47

Sam is outside, waiting for Lewis. He does not seem to be coming out of that apartment anytime soon. Sam sucks his teeth and proceeds to leave the car and go knock on Sam's door. He hears Sam yell…

"I am almost done!"

Soon, Lewis opens the door and smiles at Sam. He opens his arms wide in welcome.

"Well, hello Sam. It is lovely to see you. I just need to throw in a few final things. Come on in and I will be with in a bit." He ushers Sam into his house and makes a gesture for Garrick to leave the couch for his guest. Garrick looks away from Lewis and remains planted on the couch

"G, where are your manners?" Lewis asks with a stern voice. Garrick saunters off the couch with a nasty side eye directed at Sam.

"That is a feisty cat, you have there. Nice to meet you too, G." Sam days with a laugh.

"Uhm, no. We don't… we do not do that. I am the only who calls him that." Lewis says with a straight face. Sam finds it hilarious.

"Whatever man. I am not here for Garrick, I am here for you. You have to get ready quick. We are ten minutes late." Sam says, tapping him on his shoulders to hurry him on.

"There is a word for that. The Hollywood phrase is fashionably late. People have to wait for all this glam." Lewis laughs and rushes into his room to put on his shoes and spray his favorite cologne. He checks out his hair in the mirror and rubs his jaw.

"I think we are all set. How do I look, G?" Lewis asks Garrick as he steps into the room. He stares at Lewis for a while and climbs into the bed.

"I guess I look good. If I did not, you would be making that face you make when I put bananas in my cereal." Lewis mutters to himself. He walks over to the cat and rubs its fur.

"See you later, G. Wish me luck, I really hope tonight is not the night I get shot at… or killed."

Garrick makes a face at him when he talks about being killed.

"Now, that is the face I was talking. Bye, G. Be good."

Lewis walks out of the bedroom and into his living room where Sam is standing in the middle of it staring into space.

"You are finally done. Let's bounce." Sam says and begins to walk to the door.

"Now I know why your house looks weird." He blurts out.

"What? I don't understand." Lewis does not know what could be wrong with his living room.

"There are no pictures, that has to be it. It looked empty kind of. Devoid of memories. When you walk into a home, you see the college pictures, the prom pictures, the family pictures. The expensive paintings. Something hanging on a wall." Sam makes a comment on his house.

Lewis acts as though the mention of the word 'home' does not prick his heart. It reminds him of a loneliness he used to feel when he was younger. He brushes the feeling away.

"Well, apart from my keys on the wall, there are no photos. I guess this a sign that I and Garrick should go for a photoshoot some time." Lewis laughs at this. Sam just shrugs, he is not a cat person so there is nothing much he can say on the matter.

They get to the car and Sam drive off.

"How are you doing, Sam? How's your brother?" Lewis asks, he is trying to fill the silence and occupy his mind with other things that do not include his nerve wrecking thoughts.

"I am alright, been driving around all week. Nothing special. My brother is doing alright too, we spoke this morning and he was telling me about all the crazy new things he has learnt so far. He showed me some of the stuff he has been working on and I felt good about it."

Lewis is moved by this and smiles

"Of course, you would feel good. He is doing so well. Your mother must be so proud." Lewis exclaims.

"I guess she would be. Today would have been her 83rd birthday. That is why I am wearing this cross necklace, she used to love these." He brings out the cross necklace from beneath his shirt's collar.

"That is wonderful. What is your mother's maiden name?" Lewis asks.

"I like what you did there."

"What did I do?" Lewis asks in genuine curiousity.

"You used a present tense for her. 'is'. Everyone who knows my momma is passed always refers to her in the past tense. I have gotten used to it but it still stings regardless. I do not want to be reminded everyday that I have lost her, you know." Lewis complains bitterly.

"She is still here, you know. She lives on with you, with your brother, with all the people she loves. Maybe you never really lost her. She might have moved to another plane of existence but her sight is on you always." Lewis comforts Sam. Sam breaks down while he is on the steering wheel. He just realizes how much he needed to hear that.

"Thank you so much. This has helped me in ways you can never imagined. I needed to hear this. It is so hard, you know. Waking up every day and knowing that the person you always fall to when it all goes wrong is no longer here. It wrecks me." Sam confesses.

Lewis has lost someone too but he is not ready to tell Sam his story. As bubbly as his personality seems, he holds his memories deeply under his skin. No one seems to really get under his skin. So, he is surprised when Sam asks a question.

"Have you lost someone close before?"

Lewis stares at him, quietly contemplating what he would say in response to his question.

"Sort of."

Sam recognizes that response. It means 'i do not want to talk about it, drop the topic and drop it fast." He gets it, so he does not say anything else.