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question,” she said.
    “You haven’t told me your name,” he replied.
    Nikki continued to stare at him.   “You know my name,” she said.
    Mo swallowed hard.   She was always so direct with people, always uninterested in anybody’s bullshit.   She hadn’t changed a bit.   “How have you been?” he asked her.
    She thought about this, as, he also remembered, was her way.   “Not good,” she admitted.
    His heart dropped.   “Why not?” he asked her.
    A faintness came across her face, a kind of you don’t tell me your sad stories, I won’t tell you mine acceptance.  
    “Tell me,” he said.
    “There’s no one thing to tell.   It's just the general direction my life has taken, that’s all.   It’s not been a good turn.”   Then she looked at him.   “What about you?   How have things been going for you?”
    Mo moved his head side to side, as if it had gone either way.   “Not good,” he said, and they both chuckled.
    “Neither one of us seemed to have set the world on fire,” Nikki mused with a smile.
    “Not at all,” Mo replied.  
    And then they just sat there, allowing the conversation to stall.   Remembering what it was they had remembered about each other.   It was too much to digest for both of them, and neither knew what they wanted to do about it.
    For Nikki, it was a matter of timing.   She was just trying to jumpstart her sinking career and the last thing she needed right now was the distraction of a man who’d already told her there was no future there.  
    But for Mo it was the fear factor.   It was the belief that Nikki could never be like all of the other women in his life.   Those women gave him good conversation, good sex, and no commitments.   After sex they went to their homes or he went to his, and he rarely gave them a second thought.   He’d had only one encounter with Nikki, an encounter that wasn’t even a fait accompli , but not only did he give her a second thought, he couldn’t get her off of his mind for nearly a year!   She wasn’t like those other women.   He feared that he’d become so committed to Nikki, so devoted to her, that she’d do as his deceased wife had done, as every woman he’d ever become devoted to had done, and break his heart.
    “Where are you living?” he asked her.
    “Off Timuquana, near the air base.
    “Alone?”
    Nikki hesitated.   “Yes.”
    “But you have a young man in your life?”
    Again Nikki hesitated.   “No,” she said.
    Mo frowned. “Why not Nikki?”
    “Why not what?”
    “Why don’t you have somebody to help you out?   To be there for you.   To take care of you?”
    What was his problem, Nikki wondered?   He was behaving as if he was offended that she was alone.   “I take care of myself,” she said.
    And it was only then did Mo realize that he had gone too far.   But Nikki did that to him.   From the moment he first met her two years ago, he always felt that surge of protectiveness whenever she was in his presence.
    But Nikki couldn’t turn it off that easily.   She felt a need to explain.   He had hit a raw nerve.   “It’s my choice to live alone,” she said.
    “So if a wonderful young man comes along, perfect for you, you wouldn’t be interested?”
    “That hasn’t happened so I can’t tell you what I’d be.”
    Mo stared at her.   She got the feeling that her answer disturbed him.   For some reason his reaction only made her feel combative.   “What about you?” she asked him.   “Your wife died, what?   Almost four years ago now?   Do you live alone?”
    Now it was Mo’s time to hesitate.   “Yes,” he said.
    “But you have a girlfriend, right?   That perfect person perfect for you?”
    Nikki could see a shade of sadness come into his eyes.   “No,” he admitted.
    “So don’t criticize my leaky-ass boat when you’re in one, too.   All right?”
    Mo smiled.   The kid had guts.   “Yes, ma’am,” he said.   And he decided it was best to move on.