I made a handful of calls the next morning, stopped at the Cap’n for lunch, and told James that Em and I were back to normal.
“There’s no normal with you guys.”
“Well, as close to normal as possible. Listen, I want to go back to the warehouse one more time.”
“I’m not that stupid, pard.”
“Well, I am.”
“You’re on your own this time, Skip.” He headed back into the kitchen to make someone a crab sandwich and I finished my po’boy and left.
He pulled up in the truck about seven fifteen, stepped into the apartment, and immediately walked to the refrigerator, pulling a beer from the inside of the door. “What time do you want to go?”
“Go?”
“Oh, fuck. You know I can’t let you drive down there by yourself. You’ll do something stupid like the last time and get yourself shot. I’d have to call your mom and try to find that worthless asshole father of yours and tell them you’ve been killed, and I’m not going to go through all that shit. What time are we leaving?”
“Nine?”
“Just the two of us?”
“I thought about that. If we need a gun, we need Angel.”
“Shit.” He pulled the keys to the truck from his pocket, took a long swallow of beer, and motioned to me. We walked out, got into the truck, and drove to Gas and Grocery. The tiny carryout was open, but Angel wasn’t there.
“What do we do now?”
I shook my head. Angel had always been there. “Stick around a couple of minutes.”
Half an hour later I went inside and asked the old lady behind the counter to leave a message for Angel.
“What the hell I look like? Voicemail?”
“No, I just thought if he happened to stop by-”
“We close at nine. You want him to get a message, you go find him.”
I walked back to the truck and shrugged my shoulders. “We’re on our own, James.”
“Been that way most of our adult lives, Skip. I think we can manage.”
We drove back to the apartment, pulled in beside the rusted-out Ranchero, and went inside. James finished the warm beer.
“This is about paying a debt, right?” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Some of it is.”
“You and me, Skip, we’d do that for each other.”
“Sure.”
“But you’d do it for someone you don’t really know. You’d try to save someone because they saved you.”
“There’s other reasons.”
“You want to protect your lady and the new kid.”
I remember glaring at him. His psychoanalysis was getting a little overbearing.
“I’m right.”
“James, maybe I’m doing this because I’m afraid for my own life. If I don’t get them, they’ll get me.”
He smiled that cocksure smile of his. “Nah. You care about people, amigo. You’ve got people and situations that you really care about. It’s what makes you a strong person. It’s what I like about you, pard.”
“And you? What are you really in this for?”
He didn’t pause a second. “Because you’re in it. It’s you and me, Skip. Hell, I guess if you and what’s-her-name ever do get married, you’ll have to have a guest room for me to live in.” He grinned.
“Fuck you, James.”
“I said you’re my best friend, buddy. But I won’t go that far.”