Page 59 of Out on a Limb

“Do you want some pizza?” Cameron asked.

Hobie nodded.

“We have pepperoni and one with green pepper and onion,” Henry said.

“Do you have plain cheese?” Hobie asked.

Over Hobie’s head, Nolan shook his head no to Cameron.

“Sure we do, pal!” Cameron said. “We’re having a cheese pizza delivered just for you!”

“I can share it,” Hobie said.

“You’re so generous, Hobie!” Greg said, and the guys chimed in with agreement. Hobie smiled and shied at the attention.

Hobie motioned for Cameron to squat down. “Do you have any toys?” He whispered.

Cameron scanned his apartment and found furniture and books, two things no kid wanted to play with. Hobie watched a middle-aged woman having an emotional breakdown outside of a waxing salon. His eyes bulged at the sight.

“You don’t have any toys?” He asked. The fact that he was stuck here was sinking in fast. Cameron remembered going to his grandparents’ house and being bored out of his mind. This apartment had to be more fun than a senior citizen’s house.

“Hobie…” Cameron started, hoping an idea would come to him. “We’re going to play a game.” More furniture, more books. A pile of pizza and beer boxes. “It’s going to be so much fun.”

His head whipped back to the boxes. He smiled. “A lot of fun.”

CHAPTER eighteen

Walker

Fucking Radiance.He muttered that to himself on his drive to Cameron’s apartment. He would never use their shampoo again. He finally finished going through all of the research data on their advertising. All it showed was that their creative sucked. His team was getting the commercials and ads shown in the right places, but people weren’t connecting with the creative. How could any of that change for their review?

Walker wanted to leave work to pick up Hobie, but his whole team was slaving away. They could afford to. Most of them were single or didn’t have kids. Lucy’s kids were in afterschool activities and could take care of each other. When he went into Patricia’s office, she said it was okay for him to leave, but her eyes told a different story. If he cared about his career, he would choose wisely.

The golden handcuffs.That’s how they get you, he thought. With each new promotion, with each raise, he bought more stuff. He felt he had to compete with Doug, whose practice was successful almost immediately. Especialy after the divorce, he didn’t want Hobie to think that only one parent could provide a good life for him. If Doug insisted on sticking him into a million different groups, then Walker would gladly pay for half.

He parked at the curb and raced up to the front door where he buzzed Cameron’s apartment. He had known a girl who lived in this complex. She tried to get him and Doug to have a threesome with her. That was a weird night.

“It’s Walker,” he shouted into the speaker, and was buzzed in a second later.

He took the stairs two at a time. Walker heaved for breath by the time he reached Cameron’s apartment.

Cameron opened the door, himself heaving for breath.

“Thank you so much,” Walker said. “How was it?”

Before Cameron could answer, Hobie ran up to the door with a huge smile stamped on his face. A tsumani of relief rolled through Walker.

“Dad! You gotta see my robot!” Hobie pulled him by the hand into the apartment. He waved to Cameron’s friends sitting on the couch, all of them looking wiped out. The dining table was pushed to the side, and empty bottles were arranged as a bowling alley. A ball of foil rested beside them.

But the main attraction lurked in the living room. A robot made of cardboard stretched six feet in the air. A stepladder rested next to it, presumably so Hobie could reach the top.

The robot had legs made of folded pizza boxes. A few pizza boxes taped together created its wide, square stomach and chest. Then the head and hands were crafted from six pack containers with the dividers as fingers.

“His name is Beerza!” Hobie exclaimed. “He’s like the box people we used to make on Christmas!”

Bigger than anything they ever made. Walker marveled at the size and scope—and that this was the last thing he thought he’d find in here.

“I didn’t have any toys in the apartment.” Cameron said with a modest shrug.