Torn Read Free Page A

many.”
    “Bet me.” Bret was adamant. “I bet they are breeding under the sidewalk. Borough or not, I’m calling an exterminator first thing . …”
    “No. Bret. You will not. For ants?” Jesse shook his head. “Let me eat. I’ll handle it.”
    “Jesse, there’s a ton.”
    “They’re ants, Bret.” Jesse continued eating. “How many can there be? We deal with this a lot at work. I’ll show you there’s not a gazillion. We don’t need an exterminator.”
    “We need something.”
    Jesse smiled. “You have me.”
    “What are you going to do?” Bret didn’t receive a verbal response; she only received a glance that told her more than she probably wanted to know.
     
***
     
    The country music played at an almost inaudible level in Darius Cobb’s large classroom. S tacks of papers were in front of him; he tapped the pencil to the beat of the music as he read through them. His head bobbed slightly, shaking , all while he smiled.
    “You’re kidding me. No.” He snickered and lifted the paper. “Scott, where were you when I talked about this?” He gru nted, shrugged, then wrote down, “Man, I must be boring.”
    “And a bit insane. However. …” The male voice entered the room. “Your sensuality, boyish figure, and boy toy appeal make up for that.” A briefcase was set on Darius’ desk. The fiftyish bald man with a healthy build smiled at Darius. “I’m happy to see that no exchange of sexual favors for grades was occurring. How are you, Dare-Dare?”
    Darius set down his pencil with a laugh, “Only you and my mother call me that.”
    “Well of course, that was a wonderful time in my life. Really, she should have married me instead of that rodeo star.”
    Darius only glanced up.
    “Who was it next, the. …”
    “Colin,” Darius silenced him with a smile.
    Dr. Colin Reye sat down on the edge of the desk. He did indeed date D arius’ mother at one time, for five years. In addition, she referred to him as the youngster. Only eight years her junior, Colin genuinely was crazy about her, even if the package included a rambunctious, t oo intelligent for his own good teenager named Darius. But even the eccentric and wild Colin couldn’t tame Darius ’ mother . Despite the break up, Colin remained close to him vowing to be the father figure he never had, and their friendship spanned over twenty years.
    “I thought we were having lunch,” Colin said.
    Darius looked at his watch. “We can.”
    “It’s six o’clock.”
    “Dinner?” Darius suggested.
    “Can’t. Have to try to make it up to Pittsburgh by eight.”
    “You should. We’re only in Morgantown. I thought you were here all week as a guest lecturer.”
    “I am,” Colin said. “But tonight, I want to try to catch the Matthews lecture at Carnegie Mellon on biological warfare. Wanna join me; we’ll get a late dinner at the ‘O’. Maybe . …” he winked. “Hit Crickets and watch some aging strippers.”
    Darius laughed. “Can’t. I want to finish grading these, and there’s an open mike night at the café. I have a couple new songs I wrote. It uh… it starts at ten….” Darius raised an eyebrow.
    “Lecture is two hours.” Colin looked at his watch. “Sign up late, I can make it.”
    “Excellent.”
    “Can I do harmonies?” Colin asked.
    Darius laughed.
    “Helps in picking up the girls.” Colin lifted his briefcase. “OK, I’m out of here. If I do n’t make it tonight to hear you. …” He turned. “I’ll catch you tomorrow.”
    “Sounds good.”
    “And so does a meal in the middle of the day.”
    “Lunch tomorrow.” Darius held up a hand. “I promise.”
    “I’ll hold you to it.”
    “Be careful.”
    “You, too.” Colin began to ascend the stairs.
    Darius, with a look of enjoyment over his visit with Colin , lowered his head to his papers. It immediately lifted when he heard the slam of Colin’s foot.
    “Roach.” Colin scraped off his shoe. “Better call maintenance.” He continued on up the