Page 17 of Blue-Eyed Jacks
Christ, me and my big mouth.“Mom, a hooker if you wanna know, had a theory about some of the girls.They either sleep with a shit-ton of pillows, making a fort no one can trespass in, or they sleep with nothing around them so they’re aware if something or someone wants to fuck with them.”
Her mouth fell open.“I—Your mom was a hooker?”
“Dad’s favorite.And when I came along, his only.For a while.”Until the law split them apart.
There were things she wanted to say but was too nice to say them.The way her face blotched red at her cheeks and the quick close of her mouth told me so.
“I was about thirteen when Dad knocked over a liquor store.Third strike and all that shit.Mom went back to hooking for a while.But working for herself, not my dad.That is how I know most of this shit.I couldn’t tell you how many women I drove across the state, or the number of Johns I beat up, all before age twenty when I prospected at Dad’s club.But I rolled over to Skilletsville because I didn’t want to walk in his shadow.Is that enough for you?Or do you need to know more?”My verbal vomit ended sourly, like most puke sessions.
“She’s not a hooker anymore?”
“Nope.Married a dentist.Lives in suburbia with a fat 401k and an Etsy shop that pays the bills until he retires.”
Her face paled then.
“What did I say wrong?”
“There’s life after this.”
It wasn’t a question.It was a statement.One she obviously dreaded.“Yeah, Kate.There’s life after.For most.”Why the fuck did I tack that on?She didn’t need to know the facts.I should be telling her about rainbows and kittens and that ilk, not the three-times rate of suicide, or the two-fifths recidivism, or the lifetime problems with PTSD.Not to mention the poverty and loss of self-identity.
Christ.And it was worse for her because she not only had partner abuse but the whole damn rotten Pittsburgh chapter’s abuse.That was evident when they showed up to party.Not a goddamned one of them looked out for her, and they should have.She was the kind of woman who tugged at a man’s instinct to protect and procreate.
Whoo-boy, I was in this messfucking deep.
“The life you have now, and from now on, is yours.Pillow fort, starfish, whatever you want.”
She stared at the carpet for a few more minutes.Rumination complete, she grabbed one of the pillows back.
“Gotta make a call, close your ears, and stay quiet.”I dialed one of the VPs of a feeder chapter of ours.It was a gamble, but Disney hadn’t let me down yet.“Yo, Diz.I gotta problem.”
I listened to him bitch for a minute.The man always had something sarcastic or snide to say.If it put him in a good mood to complain, I’d let him.Finally, he asked what was up.
“So… I went on this run earlier.Stopped at a bar on the way back and uh, met this chick.Forty-four D’s man.”
His laugher and crude comments were almost exactly as I imagined it.
“Anyways, I still got the truck and shit, so could you call up Pinner and tell him you needed me to do a run for you?Or tell them I went fishing with you or something.”
I held my breath.But he was like, “Anything for you, man.What she look like?”I waxed on about the redhead I’d picked up.In my retelling, she looked nothing like Kate.As I described the imaginary woman, Kate held her hands in front of her, trying to picture what forty-four D would even look like.Shewas a bit off, so I moved her hands in place as I joked around.“Hey, Diz?She’s getting cold, man.I gotta go warm her up.‘Smell ya later.”
I hung up and confirmed the line was dead before addressing Kate.“Alibi complete.They won’t miss me until tomorrow night, maybe even Saturday morning.”
“Forty-four Ds, huh?”
“Don’t knock it.Mom’s still got the rack for the sack.Yet…I kind of like ‘em a bit…” My eyes lingered on the t-shirt she wore.She’d ditched the sweater when we got to the hotel.Her tits were the kind that sloped like a ski ramp.The tips poked at the thin fabric.
Her hands flew to her chest and covered them.
“Sorry, babe.Caught staring.It’ll happen again.”
“You’re so…”
“Full of it?”
“That.”Her cheeks colored.But her eyes sparkled.
There it was.That spark.Damn.“Okay, here’s what to expect.Tomorrow we’ll head southeast.Cross over into ‘Jersey.I’m going to get you to Trenton.There’s at least seven shelters there.We’ll call around until we find one that can take you.You should be safe since you’ll be out of state and technically in Demon’s territory.Well, safer.Don’t mess with any Demons, got it?”
