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I take it and sip without much thinking. I’m thirsty, so I gulp half of it down in one go.
“So…” Jet sits beside me and turns down the sound of the TV. I hadn’t even noticed it was on.
The hell, Rid. Focus.
“Where are Joel and Candy?” I ask.
I’m stalling. Yeah, I’m aware.
“They’ll be back soon.”
I nod, drink some more beer. It sloshes around in my empty stomach. “Okay.”
“What’s up? Are you okay, man?”
“I’m fine.” An automatic response. Come to think of it, two more people asked me the same today. I probably look like shit.
Just like I feel.
“And Xavier?”
I draw a sharp breath. “I don’t fucking know. He’s taken off.”
“Taken off where?”
“A friend’s house, he said.”
Jet curses. “You didn’t stop him?”
“How can I, Jet? He left while I was out working, left me a goddamn note. He’s eighteen now. I can’t do a thing.”
And that’s the least of my worries.
“Okay.” Jet chews on that. “True. As long as he’s okay, then he has the right to do his own thing.”
Whatever his own thing is. If only Jet knew…
I finish my beer and put the bottle carefully down on the coffee table. “I should get going.”
“The hell you should.” Je
t pushes me back down when I start getting up, frowning. “You only just got here, and still haven’t told me why you sounded so freaked out on the phone. Was it about Xavier?”
“Yeah.” The room is spinning in slow circles. Fuck, how can I be wasted with just one beer? “Yeah, it was about Xavier.”
But now, sitting in this cozy little living room, with Joel and Candy about to walk through the door, I can’t remember why I thought it was a good idea come talk to Jet.
It’s not like I can tell him that Xavier found my stash and took all my money before leaving. All the money I had saved for the rent and then some.
A parting gift. Or is it a parting shot? At me, as if I’m the bad guy in this story. As if I ever wronged him.
Fuck. Did I?
I wish I hadn’t called Jet in the first place.
“Rid.” He rubs a hand over his face. “Look…I’ll get us more beer.”
It’s probably the mother of all bad ideas, but the thought of getting back out in the cold, of returning to my cold apartment, and my worry about Xavier keep me in my seat as he returns. Taking the bottle, I salute him and drink up.
