August, 1964
Outside, in Chicago, it’s humid and partly cloudy, and just inside the window Henry Deacon sits in a leather-backed armchair staring at the bubbly islands in his coffee. It’s damn good coffee. He shakes the cup a little, the bubbles hiss. The girl had just brewed a fresh pot when he arrived and he’s about halfway through, trying to stretch it out, too much makes for a trip down the hall and it’s kinda hard, this here’s some fine brew.
It’s all part of the setup.
“So will you think about it, Deke?”
Henry looks up at Lew Meyer, who is probably just a year or two shy of getting his name on the building. “Oh I’m already thinking about it Lew”.
“It’ll do us both good.”
Deke looks up at him, then to the window. “So have you talked to the people there?”
“Sure I have, they’re really nice, they need us, Henry.”
“They need a wise-ass and an old fart to come solve their problems? Lew, we’re not talking city folk here, either -"
“Hey now I resent that remark...I’m not old, Henry.”
They exchange wry grins.
"And I've never been that far out of town, can they handle...different?"
"Henry...look, I've been there a few times and didn't see any white hoods, if that's what you mean -"
"Well -"
"Just, you don't have to unpack right away if you're that concerned, but I did casually mention your race, I hope that's OK, and people seemed intrigued actually-"
"So I'll be a novelty."
"Is that so bad?"
Deke looks at his mug for a few moments. “Is the coffee this good there, Lew?”
“If you want it to be, we’ll just have to make it ourselves.”
Deke smiles. “Is Deborah on board with this?”
“She’s....curious, I’d say. Not excited but I get the feeling she wouldn’t mind a change, an adventure. How about you, any reason to stick around? Any...two-legged reason in particular?”
“Oh no, Lew, c’mon...” He laughs, “Naw, nothing goin on like that, just, you know, all I’ve known is the city and the navy, hell, even stuck around here for school.”
“And from what I hear they did a good job.”
Deke smiled and slipped down the last of the coffee. “How soon do you need an up or down?”
“Give me a call in a couple days, we’ll have you over for supper later in the week.”
“Sounds good, Lew, will do,” as he leans in for a handshake.