“He was upset.”

“What did he say?”

“I don’t remember his exact words…something like…he hates when she gets like this. He was going to have to go home to talk to her because a phone call won’t cut it.”

“When she gets like this? She’s broken up with him before?”

“Yeah, they fought all the time.”

“About what?”

“Things. Guy/girl things.”

“Can you give me an example?”

“He complained that Adrianna was overbearing…checking up on him too much. And she had no business doing that ’cause she really wasn’t an angel herself.” Otis looked at his lap. “I really shouldn’t talk for Garth.”

“What about her side?”

“I don’t know about her side. I’m friends with Garth.”

“And yet she called you to say that she was leaving him. What does that mean?”

“That she had my phone number and didn’t want to talk to Garth.”

Marge leaned in closer. “It’s more than that. I think Adrianna and you were pretty tight yourselves.”

“Not at all.” Eyes averted.

“Maybe you want to think about that statement, Aaron.” Marge pulled back to give him a little breathing room. “Did you know that Adrianna kept a diary?”

A blush ran through the man’s face. Although Adrianna talked about trysts with other men, she didn’t use names. Marge had no idea if one of the assignations had been with Aaron, but if Otis was like most men, he would deem himself important enough to make an entry.

“Aaron?”

“It wasn’t serious.”

“It was more than a one-night stand,” Marge lied.

“It was a one-night stand that happened maybe three or four times. It meant nothing to either one of us. She’d get mad at Garth and fool around because Garth was fooling around on her.”

“So why didn’t they just break up?”

“Obviously she did break up with him. Or at least was gonna break up with him.”

“What took her so long?”

“I dunno. They’ve been having problems for a while.”

“Well, why do you think Garth stayed with her?”

“Because she was hot. At least that’s what I think.”

“You know that from firsthand experience?”

“C’mon, cut me some slack.”

“She’s dead, Aaron. I need to know everything. Why do you say she was hot?”

The young man seemed to wilt. “She’d do things that a lot of girls wouldn’t do. Nothing was off-limits. Plus, she gave Garth money.”

“She sounds like the perfect girlfriend. Why would he cheat on her?”

A lopsided grin. “’Cause guys are dogs.”

An adequate if not totally fair summation of the opposite sex. But Adrianna had her lapses as well. “If she was so hot, Aaron, why only three or four times?”

“It was her idea to stop.”

“Were you upset by that?”

“Nah, it was cool.”

“So why was she upset if Garth fooled around when she was fooling around?”