straits(43)

"No? what kinda people you have in mind, Sandra? My kinda people aren't good enough to be our friends all of a sudden?"

Sandra leaned forward in her chair and hugged her knees. She was still wearing her bathing suit and Joey admired her midriff. It was one of the prettiest parts of Sandra, lean enough to show the arc of her ribs, the skin as smooth as if it were powdered. "Don't start in on that, Joey. You know that's not what I'm saying."

"But Sandra, the way you make it sound—"

"Joey, all I'm saying is I think it would be nice to have some regular friends. Some normal, ordinary people. That's nothing for you to get offended about."

"You got friends at the bank, right?'

"Yeah," said Sandra, "the girls at the bank are terrific. But Joey, this is exactly my point. Do I ever see them outsida the bank? No. And why not? 'Cause you don't seem to have any interest. The other girls, they see each other. Claire and Zack, they have dinner with Tina and Mike. Betsy, they invite her to the movies, they try to line her up with guys sometimes. But, ya know, they do things as a couple. Me, I get left out 'cause the guy I'm a couple with couldn't care less."

Joey crossed his arms and listened to the palm fronds scratching against the roof. He was very tempted to flat out agree with Sandra and leave it at that: he couldn't care less. But he wasn't quite sure that was so. Was he thrilled at the idea of sitting in the movies and eating popcorn with these citizens? Was he all excited at the thought of hanging around their backyards and shooting the breeze over a bowl of potato chips? No. But at the same time, he had to admit that maybe he shied away from these ordinary, casual friendships for the same reason he'd shied away from the idea of a job: he just didn't know how they worked. Joey's own kind of friendship—that, he understood. It came from the neighborhood, it was like an outgrowth of family. It came from crime. Crime told you right away who your friends were because it made it so clear who your enemies were. But without family, without enemies, what reason did you have to fall in with this guy rather than that guy? Where was the glue to hold that kind of friendship together? And what did you do—like call up somebody you hardly knew and say, hey, you wanna go bowling or some-thing? It was a mystery. But Joey wasn't ready to admit that out loud.

"Ya know, Sandra, it's not exactly like all these terrific people have been rolling out the welcome wagon for us."

Sandra shook her head and flicked cold water off her glass. "Joey, I'll tell you the truth, I don't think you'd notice if the welcome wagon pulled up right in front of you with bells on. You just don't pay attention. Besides, that isn't how it works. It's give-and- take. Ya gotta make an effort."

"Sandra, I'll be honest with ya." Joey rubbed his chin and ran a hand through his moist hair. "I'm just not sure I see the point. I mean, there's this stuff ya don't especially wanna do with people ya don't especially wanna know, you're pretty sure you're gonna be bored stiff, but still, you're supposed to make an extra effort to have it happen. Why?"

"Why?" said Sandra. "Why? Because, Joey, it's one of the things ya do to make a life. It's nice to have friends. And it might help you at work—you ever even think of that?"

He hadn't.

"Besides," Sandra went on, "you don't know for sure you're gonna be bored. These people do nice things. They go boating. They go snorkeling. They look at fish. Don't laugh, Joey, you might even like it."

Joey squinted backward through the louvers. The palm fronds looked feathery against the sky. He still wasn't convinced, but he was willing to take Sandra's word that maybe making some local friends was worth the trouble. Only not right now. He reached across and put his hand on her knee. "After Gino leaves."

"After Gino leaves, what?"

"After Gino leaves, we'll see, maybe we'll decide to make some friends."





— 22 —

That Wednesday evening, Gino, Vicki, and Bert were invited to the compound for dinner. Joey bought stone crab claws because they were the only thing he could find that was more expensive than lobster, and besides, he wanted to give his brother something he could crush. But when he got the claws home, Sandra pointed out a problem.

"Joey, ya need, ya know, those squeezie things to break the shells. The crackers."

"We don't have any?"

"Joey, you know we don't."

"Hm." He put the white paper bag on the counter, sniffed his fingers, and washed his hands with dish soap. "Well, we got a hammer and some pliers."

Sandra put one hand on a hip and held the other out with the goofy grace of a charm school headmistress. "Vicki won't find that very elegant."