She took the bottle of Stoly from where it was standing next to my right hand and put it back in the freezer. With a sponge, she wiped up the spilt juice.

“That’s ridiculous. I’m straight. Aren’t you?” I’m not sure how loud I said it, because she didn’t say anything in reply.

Instead she walked over to where the phone was sitting on the counter and dialed a number. The T-shirt I had loaned her drooped off one shoulder again.

“Is Alfredo there?” she asked into the receiver. They must have put her on hold, because she looked over at me and said, “Tow truck operator.”

The birds outside punctuated the uncomfortable silence that continued between us.

“¿Alfredo?” she cooed into the telephone after a minute.

“¿Como estas, mí amor? Look, honey, what time are you going to get off work? Okay. Good. I’ll meet you tonight at eight. Yes. The usual place. Yes. Okay. Good-bye, mi amor.” As she hung up, she gave me a superior smile.

Myself, I was in such a hurry to get away from her I didn’t say good-bye.

I went to the gym. There’s nothing better when you have things on your mind. It is not possible to lift heavy weights and worry at the same time. It was a leg day. As I was stretching, I decided that I would work my glutes and hips. Although I am a typical mesomorph, a firm fanny is possible. I started step-ups on a bench and did two hundred with ten-pound weights in my hands.

“Behind every great behind is a great mind,” I heard Rodney say as I was sweating and shaking through the last twenty-five step-ups. I glanced down off the bench at him. He was wearing yellow-and-black leopard skin tights and a black Raiders ballcap.

I asked him what I should do next.

“A couple deadlifts for your back, then clean and jerk to get legs and arms.” He pointed over to the rack of barbells near the end of the room, where the immense former warehouse door was open to the sun. I followed him over there. He told me he thought I was ready for fifty pounds. I didn’t know if I was or not, but I took it from the rack. I closed my eyes and envisioned myself bringing the weight from the floor to my waist and then hoisting it above my head. The human nervous system cannot tell the difference between a real and an imagined experience.

“What happened? You hit yourself in the face with one of the weights?” Rodney asked.