Tears of Shame--Chapter 8
Howie couldn't believe his ears. He was still getting over the initial shock that Raquel had contacted him. That in itself showed to him that she was a keeper. "You are not!" he laughed at the lunacy in her words.

Raquel giggled. "Fraid so!"

Howie dropped his cell phone and burst out laughing.

"What's gotten into D?" Nick asked. Since his pals had taken his Super Nintendo away, he decided to make use of some other hidden talents. He was currently working on a comic strip.

"Raquel is on the phone!" he said incredulously.

AJ rolled his eyes. "Howard's not used to people chasing after him…he was a dork in high school."

Howie scowled, "I was not!"

"Oh c'mon man…you know all the cool people wanted to be a guest on your Macho and Camacho show!" Brian laughed, spitting bits of doughnut over Nick's shoulder.

"Gross! B, man…say it don't spray it!" Nick wrinkled his nose.

"Did I ever tell you that I have a bunch of losers for friends?" Howie questioned into the receiver. "It's like pulling teeth, to get privacy around here!" he said with annoyance.

Raquel's voice then took on a more grave tone. "Howie…some weird creep was following me in the terminal," she said lowly, in case anyone was listening in to her conversation.

"What do you mean?" he asked worriedly.

"I mean…some scary gangster looking guy was chasing me!"

"You're serious?!" he asked.

"Uh…deathly," she said nervously, remembering the man. "You know…"

"Hmmm?"

"I think he was carrying a camera."

There was a muffled noise coming from the other end of the phone.

Raquel furrowed her brows. "Ummm…" It sounded as if Howie were laughing!

"Howard…this isn't funny!" she said seriously.

"Did he have a little mustache?"

"I think so…"

"And you said he looked Latino?"

"Yeah…."

"Haaaa HAAAAA!!!" Howie bellowed into the phone.

She rolled her eyes and sat back, waiting impatiently as he laughed.

After a few moments he cleared his throat.

"Are you through?" she asked.

"Man that guy won't ever stop!" He started hooting again.

Raquel realized now that there was no point in asking him what he was laughing at. "Howie!!" she said firmly. "Give the phone to Brian!"

"Yo what's up, girl?" came Brian's voice.

"An explanation would be nice…"

"Dude! You were being chased by Howie's very own paparazzi! That was Camacho!"

Raquel shook her head "high school friend?" she asked sarcastically.

"Actually, yes. Him and D had a love/hate friendship all through school…they're way past the honeymoon stage."

Raquel laughed. "So what the hell did he want with me?"

"Pictures for the Enquierer? The Globe? Who knows. He evidently found out you and Howie were an item…"

Despite Raquel's anger at this weirdo, she couldn't help but laugh. In a weird way…it was quite flattering. "Are there going to be pictures of me all over the tabloids or something?" she joked.

Silence.

"Brian?"

"Talk to me!" he said as if the conversation were just starting out.

"What if he took pictures of me?!"

"Then we're just gonna have to bust his shit!" she shrieked.

Evidently her voice was audible to the others: "Then we're just gonna have to bust his shit!" Nick said gleefully.

Howie cuffed Nick on the head. "The only thing that's gonna be whooped is your bony little butt!"

"I do not have a bony butt!" Nick scoffed, promptly running to the bathroom to look at it in the mirror.

"We'll see Raquel…we'll see." Howie murmured.


Chapter 9