“Hell, yes,” Warren said. “Anything to shut my shortie up. She’s been ragging on me fierce about you and Laurie.”

“Secondly, do you know any brothers from a tiny African country called Equatorial Guinea?”

“Man, I never know what’s going to come out of your mouth,” Warren complained. “Let me think.”

“It’s on the west coast of Africa,” Jack said. “Between Cameroon and Gabon.”

“I know where it is,” Warren said indignantly. “It was supposedly discovered by the Portuguese and colonized by the Spanish. Actually, it was discovered a long time earlier by black people.”

“I’m impressed you know of it,” Jack said. “I’d never heard of the country.”

“I’m not surprised,” Warren said. “I’m sure you didn’t take any black history courses. But to answer your question, yes, I do know a couple of people from there, and one family in particular. Their name is Ndeme. They live two doors down from you, toward the park.”

Jack looked over at the building, then back at Warren. “Do you know them well enough to introduce me?” Jack asked. “I’ve developed a sudden interest in Equatorial Guinea.”

“Yeah, sure,” Warren said. “The father’s name is Esteban. He owns the Mercado Market over on Columbus. That’s his son over there with the orange kicks.”

Jack followed Warren’s pointing finger until he spotted the orange sneakers. He recognized the boy as one of the basketball regulars. He was a quiet kid and an intense player.

“Why don’t you come down and run a few games?” Warren suggested. “Then I’ll take you over and introduce you to Esteban. He’s a friendly dude.”

“Fair enough,” Jack said. After being revived by the bicycle ride, he was looking for an excuse to play basketball. The events of the day had him in knots.

Jack went back and got his bike. Hurrying over to his building, he carried the bicycle up the stairs. He unlocked his door without even taking it off his shoulder. Once inside, he made a beeline for his bedroom and his basketball gear.

Within five minutes, Jack was already on his way out when his phone rang. For a moment, he debated answering it, but thinking it might be Ted calling back with a bit of arcane DNA trivia, Jack picked it up. It was Laurie, and she was beside herself.

Jack crammed enough bills through the Plexiglas partition in the taxi to more than cover the fare and jumped out. He was in front of Laurie’s apartment building, where he’d been less than an hour earlier. Dressed in his basketball gear he raced to the front door and was buzzed in. Laurie met him in the elevator foyer on her floor.

“My god!” Jack wailed. “Look at your lip.”

“That will heal,” Laurie said stoically. Then she caught Debra Engler’s eye peering through the crack in her door. Laurie lunged at the woman and shouted for her to mind her own business. The door snapped shut.

Jack put his arm around Laurie to calm her and led her into her apartment.