On Archimedes Street by Jefferson Parrish Read Free Book Online

“We have to burnish the honor of the Abbott name. Have we played the ‘Are We Related’ game yet? Actually, you two could pass for brothers.”
    “Pretty sure not,” said Flip. “I’m from Ohio, and Dutch is from—”
    “Right here,” said Dutch.
    “So, you’re all settled in?”
    “Actually, that would be no,” said Dutch. “We’re apartment hunting. We’re gonna be roomies. Isn’t that right, Flippie?”
    “Flippie” seethed inwardly.
    “We were thinking the Quarter,” said Dutch.
    “Oh, you’ll never be able to afford the Quarter,” said Honoria. “In fact, all of New Orleans has gotten expensive. Why don’t you try Gretna?”
    “The West Bank?” asked a horrified Dutch.
    “Oh, all you New Orleanians are alike,” said Honoria. “You’d think the West Bank was Schenectady or something. It’s fifteen minutes by car and just about the same by ferry.”
    Dutch, scowling, looked unconvinced.
    “In fact,” said Honoria, warming to her theme, “I love living in Old Gretna. I have a neighbor, a good friend who lives in a darling shotgun double with an empty apartment. It’s on a beautiful street with a glorious live oak canopy.”
    “Shotgun?” asked Flip.
    “Maybe you call them ‘railroad flats’ in Ohio,” said Honoria. “They’re called shotguns because you can shoot through the front door and directly out the back one.” Honoria, irritated at her own babbling, inwardly cursed her high titter. “There’s usually no hall except in front of the bathroom, so to get to the room at the back you have to walk through every room in the house.”
    “Oh.”
    “At any rate, my friend is sixty-six. She owns a shotgun double on Archimedes Street, a few doors down from me. She lives in 732, and I know 734 is currently vacant. I worry about her living alone there. Although she’s very spry, she is sixty-six, after all, and it would make me feel better to know two such able -bodied boys”—Dutch gave a soft grunt—“were next door in case she needed anything. Here”—she went to her desk and got a sticky note—“this is her number. Give her a call. I’m sure she’d be delighted to rent to two of my students. Her name is Ogorita Simmons.” She wrote down the name next to the number.
    “Thank you so much, Professor Abbott,” said Flip. “That’s really nice of you.”
    “Call me Honoria. And, really, you’d be doing me a favor, putting my mind at ease.”
    Well, that’s it , thought Flip. Brownie points. The West Bank it was, if he could afford it. Then he looked speculatively at Dutch. He liked the stunt bike part, but he wasn’t so sure about the rest. What was he setting himself up for, taking this guy on as a roommate?
    Outside the classroom, Dutch added to Flip’s mounting reservations. “Ogorita!” he snorted, then guffawed. “Filiberto! Haw! Haw! Haw!”
    Flip went at the taller man’s head with his thick laboratory manual, thwacking him two times.
    “Owie! Owie!”
    Inside the classroom, Honoria flipped open her cell phone and punched a button. “Rita! I gave Mighty Meat and Blondie your number! They’re looking for a place together,” she said, pitching her voice high.
    “Honoria Abbott, you’re the only woman on Earth who can combine a titter with a leer,” said Rita.
    “I know,” said Honoria. “Just one of my many talents.”

Chapter 5
     
     
    E D GOT off the Jackson Avenue ferry and started to wander the streets of Gretna without destination. He thought maybe a strip mall would be a good place to start the job hunt. Somewhere with small businesses, with a chance to get paid under the table if the wage was low enough. But as he headed for this hypothetical strip mall, he found himself in the green, dappled tunnel of a quiet, mainly residential street. At the head of the tunnel were two commercial buildings, a two-story boxy grocery with the sign “LaNasa’s” opposing a single-story store with the sign “Gretna Best Hardware.” The tunnel was