by Rex Bolt
"He stay here last night? Just curious, because I had to elbow him out of my apartment."
"No, I haven't seen Floyd in a few days. He needed to cancel Thursday evening. We're supposed to have lunch tomorrow, though."
"Ah."
"Oh, and I've seen Ray. I visited him Monday during his dialysis treatment."
"Now that is really nice of you . . . How is he?"
"I felt his spirits were low. But he hides it."
"You're right," Christian said. "Behind all the sarcasm, he's as scared as any of us."
"He is," Birgitte said, and she kissed him good night.
+++
"Well that's more like it," Shep said when he spotted Christian. "Now we got a Saturday night around here."
Christian said, "Shep, something dawned on me crystal-clear out on the open road. I come in here, it's all about me. It's never once about you. I'm sorry for that."
"That's how I like it, partner." Shep looked around and came closer. "Mission accomplished? Or what?"
"Main one, yeah. Everything else is kind of jumbled up though."
"Well that happens."
"The first thing, nothing concrete, but that girl Kim?"
"The perky little one, who thinks something bad's going to happen to you."
"Yeah. The momentum was picking up, looking pretty sweet there through Indiana. By the time I got to Tennessee, just a hunch, I think she might have been fucking my brother."
"Hmm."
"But I won't put you on the spot. In case you possibly observed anything."
"Thanks," Shep said. He brought him a refill.
"Well, what can you do?" Christian said.
Shep said, "You know it seems like way back there now, that first day you came in from the doctor? Saying you were going to tie up loose ends?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't you think, maybe you've . . . accomplished enough?"
"I see what you're saying, sit back and enjoy life . . . Well I got one more eating at me, but the guy's lucky because I'm going to have to pace myself."
"Because you're slowing down physically?"
"No, I'm burned out."
"For a second, you had me worried," Shep said.
48 - Drop Thingy
On Sunday Christian took a long walk, up Lyon to Pacific, along Fillmore to Sacramento, over Nob Hill to Powell, and down to 5th and Market, where they turned the Cable Car around. He watched the tourists waiting to get on, looking excited, and he called Kim. It went to voicemail, and he didn't leave a message.
Across the street was the old Emporium department store, that they'd butchered by turning into a mall. Luckily they'd preserved the original dome, and there was a seating area underneath it. Christian found a weekly news magazine and settled in and read it cover to cover. Two items stood out: that otters' private parts are shrinking, and the 'steal of the week' house in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was four hundred grand.
It was around three and he thought what could it hurt, and phoned Allison. There was no answer so he called Monica. "Hey Chris!" she said. "We're at Marine World."
Christian said, "Nice. Who's we?"
"Al and I. We just went on a drop thingy that was amazing. Have you ever been here?"
"No. I used to like it when it was in Santa Clara, when they emphasized the fish more."
"Well what's up?"
"I'm downtown, I'm starting to get hungry. Would you want to meet at that Indian place? Or somewhere?"
"The one you took us to? Oh yeah, we'll be there. Better make it eight though. We have a lot to do here still."
Christian walked down Market to the Embarcadero. It was the same route as a film clip he'd seen on 60 Minutes, where a camera on the front of a streetcar captured the scene in 1906, a few days before the earthquake. Amazingly, they narrowed down the date by the stage of construction of one of the buildings along the way.
There was cheering coming from AT&T Park, and Christian wandered over there and walked in, the guys at the turnstiles not bothering him because it was late, and he got a hot dog and a garlic fries and found a seat in the sun down the third base line.
It was the eighth inning, the Giants up 8-2 on Colorado, everyone in a good mood. He asked the guy next to him what happened, and the guy said Cain had given them six good innings. Cain had once been a star but then needed arm surgery, and had been trying to hang on ever since.
No particular reason, but Christian thought of Barry Zito. Zito was a former star too, who didn't pitch well after the Giants signed him to a big contract. He got ridiculed on the sports stations and Christian had seen him a couple times at bars on Union Street, and one time some wise-ass spit on him as he was leaving. But he'd hung in there, and pulled out a clutch playoff game and won the fans back.
He tried Kim again, nothing. He called Floyd. "Yeah hi," Floyd said. He was breaking up.
"What do we got," Christian said.
"Not much, man. I'm on my way home."
"Oh . . . Thought you might be sticking around a little longer."
"You have to move on. You know how it is."
"Birgitte left hanging today for lunch then?"
"No, I took care of that . . . Listen, I better get off, I think I have a cop behind me."
"Don't be a stranger," Christian said.
+++
Monica and Allison weren't at the Indian place at eight, and Christian gave it a few minutes and ordered. He was just about finished when they showed up.
"I don't feel too good," Monica said, sitting down.
"I told you, that one roller coaster, we were idiots to go twice," Allison said.
"The one you see from the freeway?" Christian said. "That brings you straight up to a point, and lets you fly back the way you came?"
"A different one," Allison said. "You didn't wait for us?"
"No. And I talked to Floyd a little while ago."
Allison said, "Yeah, well, your girlfriend, the little bitch."
"Slut," Monica said. "But you should have seen it. He comes over to Berkeley to pick up his stuff . . ."
"Limping in like a little dog," Allison said.
"And Al starts slapping him. She wouldn't stop. Henry had to restrain her."
Allison said, "I get how these domestic violence things happen, I really do. You start seeing red. If you have a gun handy you might very well blow the person away."
"The heat of the moment," Christian said.
Allison said, "The thing is, you think you know someone. In the end, you're not even in the vicinity."
Christian said, "I don't know . . . So okay, they banged each other a couple times. Unfortunate, I admit, but I guess that can happen."
Monica said, "It can, but you forgot the moving-to-Arizona-together part."
"Oh," he said.
+++
Christian was in a deep sleep Monday morning until the phone woke him up. It was a high energy voice. "Mr. Seely, this is Erica from Dr. Steiner's office. What would be a preferred time for an appointment this week?"
"I'm sorry, an appointment for what?"
"It just says 'consult and labs'. Is tomorrow good for you?"
"Actually, is Billy there? Dr. Steiner?"
"I'll see if he's available. One moment please."
Steiner came on. "Well Hallelujah," he said. "We've got you on the phone. That's a start."
"Bethany still on vacation?"
"Bethany has indicated she's moving," Steiner said. "I'm sorry to see her go."
Christian said, "I can see how you would be. She was a friendly face when people walked in."
"Always. So we'll see you this week then."
"No . . . Billy what are the odds they screwed up on me?"
"Not good Chris."
"Have you seen it happen though?"
"Yeah. I've seen it happen. I can count them on one hand."
"You know what though? You never did get back to me with that example patient, who you guys cured. One hand's not bad, actually."
"So God damn it, we'll run everything again. For your peace of mind."
"Nah. I'm too busy."
"Busy? You're not even working."
"Sure I am, I'm teaching my class in the fall, at the College of Marin. And I've got tennis starting up again. I'm booking a series of lessons today, in Golden Gate Park."
"It's your life," Steiner said, and he hung up.
49 – Until
Tuesday afternoon at Weatherby's, Ray said, "You dragging me in here that first time, I went along for the ride. Now I look forward to it. Which pisses me off."
Christian said, "We're the oldest guys in the place, I'll give you that."
"So you tended to your business, then?"
"Yeah. My sister and my nephew are in the picture now. One way or the other, I'm getting them out here . . . Hard to believe it's almost May, summer's around the corner."
"Well I wouldn't mind meeting them."
"Really?"
"I said I wouldn't mind, why you need to ask me two times?"
"I heard Birgitte stopped by last week."
"She did again yesterday. She reads to me."
"Oh yeah?"
"She be reading away, and I got no clue what's going on in the book. But she bring a certain style to the occasion."
"I know what you mean. You feel like you're in good hands."
"That's never the worst thing," Ray said.
"No," Christian said. "It's not."
The End
(If you enjoyed Who Needs Justice and feel like leaving a review on Amazon, that is always appreciated!)
Chris Seely returns in:
Justice On Ice (Book 2)
Dirty Justice (Book 3)
Justice Squared (Book 4)
Justice Wrap (Book 5)
Justice Blank (Book 6)
Justice Redux (coming June 2018)
Contact: [email protected]
RexBolt.com
