"Single?" the girl behind the counter asked Blue.
"Who me?' Tommy responded dimwittedly.
"Just don't even tell me you're going to start down that road. sugar, I meant the cone. Single or double scoop. Actually, you're a pretty tall order yourself, how ' bout a triple?" the girl continued, obviously flirtatious but in no mood to hear the same old puns for what Blue quickly guessed had occurred far too often.
Tommy was supposed to be something of an ice cream freak, according to Vinny, who had made it clear, several times, during their ride over to Jen and Barry's Ice Cream Parlor that they were on a mission to complete the ultimate JumpJuice rush. Blue had decided to go along with whatever Vinny wanted to do for a couple of days, if he could live through it. That would give him time to figure out who he was and what he could do with the OmegaLux Crystal, if anything. Blue was a little concerned that he may not be able to keep pace with Vinny's JumpJuice schedule, but the ice cream was definitely going to be a welcome tonic for the dry mouth he was experiencing. So Blue went for the double.
"Better make it a triple!", Vinny laughed and slapped Tommy on the back. Blue smiled reluctantly in the girl's direction and she eagerly heaped three large scoops of "Funky Monkey" onto a chocolate dipped sugar cone.
The cone went down surprisingly easily. In fact, it was so delicious and consumable that Blue was finding it easier and easier to assume the person of Tommy. He was far more comfortable being someone completely different from himself than he had ever thought he could be. He was thinking that he was either like Tommy on several levels or that people are like one another, in general, on a far more basic and essential level than he had ever imagined.
"I just love to watch you eat that shit, Tommy," Vinny beamed, " it does my heart good to see my little brother so happy. I mean, you seem to be really happy, and you haven't mentioned Victor Alonso or Sal Lorenzo the entire time we have been hangin' together."
Blue turned white.
He wasn't sure what to say. He really liked Vinny. He wanted a friend, maybe even better, a brother, but this was weird. If he exposed himself, Vinny could never be expected to understand. If he told Vinny and Vinny understood, Vinny would realize that his brother really was dead. So Blue said, "I just don't even want to think about those guys."
"Yeah, Tommy, I can tell," Vinny apologized, I didn't mean to ruin your buzz man!"
Tommy responded," What the Varst!, let's get another bastin' cone and forget about it!"
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