He said, "Hey, that was like a half-hour ago."
"So?"
"So I didn't take notes or nothing."
I looked back to Steve and said, "But you were the one who mentioned it. Soyouremember, right?"
He gave me a look. "Youseea pen and paper?"
I glanced around. Inside the trailer, I saw piles of dirty laundry, a few discarded pizza boxes, and some crushed beer cans in the far corner. Unless it was buried under the clutter, there was no pen and paper. Grudgingly, I said, "No."
Steve said, "Well, there you go."
Yes. There I went.
Across from him, Anthony said, "Oh, and there was something about Jake."
I tensed. "What about him?"
"Ifheshows up, we're supposed to call Joel and tell him."
"Why?" I asked.
Anthony stroked his chin as if thinking. "Maybethat'swhere the ass-kicking comes in."
I looked from brother to brother. I had the distinct impression that they were giving me the runaround. I felt my gaze narrow. "Did he say anything else?"
"Oh yeah," Anthony said. "I was supposed to tell you that something came up, and he'd call you later."
Oh, that was nice.So much for calling and calling until I answered. I asked, "Did he say when?"
"Yeah," Anthony said. "Later."
Well, that was informative.
Unsure what to do next, I glanced around the trailer, trying to see through the clutter. When I turned to look behind me, I saw a lower and upper bunk, covered with a mess of blankets and pillows, along with more dirty laundry.
Or who knows? Maybe the laundry was clean.
Think positive, right?
I asked, "Is this where you plan on staying?"
"Sure," Steve said, "unless you got someplace better."
My house was huge, and theywerethe brothers of someone I might call a friend, in a new-acquaintance sort of way. But inviting them to sleep in the house seemed a bit premature.
Thinking out loud, I murmured, "Well, there's always the guest house."
In some ways, it wasn't even mine to offer. After all, it was still filled with all of Joel's things. And yet, I was absolutely certain that, if given the choice, Joel would point them to the guest house long before he'd send them intomyhouse for a sleepover.
Or who knows? Maybe he wouldn't care either way. For all I knew, he wasn't even coming back.
