ness and transportation drags.
I’ll admit to not being thrilled by the neighborhood Aahz’s
mother lived in once we found it. Not that it looked particu-
larly rough or dirty … at least no dirtier than the rest of
the dimension. It’s just that it was . . . well, shabby. The
buildings and streets were so run-down that I found it de-
pressing to think anyone, much less the mother of a friend
of mine, would live there.
“I’ll wait for you here on the street,” Pookie announced
as I emerged from the taxi.
I looked at her, surprised.
“Aren’t you coming in?”
“I figure it’s more important to guard your escape route,”
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she said. “I don’t think there’s any danger inside, unless
the place falls down when you knock on the door … and
I couldn’t help there anyway. Why? Are you expecting more
trouble than you can handle from one old lady?”
Since I didn’t have a snappy retort for that, I proceeded
up the porch steps to the door. There was a list of names
with a row of buttons beside them. I found the name of
Aahz’s mother with no difficulty, and pressed the button
next to it.
A few moments later, a voice suddenly rasped from the
wall next to my elbow.
“Who is it?”
It only took a few seconds for me to figure out that it
“was some kind of speaker system.
“It’s .. . I’ma friend of your son, Aahz… Aahzmandius,
that is. I was wondering if I might talk to you for a few
moments?”
There was a long pause before the reply came back.
“I suppose if you’re already here I might as well talk to
you. Come right up.”
There was a sudden raucous buzzing at the door. I waited