Page 98 of Cash

“What?” Junior paused to look back.

“Take off your fuckin’ shoes.”

Junior looked down at his feet, looked over at Jules and Brick, both of whom were wearing slippers, and he cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. Right.” He headed over to the front door to kick off his shoes before continuing on his way to the kitchen.

“Thank you,” Brick said. “I’m not used to having this many, uh, guests over.”

“What do you do when your parents visit?” Jules asked.

“Ha, they bring their own slippers. My mom is just funny that way.” Brick sat up quickly. “Shit. My phone. Where is my phone at?”

“Hey, Junior!” Jules shouted toward the kitchen. “What did Raz do with Brick’s phone?”

“I got it, hang on!” Junior called back.

“Sorry. I just… I just really need to talk to my parents.” Brick squeezed Jules’s leg.

“No need to explain, baby boy.” Jules shrugged. “I get it.”

Junior returned with his arms full of two glasses, a bottle of whiskey, and Brick’s phone. He passed out the glasses, set down the bottle on the table, and passed Brick’s phone over to him. “Here you go, Beefy. Had it on the charger for you. Should be good to go.”

“Thank you.” Brick eagerly unlocked it, expecting to review a barrage of notifications because he’d been without his phone for so long.

“You doin’ okay?” Junior asked cautiously. “You know, with all the, uh, excitement?”

Brick was relieved when he didn’t even have so much as a missed text message. The only notifications he had were random updates from social media and nothing more. He almost didn’t hear Junior’s question, but he was able to mumble a quick, “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks.”

“Okie dokie.” Junior shrugged. “I’m just gonna go over here now. Stare out the window. Count fuckin’ squirrels or somethin’.”

“Where’s Raz?” Jules asked as he picked up his glass.

“You know. Doin’ Raz things. He’s close.” Junior walked over to the front door. “He’s like that lil’ wad of toilet paper that gets stuck in your butt hair after you take a crap. You don’t even know he’s there, and he just fuckin’ pops up when you least expect it, you know?”

“Got it.” Jules snorted. “Just lemme know when we’re goin’.”

“Going?” Brick flinched. “Going where?”

“Depending on how negotiations go with the Finches, me and Raz may have to go meet with ’em as a show of good faith.” Jules took Brick’s hand. “Don’t worry, baby. We won’t be gone long, and I’m leavin’ Junior here with you. You won’t be alone.”

“That does not make me feel better. Like, at all.”

“Fuck you very much.” Junior pouted. “Come on! I’m more than capable of watchin’ your big ass. Besides, it ain’t like there’s anybody left who wants to start any shit with us. We pretty much took care of that. You know. Because of the bang bang and—” He made a cutting sound as he drew his finger across his neck. “Bye bye.”

“I got it. Still don’t feel better.”

“Why don’t you find the gun that goes with all them bullets in your sofa? Would that help?”

“Huh?”

“The bullets that are in your fuckin’ sofa.” Junior quirked his brow. “Down in between the cushions. I sat down and lost some change outta my pocket, and when I went lookin’ for it, I found a bunch of fuckin’ bullets. Who has bullets in their couch?”

Brick slipped his hand in the cushions between him and Jules, and he laughed when he indeed found a handful of bullets. He set them on the coffee table. “Ah, well, so that’s where I decided to hide those.”

“In the couch?” Jules snorted. “Where’s the gun then?”

“That and the key to the trigger lock that is on the gun remains a mystery.”

“We should probably find that, eh?”

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