Page 97 of Jake Forever
I whirled to face him. "What do you mean by 'intercepted'?"
"Just what I said. Moe pulled up and had a little talk with them. Told them you were hands-off."
"I don't get it," I said. "Why would he do that?"
"Because he owed me a favor. That's why."
"What kind of favor? Legal? Or illegal?"
Jake made that same waffling gesture that Steve had made earlier. "Eh, could go either way."
Oddly enough, I knew what he meant. Jake did a lot of things that weren't quite illegal, but skirted pretty close to the line. I pushed the distraction aside and said, "So then what happened?"
"So then, they took off."
"Just like that?"
"When he wants to, Moe can be fairly persuasive."
From what I'd seen so far, so could Jake. But I'd known that already, hadn't I?
"So what did they do next?" I asked. "Do you know?"
Jake nodded. "The way it sounds, they got pissed off, hit some drugs, ended up with a bad batch."
"So they overdosed? That's what killed them?"
He was quiet a beat before answering. "No. Something went wrong, probably mixed some things that didn't mesh. One of them flips out, tries to chew the other one's face off–"
I drew back. "What?"
"Happens more than you think. So the one shoots the face-chewer, who, believe it or not, has just enough sense to pull out his own gun and shoot back." He shrugged. "A few more shots, and there you go."
I paused. What on Earth could I say to that? Honestly, I had no idea. I couldn’t even picture it.
Hell, I didn't even want to.
So all I did was lean closer to Jake and say, "Your life is crazy. You know that, right?"
His voice grew warm. "Yeah. That's why I needyou."
I pulled back to gaze up at him. "Oh, likeI'msupposed to keep you sane?"
"No. Whatyou'resupposed to do is enjoy the ride." He leaned his head close to mine and said, "About the other stuff, don't worry. I've got it."
He sounded utterly certain. But as for me, I wasn't so sure. Jake's lifewascrazy, and I didn't see it calming down any time soon.
There was a time – a time not too long ago – when I would've embraced the craziness and not given it too much thought. But these days, I was dwelling on everything. What did that mean? Was I growing up? Or growing old?
I sure didn't feel old. But I had to admit that life had seemed so much simpler back when I'd been a little less responsible, a little more carefree, and like Jake, a whole lot crazier.
Now, I didn't know where things were heading. About long-term plans, he'd hinted. I'd hinted. We'd jokingly talked about life as an old married couple someday, with a bunch of kids and maybe a few dogs, too.
But when I closed my eyes, I just couldn't see it. Jake was a bad-ass, a flaming comet that burned hot and fast. What would someone like him want with a nice, normal life?
I turned away and gazed out over the urban landscape. In the distance, I heard police sirens and the low rumble of distant thunder – unrelated, obviously. But it sure fit my mood.
Next to me, Jake said, "Don't."
