Page 53 of Cash

“You promise?” Brick blurted out. “Because I could really, really get used to all of this, this thing with you, and I don’t want anything to get more fucked up than it already is.”

“I promise,” Jules said with surprising sincerity as he wrapped an arm around Brick’s shoulder. “It’s gonna be all right.”

“Well, it better be, or I’ll kick your ass.”

“Daddy would love to see that.” Jules chuckled.

Brick leaned into Jules’s side, mumbling, “I could take you.”

“Sure, sure. I bet—” Jules stopped when his phone rang. “One sec, baby.”

Brick shifted back the other way so Jules could get his phone. “Yeah, of course.”

“Whatcha got?” Jules answered shortly.

“What? No hi? No hello?” the voice on the other end replied. “No hey, how’s your dick fuckin’ swingin’ today?”

It was a man maybe around Brick’s age, and he was so loud that Brick could hear him crystal clear through the phone.

“Whatcha got?” Jules repeated with a roll of his eyes.

“Fuck, you’re about as much fun as fuckin’ corn in a log of dogshit, you know that?” The caller sighed heavily. “Me and Razzle are on the way, okay?”

“Don’t need you.”

“Fuck off. We’re bringin’ all the fuckin’ good stuff too, all right? I’m talkin’ real good fuckin’ party favors. Shit’s gonna make your dick cut glass.”

“Don’t need ’em.”

“What? Why?”

“Party’s over.”

“No shit? You actually got that lil’ fucker?”

“No, but tonight. I got a good lead.” Jules grunted.

“You means the lead you got from the fuckin’ cops after you killed JD? That fuckin’ lead?”

Jules grunted again, and he got up from the couch. He started to walk away for more privacy, but circled back for his coffee. “How the fuck you know that?”

“Why the fuck do you think we’re comin’? Your people are workin’ on somethin’, so Mr. Star is sendin’ us. It’s just like when your mom dates some giant douchebag and they break up, but the douchebag still sends you a birthday card. We’re the fuckin’ card.”

“What?”

“In this scenario, your boss is technically the douchebag though. Not mine.”

Brick was dying to hear the rest of that conversation, but Jules walked out on the deck and shut the door behind him. Brick finished his first coffee and went for the second. After a few sips, he wondered how much longer Jules was going to be on the phone.

The colorful caller had to be a fellow gangster person, and Razzle was likely the person who had texted Jules about the sale the other day.

Brick was certain he wasn’t supposed to have heard any of that, so he decided to keep it to himself and not ask any questions.

The less he knew, the better.

But damn if he wasn’t really, really curious.

Brick couldn’t sit still and decided to clean up while he waited for Jules to finish his chat. He set Jules’s other coffee on the table, and then he carried his empty cup and the to-go carrier to the kitchen to find the trash can.

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