Jake knocked on Fred’s front door. He waited a little while, then knocked again. “Fred,” he called, “You in there?” He stood out there longer, but there was no response. It began to drizzle. He knocked one more time, and Fred finally opened the door, a dazed and far away expression on his face.
“What do you want?” Fred asked.
“I want to come talk to you.”
“Come in,” Fred said reluctantly, emotionlessly.
Jake and Fred sat down in the living room, and Jake told his friend of everything that happenned starting with the phone call. As Jake continued, Fred got more and more animated, and by the time Jake told him about Frank’s lie about Fred being an addict, Fred was laughing hysterically.
“And you believed him?” Fred asked through laughs.
“Not really,” Jake replied, laughing too. “But Fred,” he began, changing the subject, “Why did you mess up at band practice and then run out on us?”
“Well, I got a phone call too, today, and believe me, it wasn’t anything close to as good as yours.”