"Oh."
More silence. Rain slanted diagonally across my window. Who has seen the wind, I thought, neither you nor I.
"Do you find people?" he asked.
"Yes," I said.
"How much do you, um, charge to find someone?"
I set the donut aside and leaned forward on my elbows.
"Two tacos," I said.
"Two what?"
"Two tacos and maybe a burrito."
He actually laughed. The sound was muffled, as if he were talking in a closet, or under covers. I figured maybe both. More likely a bathroom, though.
"My mom was killed," he said.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"She was killed two years ago."
"I'm sorry," I said again.
"Why do you keep saying that?"
"Because no boy should be without his mother."
There was a pause and I heard a choking sound on the other end. He muffled the phone so that I couldn't hear him cry but he didn't do a very good job of it and I heard the deep sobs and the pain and the immense heartache. As he wept I thought of my boy, but I did not cry. I would not cry with the young man on the phone. Alone, yes. But not now.
I waited for him to get hold of himself and when he finally did, I asked him if there was anything I could do to help him. He sniffled some more, and told me his tale.
And what a tale it was.
Chapter Two
I was at Astro's Burgers in Silver Lake. I had just sat down and ordered an orange juice when Detective Hammer, my cop friend, stepped into the restaurant. He spotted me and came over.
"You're late," I said as Hammer sat.
"I'm a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. You're lucky I even give you the time of day."
"Private eyes are people, too," I said.
"Yeah, but they ain't real cops." He waved the waitress over and put in his order. A milkshake, fries and double cheeseburger.
"Should I call 911 now?" I asked.
"You better hope I don't keel over; otherwise, you would be minus your only cop friend in Los Angeles."
"I can always make another cop friend."
Hammer snorted. "Not you, pal. You can barely look a waitress in the eye."
"I'm shy. You know that."