The sun was high and Lou was not as Malcolm and he cycled towards campus. They rode side-by-side, traffic permitting, and tried to communicate about events of the previous evening.
“I do not understand what the duck was doing.”
“Yeah, me neither. Maybe she wasn’t a duck.” Lou glanced backwards to check for cars.
“Was she a duck in the meeting?”
“No, people were just people in the meeting.”
“You said there was a rabbit.”
“Yeah, but no, Rabbit is a person. Not an animal.”
Malcolm tried to sort out what Lou was saying.
“And what did this rabbit person do?”
“She made some proposal about consensus, because she had the feather.”
“A duck feather?”
Lou shook his head. “I don’t know.”
A pickup behind them honked and the two riders moved closer to the curb.
“What was the consensus about?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“It does not sound like you got much out of this meeting.”
“Actually, it was pretty good. There was this one time when everybody got quiet without anyone telling them to be quiet.”
“Is that not the point of being quiet?”
They stopped at the corner to let a couple with a baby carriage cross.
“What I’m saying is they did things differently. I got there late and didn’t follow what was going on, but they got everything done that they wanted to. And people seemed pretty happy about it. Some of them did a hokey-pokey dance at the end.”
They resumed pedaling and turned right into a bike lane that led onto campus.
“Anyway, I think I’m gonna get more involved.”
“With ADA?”
“Yeah. That’s what I meant.” Lou hadn’t mentioned any other involvement or said why he was out until one o’clock that morning. And Malcolm didn’t ask about the bite marks on Lou’s neck.
They pedaled in silence the rest of the way to the Student Union, locked their bikes outside, then went on in to the housing office. A large bulletin board stood by the office door. “Housing available” signs were on one side and “housing wanted” notices on the other. No one had determined yet whether people who posted something on one side ever looked at the other side. Lou and Malcolm may have been the first. Lou checked that his flyer for a roommate was still up. It was. He joined Malcolm on the other side to see who was looking for the type of situation they offered.
“A single woman with two kids,” said Malcolm.
“Hm, no. A smoker. Tobacco, not pot.”
“No, thank you. How about a musician?”
“Yeah, maybe,” said Lou.
“Needs space for drum practice.”
“No,” they said in unison.
They read through more notices. Will trade housework for rent…married couple…Doberman Pinscher…
“Jeez, why is this so hard?”
“I believe it is a matter of timing. Students are busy with final exams. Then most of them will leave for the summer. Housing is in low demand.”
…new parolee…domestic nudist…
“We oughtta check at Switchboard again.”
“Do you happen to know how Anne is doing? Perhaps she would move back.”
“I haven’t talked to her. I see Philip’s minivan over there a lot. I think he’s practically living with Jax.”
“With Jax?” Malcolm looked at Lou with a mix of confusion and surprise.
“What? Oh, sorry, no. I mean Anne.”
“Interesting.”
“Why? What’s interesting?”
“That Jax is still on your mind.”
“No she isn’t. I moved on.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. Definitely.” …devout Mormon… “Besides I met someone else. This woman Victoria.”
“You have not mentioned her.”
“Well, she’s new. I met her last night. Actually, I met her a few days ago and saw her again last night.”
“Do you think she likes you?”
“Oh, yeah.” He grinned at Malcolm. “Absolutely.”
“Good for you. What does she do?”
“Uh, I don’t know. It didn’t come up.”
Malcom was skeptical. “Then, what is she like?”
“Well, um, she’s very…energetic.” Lou thought for a better word. “Excitable, that’s it. And sort of…” He thought some more. “…free thinking. A little wild.” He looked at Malcolm, who said nothing. “I think she’s into cats.”
“Oh, she has cats?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“But she told you she likes cats.”
“Not exactly.”
Malcolm gazed at his friend with a slight hope for more explanation.
“Anyway, I joined her affinity group. They call it Off Center.”
“I can imagine.”
“We’re meeting on Saturday. I’ll see her then and probably hang out with her.
“You might ask what she does.”
“Whatever.”
“Find out what she likes.”
“Hey, I’ll invite her over and you can ask Jax yourself.”
“Jax?”
“Victoria. I said Victoria.”
“Uh huh.”
For a change of pace, Malcolm tuned to a local jazz station while Lou cleaned and hulled strawberries to add to the chunks of fresh fruit already in his colander. Malcolm danced together a tangy yogurt sauce as Chuck Mangione played flugelhorn.
“I have been thinking.”
“Yeah?” Lou popped a strawberry into his mouth.
“It might be a good idea to delay finding a roommate. At least for a little while.” He added vanilla extract and a splash of orange juice, then began whipping them in a wooden bowl.
“How come?”
“Well, remember when I was mailing out job applications?”
“You mean a couple of months ago?”
“Yes. I had been sending my resume to different places. Places besides Eugene.”
“Oh, yeah. But you got that job downtown.” Lou scraped the discarded bits of strawberries into a plastic tub labeled “compost.”
“Yes, a temporary job. In any case, I have received a reply from a nonprofit organization. They would like me to come in for an interview.”
“Wow. That’s pretty awesome. What place is this?”
“They are called SPARC. The San Francisco Alternatives Research Council.” Malcolm stopped mixing ingredients and looked to Lou for his response.
“Huh.” Lou considered this new information. “So, San Francisco.”
“They seem to like my background. That I am half-Nigerian, gay, and have worked outside of academia. They even appreciate my degree in economics.”
“So, you told them you’re gay? Really?”
“Well, it is San Francisco. This place, SPARC, is researching economic opportunities in underserved populations.”
“And being gay helps?”
Malcolm shrugged. “My point is, it might be better to wait to get a roommate. In case I get this job.”
Lou thought about this as he rinsed his paring knife in the sink. “When would this all happen?”
“I am flying down early Monday morning and returning later that day. They would like to make a decision soon.” He continued watching Lou. “What do you think?”
“Oh, man. I mean, it sounds really great. Like a perfect job for you.” The unexpected news had Lou feeling happy for his friend, but unsure about his own situation. “But we’ll still need a roommate. Or at least I’ll need one.”
“Let’s see what happens. Things change.”
Ending it with “things change” leaves me wanting more… like every chapter.