Peach and strawberry pastries today. Iâll bring you one of each.â
âSounds good.â He took a long swig of coffee. âI am already addicted to this coffee.â
âGood.â She disappeared into the back.
Matthew sat in the middle booth, pushing his jacket against the wall and watching the sunlight intensify. Peaceful. This place is peaceful. It doesnât make sense. Iâm sucking down caffeine and feeling peaceful. I wonder if Angela has Wi-Fi. I could come here every morning, âborrowâ her Internetâ
âSo about last night . . .â Angela stood beside him, holding out a plate of peach and strawberry pastries.
She moves stealthily in those black walking shoes, and there are at least six pastries on that plate. âWill you join me?â
âFor a few minutes I can,â she said, sliding onto the bench seat opposite him. âThe church crowd wonât be here for at least half an hour.â She folded her hands in front of her. âSo tell me why your jacket got high last night.â
âI went to a protest that turned into a block party that turned into a house party in Queens.â
Angela blinked and shook her head. âWhyâd you go to a house party all the way over in Queens?â
âI needed an adventure.â
âI didnât mean it that way,â Angela said. âI meant, whyâd you go out to Queens for adventure? Whatâs wrong with finding adventure in Williamsburg?â
âNothing. I just wanted to get away, you know?â
âNo, I donât know,â Angela said. âIâm kind of glued to this place. Iâm open seven days a week.â
âOh, right.â No days off? Thatâs a raunchy deal. âDonât you ever get sick of where you are sometimes and have to go somewhere else to realize that where youâre from isnât all that bad?â
âI know what youâre saying.â She pointed at the pastries. âTheyâre getting cold.â
âOh.â He sampled one of the peach pastries. âDelicious.â
âThank you.â
Her hands never stay still. Is she nervous? âTrust me, Angela, I like Williamsburg a whole lot better than I will ever like Queens. I donât think Iâll be going back anytime soon.â
âWhat happened?â she asked.
She seems genuinely interested. Something about her eyes. Great eye contact. Theyâre hard to look away from. âWell, I met a woman who later fought with another woman who was her ex from prison, and I spent the night in Queens criminal court trying to get the first womanâs charges reduced.â
Angelaâs eyes popped. âYouâre a lawyer?â
Why doesnât anyone believe Iâm a lawyer? âSometimes.â
âYou donât look like one.â
âIâll take that as a compliment,â Matthew said.
She looked around the back of the booth at the front door. âNot that I know what a lawyer is supposed to look like.â She faced him again. âGo on with your story. Did you get her charges reduced?â
âMiraculously, I did,â Matthew said. âShe still has to go back to prison for three years for violating her parole, but I got the assault charge dropped because of self-defense and the assault on a police officer dropped completely.â
âYour date assaulted a cop?â Angela asked.
âWell, she wasnât exactly my date,â he said. âWe met at the party.â
âOh.â Angela narrowed her eyes. âSo you hooked up with her at this party.â
Well, we almost did. Too much bass in the bathroom. âWe hung out.â
âUh huh.â She sipped her coffee. âAnd this hookup assaulted a cop.â
Angela certainly gets to the point. âWe didnât hook up. She broke the copâs nose when he grabbed her, um, her buttocks.â
Angela shook her head slightly.