“What should we drink?” she asked.
“It’s pretty chilly outside right now, don’t you think? How about some hot chocolate?”
“Let’s drink beer.”
“Er, okay, but it’s morning time. Although I guess it is five o’clock somewhere on the planet, am I right?”
“Big ones,” the woman said. “Big as elephants.”
“I’ve never seen one.”
“Seen what?”
“A beer as big as an elephant.”
“No, you wouldn’t have.”
“I might have,” I said. “Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything.”
“What did you say?”
“I was going to tell you that I’m running a workshop for the Bronx Writers Center. That’s in the Bronx, by the way.”
“Could we try it?”
“Well, sure, it’s a free workshop. Anybody can try it.”
“Is it good with water?”
“It is for me. All that speaking makes my mouth parched. But I try to make it interactive, so it’s not just me yammering on the whole time. Though I will be doing a lot of yammering.”
“It tastes like licorice.”
“What’s that now?”
“Yes, everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for, like absinthe.”
“Or this workshop! It’s about dialogue in writing. It’s called ‘Say What? Using Dialogue in Your Writing’ on Saturday, January 20. Get it? ‘Say What?’ I thought of that all by myself.”
“Wasn’t that bright.”
“From noon to 2 p.m. At the Bronx Library Center, 310 East Kingsbridge Road. Also in the Bronx, by the way. I’m taking the bus to get there because taking the train would take forever. I could take a CitiBike, but this high up in the Bronx, we don’t rate. Are you going to be there?”
“I guess so.”
“Oh, and it’s free. There’s a plus. But you should really RSVP.”
“Should we have another drink?”
“I guess. But who’s buying?”