“Normal teenage bullshit,” I said. “Getting him to where that’s his biggest issue would be a win.”
After nodding in reply, Amos asked, “Did you hear anything from the lady who was here that day? Mia? No chance she’ll change her mind about keeping quiet?”
“Cori mentioned Mia texted yesterday to check in on Jayden. I think we got lucky with that one.”
“Eso está loco.” Amos slammed the register door shut and put the cash in an envelope. “Tell Cori to let Mia know anytime she wants to come in, her Diet Coke is on the house.”
I got to Tubby’s just after six.Juan hadn’t arrived, so I sat at the bar to wait.
There were three stools available. I lowered myself onto the middle one and raised two fingers at the bartender.
“Hey man, can I please get two Cokes and a basket of wings? Level four.”
As the bartender typed into his tablet, I felt the man seated next to the empty stool on my right go rigid. After a beat, he asked, “Meeting someone or just extra thirsty?” in the raspy, rattling voice of a heavy smoker.
A jolt went through me. My eyes traveled from the bar top, where the man’s fingers gripped a water glass, up the length of his dark arms, covered in faded tattoos, to the short sleeve of his blinding white T-shirt, until I found myself staring into eyes I hadn’t seen since I was eighteen.
“Cruz!” Without thinking, I launched off my stool and embraced him fiercely.
He stiffened but didn’t push me off. Just sort of sat there until I was done.
“I see prison somehow turned you into a bigger puppy.” His jaw ticked when I pulled away.
I slapped him on the arm. “Shut the fuck up, brother. I can’t believe you’re here. So you’re out? Why didn’t you say anything?” Cruz hadn’t responded to any of my attempts to reach him in prison since I’d gotten out.
The jaw tic never materialized into a smile. His face went blank. Then hard. “I got out last week. I was gonna call, kinda working my way to it, but now…” He gestured at the barstools.
My phone buzzed. A text from Juan canceling on me in favor of a Tinder match.
I chuckled, pushing a soda to Cruz. “This one’s yours now,” I said. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
He accepted the drink, taking a long sip from the glass rather than the straw.
The years had been both kind and unkind to Cruz. His body was heavily built and muscular. It didn’t surprise me that he’d been one of those inmates who spent a lot of time working out. His hair was in a close buzz cut that suited him more than the slicked-back look we’d both had as teens. There were a lot of shitty prison tattoos on his arms and a few on his neck. A decent artist could make them into something, probably. His teeth seemed okay—I’d noticed a lot of guys really let that goon the inside—but his skin was gray-tinged. The faint smell of cigarettes clung to him, and he looked tired behind the eyes.
I had a million questions, especially about how he was here when he was supposed to serve twenty years minimum, but I could tell he wasn’t up for answering. Some things never changed. For now, it was enough that I was sitting with one of my best friends, and I still felt the undeniable bond between us.
Unsurprisingly, I did most of the talking. I told him about Juan and J&D, and a little about what I was doing at the Center. Our conversation turned to Johnny, and I filled him in on the heart disease and HIV and the plan for a new rehab. Cruz seemed completely unfazed by the fact that Cori had the financial capacity to take care of her brother.
“I always knew Johnny’s little sister would do great things,” he said. “I’m glad what that motherfucker Chi-chi did that night didn’t knock her off her game.”
“Nah. She’s tough,” I said, trying not to grin.
Cruz hmphed in answer. “Alright, so Johnny’s going to rehab,” he said. “Where’s Eliazar? What’s going on with him these days?”
Oh.
Shit.
Chapter thirty-three
Cori
Johnny and I pulled into Green Pines Treatment Facility on Tuesday morning. He’d been quiet during the long drive, still tired from his hospital stay, and still grieving for Rocco.
The one bright spot for my brother over the past few days was when Deck took Cruz to visit him in the hospital.
The visit was probably also good for Cruz. It had blown my mind on Saturday night when I arrived at Deck’s and he told me he’d run into Cruz at Tubby’s. And that he’d had to break the news to him about Eliazar. I hoped spending time together before Johnny went into rehab had been cathartic for all three of them.
