“Sure. I understand. Well, you and Elsa don’t look that much alike, you know.” He leaned in toward me again to whisper, “You’re much better-looking.”
“Flattery will get you anywhere,” I said. I remembered that line from a movie I had watched with Marla.
“With you, I’ll settle for anywhere,” he replied. We walked quietly for a while, and then he took off his jacket and spread it on the sand. “My lady,” he said, offering it to sit on.
I did, and he sat beside me. We looked out at the waves. Two California brown pelicans were circling over the water to our right. Suddenly, one swooped down and came up with a small fish.
“Wow,” Buddy said. “See that?”
“Yes. Everything living feeds on something living,” I recited.
He looked at me. “Deep,” he said. “Tell me more about yourself. Are you guys originally from California?”
“You’ve told me nothing about yourself,” I countered.
He laughed and sprawled out, leaning on his left elbow to look up at me. “Not true. I told you I was born and raised in Long Beach, and my father’s a dentist. We’re almost even.”
“I was born in New York. We moved a few times. We lived in Nashville for a few years.”
“Can you sing country?”
“Hardly,” I said, smiling. “I play the piano, mostly classical pieces. Daddy loves classical music.”
He just stared up at me.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re so beautiful. I think I’d be content just lying here and looking up at you for the rest of my life.”
“Now you’re embarrassing me,” I said.
“I’d rather cut off my right hand than embarrass you.”
“So, what do you intend to do with your education?” I asked, trying to get him off the topic of me.
He laughed. “You mean, what do I want to be when I grow up?”
“Think you ever will?” I said, and he shrugged.
“Maybe. When I get around to it,” he said. He rolled onto his back. “I’m leaning toward medical research of some sort. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by what we can’t see. There are worlds upon worlds swirling around inside us.” He turned back to me. “You weren’t far off when you said everything living feeds on something else living. There are bacteria living inside us, feeding off us. Even the bad guys feed off us.”
“Bad guys?” I held my breath. He couldn’t mean anything close to what I knew.
“Germs, viruses, you know.”
“Oh. Yes, of course. I imagine you’re a good student,” I said.
“Straight A’s. That was my nickname in high school, Straight-A Gilroy. And you?”
“I’ve always made the honor roll.”
“You’d always make mine,” he said. “Now, tell me really, what made you decide to call me? I gave up on the idea when you wouldn’t give me your phone number.”
“It’s not a big mystery, Buddy. We had a good time at Dante’s Inferno. I thought you were different from your friends, so I decided to see if I was right.”
“Any decision yet?”
“Too soon to tell.”