I decided to go and see  Evelyn.

Evelyn has been one of the best friends I ever had.

Sometimes, indeed, an intimate friend.

Sometimes we had happened to be in the same places, sometimes even in the same hotels.

She might say: “I need sex. So do you presumably. Let’s have a decent meal and go to bed.”

She had a taut slim little body.

Yes, we have cared about each other. And trusted each other. Perhaps the physical connection is why the trust is so strong.

As if sensing me, she said: “We’re good friends, very good ones. and I am glad you have found someone.”

I don’t think there is anyone in her life right now.

I am lucky to have known Evelyn.

I stayed with her a few days and we did some nice stuff together. Like I persuaded her to come with me to hear Lee Konitz play.

He is an old man now, well into his eighties, and he played to just a handful of people in a hotel near LAX, one of those drab stopover hotels with function rooms.

We rode the public transit system as far as we could.  Evelyn is pleased about the extension of the Expo Line to Culver City, where we called an Uber to take us down to the airport. She loves the ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber.

And of course I told what had happened in the last few days with Jamie.

“I don’t know Jamie well but I’m sure you can trust him,” she said. “Do it.”