Right as Rain

Strange had been right about something, whether Qui

'God damn you, Terry,' whispered Qui

22

On Sunday morning, Strange ate breakfast with Janine and Lionel at the Three Star Diner, on Ke

Billy Georgelakos and Strange were roughly the same age. On Saturdays, when Mike and Darius both had of their sons with them, Billy and Strange had played together on these streets while their fathers worked. Strange had taught Billy how to box and make a tackle, and Billy had introduced young Derek to comic books and cap pistols. Billy was Strange's weekend playmate, and his first white friend.

When Mike Georgelakos died of a heart attack in the late sixties, Billy had dropped out of junior college and stepped in to take over the business, as there was no insurance or safety net of any kind for the family. He had not intended to stay, but he did. The neighborhood had gone through some changes, and the menu had moved closer to soul food, but Billy ran the place the same way his old man had, breakfast and lunch only, open seven days a week.

Strange knew that Mike Georgelakos had bought the property long ago – the Greeks from that generation were typically smart enough to secure the real estate – and consequently the nut at the Three Star was very low. The diner had sent Billy's two sons to college and had managed to support his mother as well. The other thing Billy did like his old man was to cut the register tape off two hours before closing time. With a cash business like this, you could hide a whole lot of money from the IRS.

'Pass me that hot sauce, Lionel,' said Strange.

Lionel slid the bottle of Texas Pete down the counter, past his mother to Strange. Strange shook some out onto his feta cheese-and-onion omelet, and a little onto the half-smoke that lay beside it.

'Good breakfast, right?' said Strange.

'Mm-huh,' said Janine.

'The breakfast is tight,' said Lionel, 'but they could play some better music in this place.'

'The music is fine,' said Strange. Billy played gospel in the diner on Sunday mornings, as many of the patrons were coming straight from church. His father had done that, too.

'Why you name your dog Greco?' said Lionel. "Cause of this Greek joint right here?'

'Nah. I knew this other Greek kid back when I was a boy, kid named Logan Deoudes. His father had a place like this, John's Lunch, over on Georgia, near Fort Stevens. Anyway, Logan had this dog, a boxer mix, called him Greco. Bad-ass dog, too – excuse me, Janine – and I always liked the name. Decided back then, when I got a dog of my own, I was go

Billy Georgelakos walked down the rubber mat behind the counter, carrying a pot of coffee he had drawn from the urn. He wore a white shirt rolled up to the elbows and had a Bic pen wedged behind his right ear. Billy was big boned, with large facial features, most prominently his great eagle nose. With the exception of two patches of gray on either side of his dome, he had lost most of his hair.

'Want me to warm that up for you, Janine?' said Billy, chin-gesturing in the direction of Janine's coffee cup.

'A little bit more, thanks,' said Janine. Billy poured her some coffee and filled Strange's cup to the lip without asking.

'How's your mom doin', Derek?'

Strange made a so-so, flip-flop movement of his hand. 'Etsi-ke-etsi,' he said.

'Yeah,' said Billy, 'mine, too. Tough old women, though, right?'

He walked down to the grill area to talk with his longtime employee Ella Lockheart, who had come up in the neighborhood as well.

'You speak Greek, Mr Derek?'

'Little bit,' said Strange mysteriously. Billy had taught him one or two useful expressions and a whole lot of curse words.

'Dag,' said Lionel.

'You got somethin' pla

'What'd you have in mind?'

'Want to stretch my legs. I'll be gettin' real busy tomorrow, and I might stay that way. It's cold, but with all this sunshine I was thinkin' I'd take Greco for a walk down in Rock Creek. Maybe go by the home and visit my mother after that.'

'I'm up for it,' said Janine.

'Lionel?'

'I got plans,' said Lionel. 'That Wilderness Family trip sounds good and all that. But if you don't mind, I'd just as soon spend my day lookin' at the women up at the mall.'

Billy rang them up at the register. On the way out, Strange stopped, as he always did, at the wall by the front door, where several faded photographs were framed and hung. In one, Strange's father stood tall, with his chef's hat cocked rakishly, a spatula in one hand, a smile on his chiseled, handsome face. Mike Georgelakos, short and rotund, stood beside him.

'That's him right there,' said Strange, and neither Lionel nor Janine said a thing, because they knew that Strange was just having a moment to himself.

'Yasou, Derek,' said Billy Georgelakos from behind the counter.

'Yasou, Vasili,' said Strange, turning to wave at his friend. Strange winked at Lionel, who was obviously impressed, as they headed for the door.

Qui

He stopped at a small used-car lot on the west side of Georgia. Multicolored plastic propellers had been strung around the perimeter, and they spun in the wind. There was a trailer on the edge of the lot where salesmen went for the close, and above the trailer door a large sign had been mounted and encircled with marquee-style lights. The sign read, 'Eddie Rider's, Where Everyone Rides!' Qui

Qui

'How ya doing today, sir?' said a startlingly nasal voice behind Qui

Qui

'Doin' fine,' said Qui

'The name's Tony Tibbs. They call me Mr Tibbs. Ha-ha! Just kiddin', man. Actually, they call me Tony the Pony round here, 'cause I give good ride, y'know what I'm sayin'? I didn't catch your name, did I?'