I was still standing by the washtub with Tad when Julio came back with a napkin-draped plate and a big glass of milk.
“There are some picnic benches behind the bunkhouse, or you can eat in your room. Make sure you don’t leave food out overnight or we’ll all get critters.”
Tad glared at me as if to say,I wouldn’t put it past you, jailbird freak.
Terrific.
Outside of the job, I didn’t give a shit about any of these guys except for Rock.
Herequired skillful handling. I figured I should talk to him for two reasons. One, he’d been decent to me. Decent people aren’t all that thick on the ground. When you find one, you ought to do whatever you can to acknowledge it or pay it forward. Some shit like that. And two, what did Rock say? Some asshole had called that sweet kidwhat?
Oh, hell no.
But... wait. I was on fucking parole, goddamnit.
There were two Skyler Brodys now. There was the one forged in prison who couldn’t leave a scale unbalanced, a slight unanswered, or a challenge undefended. He couldn’t afford to show any weakness at all. But the other Skyler Brody, the man who lived in the Real World, had to remember to pick his battles. He had to follow Real World rules.
In spite of that, I filed the name Lefty Wheeler away for later.
“What’s Rock’s deal anyway?” I asked.
“None of your business.” Julio turned away, but not before giving me a hard stare. “Just stay away from him. He doesn’t concern you.”
