Page 86 of Baker

Something was hitting the glass. I lifted my head enough to peer over the window ledge. Across the street, the normal winter activities were taking place. The coffee shop was filled with patrons sipping festive drinks and working on their mid-term papers.

Nothing, however, seemed out of order.

I lifted my head a little more. Upon seeing her, I exhaled.

Standing on the sidewalk in a pair of jeans, a USC hoodie, and sneakers, was Andy. At her feet was a pile of cardboard. I grinned and shook my head.

She waved.

I set my pistol aside, flipped on the lamp, and waved.

She picked up the pile of cardboard and turned it to face me. On the surface of what appeared to be a piece of cardboard box, two words were hand-written in bold block letters.

WHAT DOES

She swayed back and forth for a few seconds, and then folded the piece over the top of what she held. Two more words were revealed.

A GIRL

A few seconds later, she folded it again.

HAVE TO

And then, again.

DO TO

She tossed the eight-foot long section of folded cardboard aside. It was clear that at one time, it had been a box. Still holding another, she turned it over, exposing yet two more words.

GET SOME

She grinned as she flipped to the next section.

DICK ON

She folded the piece out of the way.

A WEDNESDAY

She flipped to the last section.

NIGHT?

She clutched the cardboard sign and grinned. I raised my index finger. She nodded.

I rushed to my room, put up the pistol, and ran to the hallway. I pushed the elevator button. Before it came up from the basement, I turned toward the stairs in a dead run.

In leaps and bounds, I took the stairs down to the first floor and yanked the door open. Her eyes shot from the upper window to me.

I gestured to my crotch. “To get this dick?”

She bit against her lower lip and nodded repeatedly.

“First, she’s got to be named Andy Winslow,” I said. “Second, she’s just got to ask.”

She bent at the waist, picked up the pile of remaining cardboard, and stood, holding the makeshift signs close to her chest.

She forced her bottom lip into a pout. “Can I have some dick?”