you'll tell him of your interest in opera

Then Old Bobby said, " So Eva Gardner said, because that little wap is one hundred and twenty five pounds of solid dick." Littlegirlcop laughed, Irish Joe laughed, John and Jon laughed too. There were more people at the table but the others were caught up in their own conversations and didn't hear Old Bobby's story.

Old Bobby wasn't as old as he looked, but two pacemakers, a blown-out shoulder and years trying to quench his strong thirst put at least ten years on his sixty-three year old body. He said all pro athletes need either a manager or a wife, and he'd prefer a manager, but truth was he had neither. There were a handful of people from the club that watched out for him, but that wasn't a good substitute. In his youth he was quite an athlete. In fact some of his records still held. And on a wall of the restaurant where they ate, with photos of regulars, local heros and a few movie stars was a black and white photo of a younger Bobby with his record time written below it. The photo was from a time when races were measured in miles not kilometers.

It was Irish Joe that got Bobby talking about Sinatra, He'd asked him which wife was the mother of Nancy, Joe said he liked her singing too. Irish Joe didn't look like a Nancy Sinatra fan, thought Murphy, but sometimes it was hard to tell. It was also Irish Joe that managed to find a place in the conversation to mention that this was Pride Weekend. To this point, Littlegirlcop would've only figured Joe was proud on March seventeenth or when the Sox beat the Yankees. Murphy checked for a wedding band and didn't see one, though that never meant too much. Littlegirlcop was reminded of a phrase, "dropping their beads" in his nineteen seventy seven, pre AIDS copy of the Joy of Gay Sex, in a section about how to spot another gay man.

"In straight business or social situations, gay people are understandably slow to come out to one another. But they will "drop their beads" (as queens used to say) one by one, until the full necklace lays on the floor. He'll mention the ballet, you'll tell him of your interest in opera. He'll name the notorious or questionable resort he visited on his last vacation. You'll admit your love of Fire Island."

Littlegirlcop might have more in common with Irish Joe than he had thought. They both enjoyed Old Bobby's stories. Maybe they needed to start talking about Fire Island.