Surprised and off-stride, I returned to familiar patterns and asked a redundant question.
“Know each other?” Aahz laughed. “Are you kidding? We’re cousins!”
“Distant cousins,” Pookie corrected without enthusiasm.
“Really? Why didn’t you say anything, Pookie?”
“You never asked.”
“But . . . you knew I was looking for him!”
“Actually, it took me a while to put it together, and when I did, I didn’t know where he was either. Besides, to tell you the truth, from what I recall, I figured you’d be better off without him.”
“Well, well. Little Pookie! Still have the razor tongue, I see.”
“Not so little any more, Aahzmandius,” the bodyguard said, a dangerous note creeping into her voice. “Try me sometime and you’ll see.”
It was clear the two of them weren’t on the best of terms. I felt it best to intercede before things got ugly.
“How did you get into my room?”
“Bribed the bellhop,” my old partner said, returning his attention to me. “Those guys would sell the key to their mother’s store if there was a big enough tip in it for them.”
An awkward silence followed. Desperately, I cast about for something to say.
“So how have you been, Aahz?” I ventured, realizing how lame it sounded. “You look great.”
“Oh, I’ve been swell . . . just swell,” he spat. “As a matter of fact, it’s a good thing I saw your ad in the personals when I did. I was about to head off-dimension. I had forgotten how high the prices are around here.” I made a mental note to pay off the bellhop. It looked like his idea of placing an ad had paid off better than all my running around.