Err on the Side of Violence: Terribly Acronymed Detective Club Series (Book 3)

Chapter Thirty-Four: Joe, Summer, 2009

When Joe saw Al enter the banquet hall of Queensborough Community Centre with his mother, he had mixed feelings. It felt good to see him again; he recognized him right away, he'd barely changed; he'd gotten man-sized, and his dark hair had some grey in it, but his face was the same, as was his shrinking demeanor. 

At the same time, it felt surreal seeing him again, because he'd barely changed. Joe didn't have the same out of body experience seeing him as he'd had when he'd seen Sunny for the first time in over twenty years, because Sunny had looked so different with his turban and his beard that he'd almost been a completely new person, someone who'd looked like he'd grown and changed, who could be both a new friend and an old friend at the same time, with lots of new stories to tell; it also didn't hurt that he had a beautiful wife, who could serve as a fourth if they all went out together. Al, on the other hand, didn't arrive with a wife or girlfriend, and he looked so like the boy who'd moved away that he could have almost been frozen in time on Lawrence Street, and it unnerved Joe, because he didn't think he would be able to relate to him in any way other than in reminiscing about Lawrence Street. 

"Al," he said when he approached him.

"Joe," Al said, looking up at him with a mixture of awe and fear. "Holy shit."

They clasped hands, clapped each other's shoulders and did an awkward bro-hug. "Look at you!" Al said. "You played football in high school, right?"

"I did. Notre Dame in Vancouver. It's where all the Italians went."

Joe had only just accepted Al's friend request after Lauren had contacted Al with the details of Mrs. Anderson's memorial service and sent him her own friend request. This Facebook thing wasn't his cup of tea, and he barely checked it, so they hadn't exchanged any pleasantries yet. Now here he was, and Joe had no idea what to say to him.

"How about you?" Joe asked.

Al shrugged. "Oh, you know, I didn't."

"I'm not surprised, you were a bit of a squirt."

"I was always more of an intellectual anyway."

"Right, yeah, you work at the library."

Al nodded. "Yes, your wife tracked me down."

"Yeah."

Al shook his head in amazement. "Lauren. I can't believe it, you and Lauren."

"I know, right?"

"Actually, I suspected you had something for her."

"You did? I didn't," Joe lied. 

"Just before I moved away. Puberty, you know, it changed everything."

"Sure did."

"I can't believe it. You two somehow stayed together after the rest of us left."

Joe shrugged. "Yeah, well, Sunny didn't go too far."

Al looked to the left and right of Joe and asked, "Where is Lauren, by the way?"

"Around here somewhere, schmoozing, probably. I saw you first." He looked around the room. "I should see where the kids are... you know we have two?"

"I saw pictures of them on Lauren's Facebook page. You're very lucky."

"And you? Wife? Kids?"

"Nope, single, childless."

Joe's smile was starting to hurt from the effort he made to maintain it. He knew it would be like this. "So, Sunny should be coming, too. He's married to a real knockout. Two kids."