“Things?” I asked. “There are no things, Kinney. Our things are gone. What do you want?”
“Nothing,” he said. He grabbed his coffee from the table. “Stella called me for help.”
“So?” I asked.
What the fuck do I care about Aira’s mother for? Last time I saw her she was half drunk, sleeping on my couch, waiting for her husband to go to prison.
“She’s got herself tied up in some things with a couple of wineries. She’s lost without Jack.”
“Maybe he shouldn’t have been playing with fire then.”
Kinney nodded. “That’s true. How’s Aira?”
“She’s fine. I’m taking care of her.”
“I didn’t ask to see her,” Kinney said. “Even though she is my niece. By blood.”
“As opposed to me, right? I was just the temporary family. Got it.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You implied it, Kinney.”
“Still putting words in my mouth,” he said.
Just like that, he had navigated me into an argument.
We stood in silence for a few seconds.
“Trust me, Julia, I didn’t come here to argue with you,” he said. “Although I will say I hate to see you still spinning your wheels in the same spot. But that was always you, right? I could never get you out of here.”
“Because here is where I want to be,” I said.
Kinney put his coffee down for a moment to slide a bracelet off of his wrist.
He picked up the coffee and nodded to the bracelet.
“I was in South Africa,” Kinney said. “A young woman gave that to me. Told me it was a lucky love bracelet. She had an amazing story with it too. Maybe someday I’ll get a chance to tell it to you.”
“But you’re just passing through, remember?” I asked.
Kinney stopped walking so our shoulders were almost touching. “You know me, Pretty J… I have no problem stopping where I am when I see something I want.”
Kinney left the bakery and Whitney hurried over to the table.
“Who was that?” she asked.
“Here,” I said, grabbing the bracelet off the table. “This is a lucky love bracelet from South Africa. My gift to you.”
“What?” Whitney asked.
“You don’t want it?” I asked. “Good. I’ll get rid of it.”
I walked to one of the trashcans and punched it open, dropping the bracelet into it.
“Julia, talk to me,” Whitney said. “Please.”
“That was my ex-husband,” I said.
Whitney’s eyes went wide. “Um… I know I’m new here but I know enough that if that guy is your ex-husband and Jett is your…”
“Yeah, Whitney, yeah,” I said.
“Jett is going to lose his fucking mind,” Whitney said.
I stared at Whitney. “Yeah… Whitney… yeah…”
Chapter 6
NOW
Jett
I shut the second giant door to the second garage bay and put my head back and sighed with a sense of relief. It had been that kind of day. The kind where I saw myself settling up to some bar for some drinks and…
Doesn’t mean shit anymore, does it?
That’s where the sense of relief came from.
Walking along this familiar path with Julia, making sure we were far enough away from that path that we didn’t let the same old shit hurt us again.
I went through the office to make sure Pop was alive.
It sounded harsh, but it was the truth.
He was alive and kicking.
Well, not exactly kicking, but sitting.
Ass in the chair, eyes glued to the TV.
“Don’t worry, Pop, I’ve got all of this shit,” I said.
“Sounds good,” he said, giving me a thumbs up without looking.
“No middle finger, huh?” I asked. “You must have gotten laid. How much did that set you back?”
Pop slowly turned his head.
I laughed and got the hell out of there before he unleashed on me.
Yeah, I was a prick. Just like Wes. No. Wes was a prick like me.
Which wasn’t my fault.
Everyone knew who I was.
And that kid clung to me.
Outside, the sun was still out. There was still plenty of day left before night.
And Wes stood at his motorcycle, smoking a cigarette, staring at his phone.
I walked up to him and whistled to get his attention.
“Hey Jett,” he said, tucking his phone into his pocket.
“Waiting on your girl?” I asked.
“Always,” he said.
I shook my head. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Don’t ride my ass again, okay?”
“I’m not,” I said. I laughed. “I think it’s actually pretty funny.”
“Yeah?” Wes asked.
“Yeah. I bet Henders was out of his mind, huh?”
“You know him,” Wes said. “He loves to give big speeches. But he also knows my time is almost up there. So why push too hard at me. And Miss Carson… she’s cool with it all. She just wants to connect with everyone. She’ll learn. She’s too much about taking shit from a textbook.”
“Maybe go easy on her,” I said. “This town and everyone in it will break her soon enough.”
“She’s getting there, Jett,” Wes said. “With all this shit Aira had to go through. Dealing with me. Then when Elijah showed up and Nova’s secrets were spilled…”
“Yeah,” I said. “You should have gotten her a bottle of whiskey.”
“Not allowed to buy booze yet, remember?” Wes asked.
I laughed. “Yeah. True.”
“Hey,” Wes said. “I didn’t mean anything by what I said earlier. With Julia and shit. You know? She’s cool as hell, Jett. She’s always been cool as hell.”
“So you’re saying she’s ugly?”
“No,” Wes said. “She’s…” Wes laughed. “You’re setting me up.”
“Maybe I am,” I said.
“I remember when she helped me when I was a little shit kid.”
“You still are a little shit kid, Wes,” I said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. It meant a lot though. And I always hated the way things happened for you and her. I remember everything, Jett. What happened after all of that went down. I hated her. I couldn’t imagine how you felt.”
“Doesn’t matter much now, Wes. That’s the past.”
Wes nodded. “Does the past ever actually go away, Jett?”
I had to think about that for a few seconds.
Then I shook my head.
“Nah, Wes. It doesn’t go away. It’s always there. Some people wear it as a scar. Some have it as a reminder. Like people who quit smoking but keep a cigarette with them as a reminder.”
“That’s fucking stupid,” Wes said.
“I’m just giving you an answer. Some people block out their pasts. But then one little thing will bring it all back. Kind of like getting caught up in a wave that’s way too big.”
“Hey. When are you going to surf again? It’s been fifty years.”
I grabbed Wes’s shoulder. “Why don’t we leave the ocean out of this? I think we’ve both learned a lesson or two there.”
Wes hung his head. He took a deep drag of his cigarette. “I keep his age in my head, Jett. How old he’d be right now.”
“Look at me, Wes,” I said.
Wes lifted his gaze.
“That’s what we all do,” I said. “We all know how old Azel would be.”
“He’d be running around the garage,” Wes said. “I’d be teaching him how to use a wrench. You know? Azel could have been to me what I was to you.”
Oh, fuck, kid…
I rubbed my jaw and then grabbed Wes by the back of his neck.
I pulled him close and gritted my teeth.
“Nothing I can say to that, Wes,” I said. “You know I will never bullshit you.”
�
��I know,” he said.
I pushed him away and slapped his face not hard, but not gently. “You done acting like a pussy now?”
Wes smiled. “You know, I had this fantasy… I told Aira about it.”
“What?” I asked.
“One time I had to hide under Aira’s bed because Julia came into the room. And I started having these thoughts. Me, Aira, Julia…”
I made a fist and lifted my hand.
Wes cackled like the same prick I used to be at his age.
He hurried to get onto his motorcycle and took off out of the lot.
I took a deep breath.
Fucking life, man… fucking life.
* * *
I got the call a couple hours later, just as I was finishing up some paperwork in the garage.
My first reaction was to laugh my ass off.
I never thought I would see the day where I was going to the police station to bail someone’s ass out of jail.
It was the same police station where I had spent a little bit of time here and there in my life.
A lot more here than there, right, Jett?
I parked in a spot meant for civilians.
My usual spot was wherever Dusty parked his cruiser and then he would berate me from the front seat before getting out of the cruiser and ripping open the back door and ordering me out of the fucking car.
When I walked up the steps, the front doors opened and out walked Dusty.
He aged five years for every one he lived.
I showed my hands. “Look, Dusty, I’m not in trouble this time.”
He let out a loud Ha! and then nodded to the side of the building. “Smoke?”
“You know those things are bad for you, right?”
“I’ll ask my doctor about it the next time I see him,” Dusty said.
“You expect me to just leave them sitting there?” I asked. “In a holding cell? Alone? Scared? Hungry?”
“Is that a problem?” Dusty asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Not at all. I could use a smoke anyway. I’m going to have to figure out how to kill them without getting caught.”
“First step, don’t tell a cop that,” Dusty said.
“Where’s there a cop?” I asked, looking around.
Dusty made the same Ha! sound. “Still a prick.”
I pointed to his round belly. “Still keeping that Santa belly going. You’re too good for this town.”
“Fuck you, Jett,” Dusty said.
“How good did that feel to say to me?” I asked.
“Almost as good as sex.”
I put an unlit cigarette between my lips. “Wow, Dusty, you are having the wrong kind of sex then. Especially if I’m somehow involved and compared to. Not sure I can stand next to you right now.”
“Christ,” Dusty muttered.
We stood outside the police station and smoked.
“What did they do?” I asked.
“First off, I want to know if your boy’s involved.”
“Wes? Why? What happened?”
“They painted a… uh… you know… on a car.”
“What?” I asked.
“A dick,” Dusty said.
I laughed. “A dick?”
“Christ, Jett. A penis. Okay? What do you want me to call it? A dick. A cock. A… a… hanger banger…”
“What the hell is a hanger banger?” I asked.
“Will you listen for a second?” Dusty snapped. “Walker and Ryker painted…”
“A dick,” I said.
“Yeah. On the side of Principal Henders’s car.”
I laughed again. “That’s good.”
“Good? It’s vandalism.”
“What kind of paint did they use?” I asked.
“Why does that matter?”
“You know what? It doesn’t. Tell Henders to bring his car to the shop and we’ll take care of it.”
“No shit,” Dusty said. “That’s why those two little punks wanted to call you.”
“Why did you bring Wes’s name into it?”
“Heard he was told to take a day off,” Dusty said.
“That’s true. But why would he go back and do something like that?”
“I’m not saying he did it,” Dusty said. “Or acted alone. Those two idiots inside had a can of paint and had paint on their hands.”
“So you literally caught them red handed?”
“Purple handed,” Dusty said.
I shook my head. “Sometimes I wonder about the women Pop chose to sleep with back in his day.”
“I try not to picture anyone but me with a woman.”
“Because you can’t get one in real life?” I asked.
“Where is Wes?” Dusty asked.
“He worked at the shop all day. And then he left to go be with his girlfriend. I highly doubt he had anything to do with this. You got your two guys. Leave it be.”
“You know, you always took care of that kid,” Dusty said. “Truth be told, I gave you quite a few breaks because of it.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked.
Dusty sucked on the end of his cigarette and nodded. “Couldn’t imagine what would have happened to him if you weren’t around.”
“Good to know. I’ll buy him a cake later.”
“Thought you were going to say you were going to buy him a drink.”
“He’s not old enough,” I said. I flicked my cigarette away. “And I’m not going to get myself in that kind of hot water.”
“Good answer,” Dusty said. “But I’m sure you found ways when you were his age.”
“Me? Never. I never touched a sip of booze until my twenty-first birthday.”
Dusty let out two Ha! laughs. “I’d sooner believe a unicorn would fall out of the sky than what you just said.”
“Don’t look up then,” I said. “Watch out!”
Dusty jumped back and looked up.
I laughed.
“I’m going to get those two assholes out of there,” I said as I walked by Dusty.
“Goddamn prick,” Dusty muttered.
* * *
I pointed to the side of my truck.
Walker and Ryker stood with their backs against it.
“Do I even have to say something?”
“No,” Walker said.
“Well, I’m going to,” I said.
Now I was starting to feel like Pop. Irritated by the youths.
That pissed me off more than what Walker and Ryker had done.
I grabbed Walker’s shirt and twisted my hand tight around the top.
“Did Wes have anything to do with it?” I asked.
“No,” Walker said.
I looked at Ryker.
He shook his head.
“You sure, Ryker?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Then why?”
“Because Henders is a prick,” Walker said.
“I did it for Kailey,” Ryker said.
“A girl…”
“Not just a girl, Jett,” Ryker said.
I laughed.
I looked at Walker again. “What’s your excuse?”
“Kailey is definitely hot,” Walker said.
“Fuck you,” Ryker said. “I’ll kill you.”
Ryker made a move and I shoved him away with ease.
Walker cackled. “He’s in love, I think.”
“I don’t give a shit,” Ryker said. “I’ll do it again for her. Henders has a stick up his ass about all of them. Because of Wes and Elijah.”
“Should I tell Wes you said that?” I asked.
“No,” Walker said. “Please, Jett… and don’t tell Pop.”
“Please don’t tell Pop,” Ryker said.
“Okay,” I nodded. “Just get in the truck. We have plenty to talk about.”
It was a strange feeling driving away from the police station without a worry in the world.
“So you’re trashing the Principal’s car for a girl,” I said.
“She’s a woman, Je
tt,” Ryker said.
Walker leaned toward me. “He lost his virginity to her. Poor girl.”
“I’m going to hit him for real soon,” Ryker said.
“Nah, don’t do that,” I said. “He’s only saying that because he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
“He does,” Ryker said. “She’s with us right now.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked.
“Ask him to show you his right hand,” Ryker said.
Walker turned around in the front seat and reached with his right hand for Ryker. “Come here then. Give her a kiss.”
“Sit the hell down, moron,” I yelled. “Shit. You two are in some shit here for this. I’m going to have Henders bring his car to the shop. Try to smooth this over. But you’re both working on it too.”
“Did Dusty tell you what we painted on the car?” Walker asked with a sly grin.
“Yeah,” I said. “Of all things…”
“That’s what Henders is,” Ryker said.
“You two really give your family quite the name,” I said.
“Whatever,” Walker said. “We made a statement. If he wants us to get into serious trouble then fine.”
“You are in trouble,” I said. “Did you two forget how old you are?”
“Shit,” Ryker said. “What happens now?”
“I guess that depends on how you handle Dusty and Henders,” I said. “Good luck with that.”
“Man, growing up sucks,” Walker said.
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said since you’ve gotten in my truck,” I said.
I made a right turn and pulled into the parking lot for the garage.
“Jett,” Walker said.
“Relax,” I said. “You two can figure out how to get home from here. I wasn’t done with my day yet when I got the call.”
“Cool,” Ryker said. “Just keep it cool with Pop. We’ll handle it.”
I nodded and smiled.
We got out of the truck and Pop was stepping out of the office.
“I got this,” Walker said. He jogged forward. “Hey, Pop!”
“What the hell do you want?” Pop growled at him.
“Ouch,” Ryker said.
“Hey, Pop,” I said. “Those two morons were in jail.”
“What the fuck?” Walker yelled at me.
“Jail for what?” Pop asked.
HIDDEN CREEK NOW: a hidden creek high novel Page 4
