Page 103 of Jake Forever
Next to me, Jake spoke up. "Speak for yourself, dickhead."
I turned to glare at him. "Hey," I hissed. "We're at a family restaurant. Watch the language, okay?"
Jake made a show of looking around. Actually, the place was kind of a dive, and there wasn't a single kid in sight. He lifted an eyebrow and waited for my response.
"Oh, fine," I muttered. "But you know what I mean."
Across from us, Selena tried again. "Alright, if you're not gonna fight, at least talk it out, okay?"
She rested a hand on Bishop's arm. "In fact, let'salltalk about it." She smiled. "Four heads are better than two, right?"
Jake and Bishop exchanged a look. Neither one looked eager for assistance.
Selena let out a breath. "Alrighty then," she said in a tone I knew all too well. "I'll start with the basics." She looked to me and said, "They're worried that Joel is going to sign with Vince."
Next to me, Jake spoke up. "Wrong. Bishop's worried. I'm not." He turned to Bishop and said, "I've got this, as I already told you."
"Yeah?" Bishop said. "And what happens when it backfires?"
"Nothing," Jake said, "because it's not gonna."
"Your ass," Bishop said. "He's gonna fuckin' hate you."
Selena turned to give Bishop a look. "Hey," she whispered. "Seriously. Watch the language, okay?"
Next to me, Jake's tone grew sarcastic. "Yeah," he told Bishop. "It's a family restaurant, remember?"
"Hey!" I said. "Are you making fun of me?"
Jake shrugged.
"Are you?" I repeated.
Jake flicked his head toward Bishop and said, "Nah, I'm making fun ofhim."
I rolled my eyes. "Nice try."
Across from us, Bishop spoke up. "Just listen," he told Jake. "You do it your way, he's gonna be pissed off."
"It's already done," Jake said, "so drop it."
Confused, I stared from brother to brother. What was already done?
Before I could give it too much thought, Bishop spoke again. "You're gonna get grief. You know that, right?"
"Grief, huh?" Jake leaned back and crossed his arms. "Do I look like I care?"
Bishop's jaw tightened. "You should. You ever hear of blowback?"
Jake grinned. "You ever hear of 'blow me?'"
Bishop looked at Jake for a long, silent moment. "Right." He looked to Selena and said, "You ready?"
She gave him a look. "No. We haven't even gotten our food."
"So, we'll get it to go."
"Nope. Sorry." She gave him a pleading look. "Seriously, we can't leave now."
