Roy was with Magic Frank and the Viper in Meschina’s Delicatessen when he saw a girl sitting in a booth across from theirs who looked familiar. It was just before midnight on a Friday in April. The boys had been to a basketball game at Chicago Stadium and then gone to a party in their neighborhood, which turned out to be pretty dull, so they left and went to get something to eat. Roy couldn’t remember right away where he’d seen this girl before. She wore her honey blonde hair up in a ponytail and had a slender, curvy shape. Roy couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He did not recognize any of the other three girls who were sitting in the booth.
“You guys know who that girl is?” Roy asked his friends. “The one with the ponytail over there.”
“She’s good-lookin’,” said Frank, “but no.”
The Viper shook his head. “Wish I did. She looks older.”
“What do you mean older?” Roy said.
“Older than us.”
Roy and Magic Frank were sixteen, the Viper was fifteen and a half. The girl got up and one of her friends said, “Wait, Daisy, I’ll go with you.”
“Daisy Green,” said Roy. “I saw her at a party a few years ago. Ernie Nederland knew her.”
“Nederland?” said Magic Frank. “He piped a kid at Algren and got thrown out. I had a couple fights with him over at the park when we were in eighth grade. He was small but tough. Smart, too. Knew when to quit.”
Roy said, “Let me out,” and squeezed past the Viper.
He caught up with Daisy Green and her friend outside in front of Meschina’s.
A cold wind came up suddenly and Roy shivered. He’d left his jacket in the booth.
“Hello,” he said to Daisy Green. “We met once back in about sixth or seventh grade, at a party. My name’s Roy.”
“Gee, I don’t remember,” said Daisy.
“Well, we didn’t actually meet. Ernie Nederland told me who you were.”
Daisy Green laughed. She had a slight overbite, but other than that her teeth looked perfect.
“Ernie’s probably in jail,” she said.
“Or should be,” said her friend. “I’m Donna.”
“Hi, Donna,” said Roy.
He looked at her, then immediately forgot what she looked like.
“That was a long time ago,” Daisy said. “How did you recognize me?”
“I never forgot you since that night.”
“How romantic,” said Donna.
“Did we make out or anything?” Daisy asked.
Roy smiled. “No. Like I said, we weren’t even introduced. I thought you were the prettiest girl I’d ever seen. You still are.”
“He’s dangerous,” Donna said.
“Why didn’t you talk to me at that party?” said Daisy.
“I think you were there with somebody,” Roy said. “Do you want to come back in and sit with me and my friends? It’s cold out here.”
“There’s rain in the distance,” said Donna. “That’s what my grandmother always says when there’s a wind like this.”
“I can’t,” said Daisy. “I’ve got to go home.”
“Can I call you? What’s your number?”
“Do you have a good memory?”
“I remembered you all this time, didn’t I?”
“Rogers Park 4-32-32.”
“I’ll remember,” Roy said.
“Nice meeting you,” said Donna.
“Nice meeting you, too,” said Roy.
The girls turned away and Roy went back inside.
“We ordered,” said Frank.
Roy fished in a pocket of his jacket for a pen and wrote down Daisy’s telephone number on a paper napkin.
“You get anywhere?” asked the Viper.
“I got her phone number.”
“How old is she?” Magic Frank asked.
“I’m not sure,” said Roy. “She’s supposed to be dead by now.”
“Dead?” said Frank. “Why?”
“Ernie Nederland told me she had a heart problem and had already had a big operation and that she wasn’t supposed to live very much longer. She went with older guys he knew. Men. Nederland said she’d do anything.”
A waitress brought Frank and the Viper’s food to the table.
“You want something?” she asked Roy.
“He wants Daisy Green,” said the Viper.
“She ain’t on the menu,” the waitress said.
“Corned beef on rye and a ginger ale.”
The waitress left.
“Maybe she had another operation,” said Magic Frank, “and she’s okay now.”
The two girls with whom Daisy and Donna had been sitting got up from their booth and put on their coats. One whispered to the other and then the one who did the whispering came over and stood and looked at Roy. She was short and heavy with stringy brown hair.
“I heard what you said about Daisy,” she said. “About doing anything. I’m gonna tell her.”
Both girls walked away.
Roy stared at Daisy Green’s phone number on the napkin, then he folded it and put it into the right front pocket of his trousers.
“You should call her anyway,” said the Viper.