need 2 talk 2 u. I rubbed my gritty eyes. I’m home. Cd u come to me. It was a question, I realized, the lack of punctuation notwithstanding. Where r u? He directed me to a parking lot across the street from a park in Portland where high school kids shot hoops and tried to make time with girls. will watch 4 u. I cruised past once then made the block. On my second pass Theo was standing on the sidewalk with three other guys. He separated himself from his pack, opened the passenger door of my car and hopped into the front seat. The whole process took no more than three seconds. “Thanks for coming. Can we drive?” I nodded and put the teenage hangout in the rearview mirror. “This better be important, Theo. I’m feeling both crappy and crabby.” “There was no one else I could call.”
