Friday, May 29th, 1992, twelve noon. The rain was coming down in buckets. Dr. Weinstein just finished up his backlog of patients from the day before. Tracey was taking an extended lunch--Mitzie needed a new prescription for worms. Man, of all days to pour, Dr. Weinstein thought while reading the Post Tribune on his desk, thunder and lightning booming outside. Let’s see here. Dr. Weinstein read the forecast for the rest of the day. A ray of hope. The paper said the rain should stop later in the evening. That could be any time, maybe even tomorrow. Dr. Weinstein thought he’d wait out the worst of the storm in his office--do some pleasure reading for a change--maybe look at other sections besides the headlines. He scanned the other sections. His eyes widened. This is interesting! Yeah, I’d like to stop by--maybe Laura would like to crash that party with me for few minutes tonight--should be good.
Dr. Weinstein couldn’t wait any longer. He put on his spring jacket, covered his head with the newspaper and ran to his car. He stopped at the drugstore across the street and called Rings. The overhead awning was barely wide enough to keep him dry as the thunder got louder.
“OH, HI J.J.,” Benny said loudly, recognizing the older voice on the line. “IT’S SOX. WHAT’S THE GOOD WORD?”
“Hey, son,” J.J. said. “Why are you yelling? My ears aren’t that bad.”
“It’s thundering. Speak up. I can hardly hear you.”
“You outside?” J.J. asked. “If you are, get your butt inside.”
“I will in a minute,” Benny said, speaking softer after the rumble faded.
“I heard you’ve been keeping real busy lately,” J.J. said. “Rings told me all about it. Now, stay out of trouble, you here?” J.J. said, coughing up some phlegm into his handkerchief. “What can I do for you? Need more stuff? You know your next order is on me.”
“Ha, ha,” Benny chuckled. “No more stuff for me--at least for a while. But thanks. I’d like to ask Rings something if he’s there.”
“He’s here,” J.J. said. “And I’m working him to death. You never know when someone will call and want to take him somewhere.”
Benny didn’t know how J.J. felt about the friendship he had with his young nephew until that moment. It could be J.J. figured his days were numbered and wanted someone to look after Rings.
“In fact, I was going to invite Rings out tonight. Is that okay? It won’t be until seven this evening.”
J.J. thought about that for second.
“Well, I suppose it’ll be all right. You know, that time of night we get busy. But a place like this is no place for a young man. I like seeing him have some fun for a change. He thinks the world of you.”
“I like him too, J.J. I won’t keep him out too long. I want him to meet on old girlfriend of mine.”
“Oh, he’d like that,” J.J. said. “I’ll put him on.”
“Hey Rings. Sox. You free tonight?”
“Could be. What’s you got in mind?” Rings asked, looking for J.J.’s approval.
“One of my old girlfriends invited me to a bar called the Brass Bomber in Portage to listen to a live band. Her daughter’s going to be there--she’s something else--patient of mine.”
“You gonna hook me up with her?”
“Naw, she’s married--a flirt, but married. Her name is Gail. She and her mother are driving down together and I thought you might want to keep her occupied for me.”
“Oh, second banana!” Rings jokingly said. “Sure, I’ll come. It’s on Route 12, isn’t it?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll pick you up at the shop at six-thirty. I got a new gun. A patient gave it to me. Got any spare bullets?”
“Bullets?” Rings said. “Yeah, we got bullets up the ass. You plan on using some tonight?”
“No, I just don’t want to go to a store and buy any. People could be looking.”
“Okay,” Rings said. “I’ll be watching for you.”