“Hey, Cat, this is Ivan. I hate to call and leave you a message so late on a weeknight, but I just wanted to apologize to you for how we’ve fallen apart as friends. I mean, I know it’s a cold world out here for a girl, but…it ain’t that easy for a guy, either. It’s a lot of tough decisions that gotta be made, day after day. Anyway…call me. Let’s chit-chat.”

By the time Ivan pulled into his apartment complex, Catherine was calling him back.

He read her number and answered, “Hey.”

“Hi, Ivan, I just wanted to call you back to tell you that I’m all right,” she responded. “I understand what you’re up against out there. And I wish you all the best of luck. But your brother pretty much explained everything to me. I was being a typical spiteful woman. But at the end of it all, you just gotta do what you gotta do. And I need to respect that.”

That all sounded good to Ivan, everything but the brother part.

He said, “My brother explained everything to you?” That didn’t sound right, unless the explanation led past words. That was more his big brother’s style: use whatever you have to use to hit the skins.

Catherine answered, “Yeah, that night at the party. I mean, I really got messed up, so he basically had to drive me home that night. And on the way, he told me everything that you were trying to do, you know, with taking care of his family and whatnot. I mean, he really explained a lot of stuff. And he’s proud of you and what you’re doing. So I really had to back up and understand the position you’re in.”

Ivan was at a loss for words. He thought, Damn! My brother’s proud of me? And he told her everything about his three sons and three mothers. That’s crazy! I must be really doing something, then.

He said, “So…D. told you all of that?”

Catherine chuckled. “Yeah. Why, you don’t think he should be proud of what you’re doing?”

“I mean, I guess. But you thought I was tripping when I first started talking about throwing parties.”

“It was just so different for you, that’s all. You never were even a party person. But it’s late, so…I’ll just talk to you tomorrow or whatever.”

“Okay. Have a good sleep.”

“You, too.”

Ivan hung up his phone, climbed out of his car, and felt great. Everything was falling into place for him. So when he spotted Julio up on the second level of the complex, smoking a cigarette instead of a blunt, he remembered to ask him about his cousin in the Dr. Dre camp.

“Hey, Julio, what it is, what it is, man?” he asked, extending his hand for a shake.