Irish pt. XLIII
By Pete Moss
Larry is going over his accounts.
"Where's Desiree?" I say.
"She's at her Jesus for Strippers," says Larry.
"Strippers for Jesus?"
"No, Jesus for Strippers. It's a bible study group she does with some of her co-workers."
"How come you don't go with her?" I say.
"I'm Jewish. And I'm not a stripper," says Pacoima Larry.
"You're Jewish?"
"Sure, sort of. I got a yarmulka around here somewhere."
"So what did you want to talk about?" I say.
"You know how much that little escapade of Ramona's cost up in SF with that Pete Moss jerk?"
"C'mon Larry. You cleared at least $25K. Plus Ramona jumped 12 places in the Scrabbelero rankings. You probably got half a dozen big money matches lined up, write it off."
"It's the principal of the thing," says Larry. "Ramona wants to get some dick, fine, we all got urges. But she needs to be out in the open about it. So we can plan around it, you know?"
"Ramona wants to keep her lovelife private that's her business."
"Right. So how's the apartment hunting coming for you and YoYo?"
I don't think it's a good time to tell Pacoima Larry that Ramona mentioned this morning that Pete Moss might be coming to visit San Diego.
"Yeah?" says YoYo.
"He asked me if I would like to see Pere Ubu at the Casbah," says Ramona.
"What's Pere Ubu? Is the Casbah a club?"
"Pere Ubu is a band. Like Devo, but better. The Casbah is a club in Little Italy," says Ramona.
"Devo?" says YoYo.
"You never heard of Devo?" says Ramona.
"Should I have?" says YoYo. "Anyway, that's not important. Has he bought tickets?"
Just then Ramona's laptop pings. Ramona opens her email. "He did. Both plane tickets and show tickets."
"Oh my god! He really is planning on coming to San Diego!" says YoYo.
"I don't know if I'm ready for this," says Ramona.
"Don't worry. Me and Jimmie will go with you. Like a double date. If this Pete Moss tries anything we got your back!"
"We do?" I say.
YoYo doesn't even give me a side look.
"Gimme that laptop and let me book me and Jimmie some tickets for this Pere Ubu, whatever they are," says YoYo.
I don't know much about Pere Ubu. Even less about the Casbah.
Apparently it's punk rock. I liked the Ramones back in the day. I won't mind going to the show. I don't want to be the one who kills the buzz. Ramona and YoYo aren't shy about looking forward to it.
Two weeks go by and then we are at the airport to pick up Pete Moss.
He meets us at the curb, a pint size messenger bag slung over his shoulder.
He hops in the car and gives Ramona a kiss and says 'hello' to YoYo and me.
We drive back over to our usual parking spot on Pacific Highway.
"You guys want to come in and play Scrabble?" says Ramona.
"Sure we do!" says YoYo.
I catch Pete's eye in the rearview mirror. He smiles. He hasn't said much, but him and Ramona sit awful close together on the ride from the airport.
So we play Scrabble.
Pete has game. He scores big with 'cypher' on a triple word score. Then he Scrabbles with 'vanguard', exploiting a hanging D.
But Ramona wins with her mastery of two letter words.
Then Larry is banging on the door of the RV.
Larry comes in to the RV full of excitement.
"I got a local match lined up! Easy money!" he proclaims. "Wait! What's he doing here?!" says Larry, noticing Pete Moss.
"He flew down from San Francisco. We're going to Pere Ubu at the Casbah tonight," says Ramona.
"Well, you're going to have to cancel that!" says Larry. "I got an Armenian kid coming from Glendale. His uncle is putting up 2K!"
"No Larry. We're going to the show tonight." says YoYo. She doesn't say it loud. Nobody else says anything.
Larry looks at the four of us sitting around the Scrabble.
"You're turning me down?" he says.
"I'm calling in sick," says Ramona. She looks Larry right in the eye. Pete puts his arm around her.