God's Gift to Women Read Free Page B

closed the door. “Good-bye.”
    “Whassup, Li’l Sis?” It was a nickname I had given her after three years of putting up with Eddie.
    “Hey, Julian, how you doin’?”
    “Everything is great, with the exception of dealing with Sam’s preteen hormones. She’s going through that stage where she’s starting to like boys.”
    “Judging by our conversation a minute ago, the boys are starting to like her, too.”
    “Yeah, she’s turning into a real fox. If her breasts get any bigger, I may have to break out the shotgun.” I laughed. “Now, enough about Sam. Whassup? Don’t tell me you and Eddie fell out again!”
    “No, we’re doing okay. It’s just that I came home early from my business trip and he’s not here. I called his cell phone and the studio but I can’t reach him. Do you know where he is?”
    I knew exactly where he was, the Park Avenue Motel. It was one of our hangouts in the old neighborhood. Eddie was still a regular. But coming up with a good lie at eight o’clock in the morning wasn’t going to be easy, especially since Eddie was a photographer.
    “Oh, yeah, Eddie had a photo shoot on Lake Michigan at sunrise. I believe it was for a magazine ad for sunglasses, sunscreen, or something like that.”
    “Is that right?” She sounded unconvinced. “Well, you can tell Mr. Sunscreen that he’d better bring his butt home before I
block
him out of this house by changing the locks!”
    I covered my mouth to keep from laughing. We both knew that story was lame as hell. But I kept my composure and tried to change the subject.
    “Okay, Denise, I’ll tell him. By the way, are you coming to Club Nimbus with Eddie tonight? I’d love to see you before I leave town.”
    “Of course I’ll be there. You know I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
    “Now, you do understand that I only expect to see you and Eddie, right?”
    “Oh, lord, here we go again with The Speech.”
    “That’s right, you know where I’m going with this,” I saidto her. “Promise me you won’t try to hook me up with another one of your strong, independent, corporate-type girlfriends.”
    “But Julian, I’ve got the perfect girl for you this time. She’s single, no kids, owns her own business, and she’s got a great personality.”
    “Whenever a woman says her friend has a great personality, it usually means she’s ugly.”
    “That’s not true, she’s a very beauti—”
    “Stop right there, Denise. Can we get together for once without you playing matchmaker? Is that too much to ask?”
    She paused. I could practically hear her pouting. “Okay, okay. But one of these days I’m gonna hook you up with Ms. Right,” she said. “Good things always happen to good people.”
    “Bad things happen to good people, too—just look at the ten o’clock news.” I laughed. “Now let me go so I can finish packing. I’ll see you tonight. And I do mean
only
you! Bye, Li’l Sis.”
    “Good-bye, Julian, you old party pooper.”
    As soon as I hung up the phone I began looking through the Yellow Pages for the number to the Park Avenue Motel. Once I found it, I dialed the number. The phone rang ten times before someone finally picked up.
    “This is the
fabulous
Park Avenue, what’s your pleasure?” a man announced in a raspy and familiar voice.
    “Old Man Johnson, is that you?”
    “Yeah, this is Mr. Johnson, who the hell is this?”
    “This is Firebird. Remember me?”
    It was a nickname he had given me back in my college days because of the type of car I drove.
    “Firebird?” He pondered. “The name sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.”
    “Maybe this will help you remember: I had a burgundy Firebird with a personalized plate that read CHICAGO. My real name is Julian Payne.”
    “Oh, Julian!” he said excitedly. “How you doin’? It’s beenyears since that car of yours was parked in front of room one thirty-five.”
    “I can see you’re still just as sharp as ever. You used to memorize every car that