“Yes, loud and clear. I meant no disrespect.”
“None taken,” she said.
“What’s your name?” I asked politely.
“Now you’re asking too many questions.”
There was a pause.
“Just kidding. My name is Lucia, pronounced Lu-Chi-A, because I’m Italian, but my boyfriend calls me Lucy.”
“I like Lucy. That’s a pretty name,” I said.
“So does Vito. He says Lucy rhymes with …”
“Yeah, let’s not get that personal,” I interjected.
I was going to get myself in trouble with this girl if the conversation continued in this way. I already knew her boyfriend, Vito. I wasn’t interested in being turned into hamburger meat.
“Well, listen. You have to be a good listener if you want a successful relationship,” Lucy said.
Everyone is a therapist nowadays. First Ralph and now this one.
We continued walking down the hallway and turned into a room to do the blood test. The room smelled like alcohol and hospital, if that were a thing. There was a chair and a bunch of blood samples sitting on the table waiting to be processed by the lab, apparently.
“Vito says Lucy rhymes with Susie. That’s his mom’s name. She’s a sweet lady. I love her with all my heart. What were you thinking I was going to say?”
“I’d rather not say.”
I sat on the chair.
“You need to get your head out of the gutter, Mister. Life is not all about that, you know.”
Here we go again. Blah, blah, blah.
She took the blood samples, cleaned the puncture wound with an alcohol pad, and put a Band-Aid on it.
“You did really good. You’re really brave. You didn’t cry or nothing.”
“Why would I cry? I’m a grown man,” I said.
“You’d be surprised how many grown men cannot stand the sight of blood. Vito is one of them. All bark, no bite. He’s a sweetheart.”
I’m sure he is. I’m sure he’s lying to you. He beat up my son real good.
“I’m sure he is, Lucy. You’re a very lucky girl,” I lied.
She was much too beautiful to be with Vito the orangutan.
Women and their choices of men.
“Thank you, Mr. Bennett.”
“Just to clarify,” I said. “My head is not always in the gutter.”
“I’m sure you’re right.”
She took a lollipop out of one of the drawers. She took the wrapper off and started sucking on it.
