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I smiled. "Definitely."
WE ATE IN the bar, Max and Tony having dragged a small table over to a booth so we'd all fit. They'd brought the pizza, but Guy sprung for a twelve-pack of beer, taking it from the back and carefully noting it in his accounts. The beer was a local microbrew, Jaz said, and ribbed Guy about "springing for the good stuff for a change."
As for Rodriguez's news, Guy had known about his college hopes and seemed genuinely pleased for him, only joking that he'd better give him a special deal on technical consultation after he left.
"So when do we get to wager on how fast you'll be back?" Tony said, peeling a pizza slice from the box. "College was cool, but after one month sweating my ass off in a cubicle, I was so out of there. You don't get pizza and beer parties in a suit job."
"Once Rod's gone, he's gone for good," Jaz said. "If school doesn't keep him there, the California girls will." He winked at Rodriguez, then took a slug of his beer, his dancing eyes lifting to mine. "Though personally, I'm partial to East Coast girls." He leaned back. "But as for why anyone would give up this gig to go to college? Totally beyond me."
"I hear ya," Tony said, lifting his bottle. "To the sweet life. No worries, Guy. I'm not going anywhere."
Jaz and Sonny hoisted their bottles and chimed in their agreement.
"Great," Guy muttered. "Come fall, Bee and I will be stuck with all the loafers."
I turned to Max. "You're leaving too?"
He shrugged. "Probably following Rod out to Cali. That's the plan anyway. No college for me, though. I've got some other business out there."
"Five foot two with eyes of blue," Tony sang. "His girlfriend moved to L.A. last year."
"Ex-girlfriend."
"Yeah, the ex you still text ten times a day."
Max colored under his tan. "We're friends, okay? Sure, Jess is working in L.A.--"
"For the Nast Cabal," Tony interjected, to hisses and boos from Jaz and Sonny.
"Only until she gets her MBA," Max said.
"Like getting your education from the military. You gotta bet they're not going to let her waltz away when she's done."
Max shrugged. "She knows that. She'll pay her dues."
"And pay and pay and pay," Jaz said.
Tony nodded. "Face it, buddy, she's in and she's not getting out."
Max's eyes flashed, but Guy cut him off.
"Enough. Max knows what I think." Guy cut a look his way. "If Jess can pull it off, all the power to her, but Cabals don't give away free educations. As long as she knows that, and she's careful..." He shrugged. "Maybe it'll work out."
He passed around the pizza box as Jaz and Tony grabbed a second beer, and I could tell the conversation was going to shift away from Cabals.
"So if you work for a Cabal, they'll pay for college?" I asked.
"Uh-uh." Guy wagged a finger at Max. "See what you started?"
"Hey, I didn't start--"
"Yes," Guy said, twisting to face me. "A Cabal will pay for your degree, in return for years of indentured servitude slaving in their cubicles. If you decide you don't want to have Mommy and Daddy pay for your education, then we'll talk about extending your stay. You'd be better off earning your tuition here than getting yourself indebted to a Cabal. Working for me is a whole lot safer."
"And funner," Jaz said.
Sonny put his head in his hands and groaned.
"As you can see, there's at least one gang member who'll never leave me for college." Guy put his elbows on the table, leaning toward me. "Seriously, Faith, Cabal life isn't a route you want to take. Max's girlfriend--sorry, friend--is a shaman. They're a dime a dozen. If she's careful, she can probably quit after a few years, no hard feelings, no bounty for her scalp. But an Expisco half-demon?" He shook his head. "If they get you, they'll never let you go. Employee for life."
