I banged the door for quite a while before Aaron opened it. He seemed genuinely pleased to see me although he looked like hell, having just wakened from obviously very little sleep.
He asked me if I wanted anything - coffee, a beer - and I said, "No thanks." I just wanted to see how he was and have a talk with him. I missed him, I said.
"Fuck," he said, with a tear in his eye, and went off into the kitchen. He came back with a beer. "You know," he said, "this here's what got Dad into trouble." He giggled, grabbed his pack of cigarettes from the table and plopped onto the couch.
We talked for a while and I was just amazed at how much had changed about him in six months. He'd aged years - in so many ways.
While he went on about how good he was doing I looked around the flat. It was filled with expensive electronic equipment, the furniture was basic, but I decided Gloria wasn't a very good housekeeper. The ashtrays were overflowing, there were classes and cans everywhere.
"The Lord be with you," I said.
The beer can dropped from his hand so I picked it up. Not too much had spilled on the rug.
"Aaron. Can you hear me? Do you know who this is?"
"God."
"Have you been doing everything I asked, Aaron?"
"I think so."
"I am not happy, Aaron. Things haven't worked out exactly as I wanted them to. Do you know how I want you to remedy this, Aaron?"
"No."
"You know that I will make you very important, don't you, Aaron?"
"Yes."
"Things have not worked out to well with my gift to you - Gloria."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you love her, Aaron?"
"Yes. She's the most beautiful..."
"I know, Aaron, but now you have to make her worthy of you. She must obey you just as you obey me. And if she doesn't then she must be punished, mustn't she?"
"I guess."
"You are an important person, Aaron. You have become strong and handsome just as I said you would. Gloria must serve you, make sure your house is spotless, do everything you ask of her or she must feel your wrath. You have no feelings for her right now, in fact you are angry thinking about her. She is probably having fun talking to other men at work while you sit here in this dirty house. She's probably laughing at you right now."
Aaron was still able to turn red when he was angry. He did.
"Not only that but I have made you better and more important than Pepper Conklin as well. He laughs at you because he has made you his slave when you should be his master. He lusts after your Gloria behind your back and he is stupid where you are smart. You are so much better than he is. You hate him now and must try to find ways to get even with him."
"I hate him."
"Finally, you are bored with cigarettes now. You smoke only the finest cigars. You smoke them like cigarettes and only they satisfy you now. They are a symbol of your new power. Soon you will be very important. Make sure you remain friends with Chris. He is your only family now and you love him.
"Chris - family."
"You are going to wake up soon. You'd kill for a cigar right now, wouldn't you."
"Yes."
"On the count of three you will be back in the room having a talk with Chris. I will watch over you. Goodbye. One. Two. Three."
"Fuck. These cigarettes suck. I've got to get some pants on and run to the corner for a good smoke."
"I'll go for you. What do you want.?"
"You're a good kid, you know that, man? Thanks. Wait'll I get some bread."
He grabbed a ten from the pants hanging on the chair.
"Look, get me a good cigar. Nothing cheap - and pick up something for yourself, if you want. Look at this fuckin' pigpen. Hey, I'm sorry you had to see it like this."
"That's okay," I said and took off.
I was only gone five to ten minutes and when I came back Aaron had just hung up the phone. He was red again and very angry.
"Here." I said, "I hope these are okay."
"You know," he said, unwrapping the cigar, "those assholes where Gloria works have got to be screwing her. I called just now and they said she couldn't come to the phone. What could be so fuckin' important..."
"If she's on cash register she probably can't get away, " I volunteered.
Aaron lit the cigar, took a deep drag, inhaled and let it out.
"I don't want her to work there anymore. She's not going to make an asshole out of me. I want her right where I can see her. You work there part-time still. Does she go on break with any of the guys?"
"Well sure, she has her breaks and lunch with everyone that's off."
"I thought so. We'll see who's fooling who. Look, man, I really gotta run. I got things I gotta do. But, no shit, man, I want you to come back here anytime - my place is your place, you know. Thanks for coming. Fuck. You're all the family I got now. We gotta stick together."
"No problem," I said. "Nice pad." I smiled my warmest smile, walked out and didn't see him again til he was in jail.