Page 1 of Caged for Them

Chapter 1

Henry

My best friend lookedlike crap. He was sitting on the couch, his knees drawn up to his chin, his eyes wide and red-rimmed, like he might cry. I’d known Jason since Kindergarten and I could remember two times I’d seen him cry, including the time he broke his arm on a skateboard ramp when we were eleven. To see my happy-go-lucky friend this upset was unsettling.

The empty beer bottles around him made our living room look like a landfill, and he was staring at the TV, even though it wasn’t turned on. I wasn’t even sure if he was blinking. Or breathing.

“Henry Choi. Why aren’t you over there?” my wife whispered, shoving me towards the couch.

I shoved back, resisting her forceful attempts to get me to comfort Jason. “I don’t know what to do!”

“Well, dosomething. He’s your best friend. He’s been here for three hours, and he’s barely moved. I’m not even sure when he drank all of that beer.”

“He’s like one of those angels on Doctor Who. He only drinks when we’re not looking at him,” I whispered. Mari stared at me like I was insane, but come on, what other explanation was there? Bottles were getting emptied somehow, and we never saw him drink.

“Well, why did you give him the whole case?” Mari tolerated Jason, but I wasn’t sure she liked him and she looked more amused than concerned.

“He asked for beer. I sort of shoved it at him and ran. I can’t deal with sad Jason, it’s freaking me out, He’s never acted like this before. He’s not even blinking. Should I check to see if he’s dead?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s not dead.” She tilted her head, her eyes scanning over him. “Maybe he’s in a catatonic state?”

“You’re the doctor. You’d better check him out.”

“I’m an ophthalmologist. I don’t think I can diagnose whatever’s going on with this jackass.” She rolled her eyes and turned towards the kitchen, opening the fridge and staring at the contents.

“I can hear you guys,” Jason said, speaking for the first time since he’d wandered into my house, bleary-eyed, earlier that evening and told me he needed beer.

“So, not a catatonic state?” was Mari’s cheeky response. “Want dinner?”

“You gonna tell us what’s going on?” I stepped closer to him, like he was a wild animal I’d cornered. I wasn’t afraid of Jason, but this weird version of my best friend was freaking me out. He was usually so easygoing, but not now. He seemed… broken.

“Gabi caught me out with another woman,” he mumbled, glancing up at me with wide eyes. “Go ahead, tell me how stupid I am.”

“Oh. That’s too bad.” Mari bit her lip and raised an eyebrow at me. Jason's cheating wasn’t a shocking revelation. He cheated on every woman he was serious about, and they always caught him, but usually he let it roll off his back. He’d always been able to shrug off his breakups, moving on more quickly than I would have thought possible. I wondered what made this time different.

“You screwed things up with Gabi?” I sat on the sofa next to him, bumping my knee against his. He wasn’t much for physicalaffection, but I thought he needed a hug right about now. Or maybe it was me who wanted the hug, because I was a hugger. “Why do you do this?”

“I don’t know,” he said, his eyes still on the television.

Mari sighed and ducked into the fridge. I heard the clinking of bottles as she got us some drinks. She rustled around in the freezer and found some leftovers that she stuck in the microwave. “Gabi was great for you. I didn’t know you were this serious about her.”

“Yes, you did, Mari. They were at the barbecue last week. He proposed to her?” I shot Mari a questioning look. My wife was crazy smart, but had a tendency to zone out and miss whatever was happening around her. Including my best friend’s big, slightly awkward proposal at our friend Ethan’s barbecue.

Jason scrubbed his hands over his face. “It’s best you missed it. She hesitated and said she needed to think about it.”

“Oh, shit. That’s what happened? I was wondering why everyone was being awkward,” Mari said, popping off the caps on the drinks. She took a long swig of hers.

“I’m so sorry, man,” I said. Mari came over and handed me a beer and Jason a seltzer water. She ruffled his hair affectionately, flashing me a wide-eyed expression that I couldn’t decipher, before taking a seat in the big armchair that sat perpendicular to the couch.

“Thanks Mari.” Jason glanced at me. I raised an eyebrow in question, and he shook his head and sighed. “Your phone has been buzzing nonstop since I got here. Don’t pretend you don’t have a million text messages about it.”

“Wild Butte is a small town. And they love their gossip.” I cleared my throat, taking a drink of my beer while I pondered my answer. “Why were you at the Sandy Creek Tavern with another woman? I mean, fuck, it’s like you wanted to get caught. That’s where everyone goes.”

“I asked Gabi to marry me, and she said she wanted to think about it,” Jason repeated.

“Yeah, I’m not sure that cheating was the right solution there.” Mari’s words were a little harsh, but she reached out and rubbed his thigh, smiling a little, like she was trying to be encouraging. I didn’t feel very encouraging. This wasn’t Jason’s first time cheating on a girlfriend, or his first time getting caught. It was a pattern for him that had started all the way back in high school, and it was irritating as hell.

“Listen, man. It was different when we were teenagers and your relationships weren’t serious, but we’re 26 now. You asked Gabi to marry you, then took another woman out on a date. What the hell were you thinking?”

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