“Kyla left today,” I said after a little while.

“Left?”

“Left town.  Moved to Illinois so her children could be closer to Aiden.”

“How are they?  Happily ever after?”

“Hardly.  Divorced.  Friends.  Awkward.  Great kids though.”

Glen smiled at that remark.  I wondered if he had children.  Maybe he had nieces and nephews.  Clay definitely seemed like the family type.  Or worse.  Spencer.  Spencer could have children.

“I know what you mean.  I have a nephew that’s just awesome.  He laughs at everything.  Likes me an awful lot too.  Which is always a good thing.”  Glen smiled and took another sip.  I was afraid to ask but I couldn’t help myself.

“Clay’s or Spencer’s?”

He looked at me with surprise.  I guess because he hadn’t expected me to be so comfortable talking about her.  I never had been before.  After we broke up, I never mentioned her.  We would exist, and sometimes in the same rooms and same classes, but we never really talked to or about each other.  It was the hollowest feeling in the world.  So hollow that I almost longed for that day when she would leave town.  Until she actually did.

“Clay’s.  He’s Clay’s son.  Three years old and full of joy.  What I wouldn’t give to be back there.  Know what I mean?”

“Yeah I guess.  Except when I was three, my dad was traveling and my mom was already a bitch.”

“Ha.  You remember that far back?”

“No.  I’m just assuming.”

“The earliest memory I have is when I was five.  I remember playing in my backyard in Akron with Spence.  Well, not really playing with her, more torturing her, but she didn’t really mind.  She worshipped me.  Even when she knew that I was wrong.  I mean seriously, mud pies ARE NOT edible.”

“No way!  You made her eat actual mud?  That’s horrible.”  I was laughing at the thought of a four year old Spencer chewing on a mouthful of mud.

“Hey, she was just as bad as I was.”

“I’m sure.  Spencer really seems vindictive.”

We chatted for a while.  He told me about the University of Ohio and his glory days playing basketball there.  He graduated and became a writer for a sports magazine.  He was in Los Angeles covering the Lakers.  They had a game on Saturday against the Pistons.  Apparently this was a big deal and people liked to read about it.  I just smiled politely and nodded a lot.  I stopped listening until I heard Spencer’s name again.