Chapter 23

“Water in the basement, Alfonse.”

Z cringed slightly, because of the flooding or his full name, I wondered. “I’ll be home as soon as I can to check on it.”

“I can go down and have a look,” the man on the other end said.

“It can wait. No farther than the top step, Mr. F. You promised.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I’ll be there soon.” Z made a promise, too. “One of the tenants at my building,” he explained after ending the call. “There’s a sump pump, but it sticks. I’ll get to it after I drop off my handsome fare.”

“No.”

“Oh, but you are handsome.”

“No. Not…not that. Where do you live?”

As we approached the four-way stop, Z nodded right. “Ten minutes that a way.”

“You’re closer to my job than I am.” I envisioned a duffle bag and a sleepover. “Which means, it’ll take, like, forty minutes to drop me off and then head back,” I said. “Let’s go now.”

“I have to get you home.”

“I’ll survive. Right. Go right. This is me being assertive.”