Page 60 of Now or Never

Mr. Big trotted up to Jug, stopped, and growled at me.

“That’s nice,” I said. “He remembers me.”

“You punted him halfway across my lawn.”

“I’m sorry. It was a reflex action. He was trying to kill me.”

“What do you want?”

“You didn’t get a chance to register for a new court date. I thought this would be a good time to try again.”

“This is a lousy time to try again. I’m not even in Trenton.”

“Trenton is just a short drive down the road. We can have you back here in time for a late dinner. And then you don’t have to worry about me showing up anymore. You have to admit, that would be good, right?”

“I don’t know,” Jug said. “I’m kind of getting used to you. Are you alone?”

“Lula is with me.”

“That’s the big fat Black girl with the giant hooters?”

“Yes, but don’t call her fat to her face or she’ll take you apart piece by piece.”

“Hah! She’s okay. She liked my ice cream.”

“So, what do you say? Are you going to come with me?”

“Maybe. I haven’t got anything else to do today. Nobody’s here. Everybody went back to Trenton except Lou, and he went shopping with the bimbo.”

“We brought cupcakes.”

“Seriously?”

“You didn’t get to eat any last time, so I brought new ones. I keep my promises.”

“I could use a cupcake.”

“I’m parked next door by the wine store. We can cut through the woods.” I touched the button on my earpiece. “Pack up. We’re on our way.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I put Herbert up front with me, and Lula and Jug in back with the cupcakes. By the time we got to the Throgs Neck Bridge, the cupcakes were half gone, and Lula had opened one of her screw-cap wine bottles. They didn’t have glasses, so Jug and Lula were chugging out of the bottle between cupcakes.

We hit traffic on the Cross Bronx and progress slowed to a crawl. After an hour we inched our way past fire trucks, cop cars, a tow truck, and a large black cinder that used to be a car. It was almost eight o’clock when I got on the turnpike.

“It’s too quiet in the back seat,” I said to Herbert. “What are they doing back there?”

“I’m afraid to look,” Herbert said.

“Look anyway.”

He turned in his seat and flashed his phone light on Lula and Jug. “They’re asleep.”

“They’re okay? They’re breathing?”

“I don’t know if they’re okay, but I think they’re breathing.”

“Good enough. Unless we hit more traffic, we should be home around nine.”

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