Chapter 35

Frank smiled. Wherever it originated, Liam had an abundance.

“You’re sweet, Liam.”

“St-ory.”

“Okay. Well, there isn’t much more to tell. The last time I saw Renny…” Frank flashed back on the adult version of his childhood friend lying naked in the back room at the mortuary awaiting his cremation. His soul—if he’d ever had one—was gone. He remembered Vaughn’s inappropriate acknowledgment and visualized the reason. He then glanced at Liam’s sexual appendage, equally large, equally beautiful. “Between the school bus coming home from New York City and the slab, many years had passed. There were times, I suppose, I fantasized about what might have been. I pictured us in love, Renny and I, in a house of our own, possibly with children, definitely pets. Renny liked my cat, the one that almost died in the fire. I wonder if he had cats. I wonder if he and Melissa would have had children. Would he sing to them, like he did to my cat sometimes?”

“Freaky Frank. Freaky Frank.”