Hanging out by Bernie's mom's pool would be nice.

Gary buckled up again, and started Stuart's Super Surf Van back onto the road.

Driving around aimlessly, he took a short turn by the beach at the edge of downtown. He stopped at the beach parking lot, but nobody he knew seemed to be around. Maybe he could just hang out at Bernie's house until Bernie and Lil were done with their shopping trip. He fished out his phone again and called Bernie's house. The phone rang through to Bernie's mom saying, "Hello, this is Joyce, leave a message for me or Bernie after the tone."

"Ms. Bernstein?" he said to the machine. "Um, Joyce? This is Gary. I dropped off Bernie and Lil and I wondered if I could come over and hang out in the pool or something till they're done." He waited a second to see if she would answer. Maybe she was in the bathroom? Or back by the pool herself. "Maybe I can pick up anything you need for dinner?" No answer. He hung up.

Gary was pretty close to Bernie's house, so he decided to just drive over and see if Joyce was there. He parked in front of the house and picked up his suit and towel in case he had a chance to swim. He walked through the front yard and knocked. After a couple of minutes he knocked again. Maybe if she was out back she couldn't hear. He walked round and looked over the side gate that opened on the back yard, getting ready to call to Bernie's mom if she was out back by the pool.