I was so glad Cassie talked me into letting Jay stay with us for a while. We all knew that eventually he was going to have to move on before some nosy neighbor recognized him, but his presence had brought a warm sense of family to my house, something that hadn’t been there since my mother passed away. In fact, the three of us were getting along so well that I’d brought home a Monopoly game, some Chinese food, a six-pack of beer, and a bottle of wine, just so we could have game night together.
“Cassie! Jay! Anybody home?” I walked through the front door, expecting to see at least one of them stretched out on the sofa watching some train-wreck reality TV show like they usually were. Instead, I almost tripped over a pile of shopping bags from practically every damn store at Green Acres Mall.
“Dammit, she’s at it again,” I mumbled.
“Oh, hey, baby. Is that Chinese from the Jade Inn?” Cassie asked, walking down the stairs. She moved a couple of the bags and sat down on the sofa to watch TV like everything was all cool. I stomped over to the couch, grabbed the remote, turned the television off, and then threw the remote back down.
“Uh, did I do something wrong?” she asked, looking truly bewildered.
“How much?” My eyes went to the shopping bags.
Now that gave me her undivided attention. “How much what?” she asked, batting her eyes and playing dumb.
But I wasn’t going for that doe-eyed shit today. Enough was enough. With all those bags, she had to have spent a couple thousand dollars. “It looks like a goddamn swap meet in here.” I walked over to the bags and picked up a few, holding them high in the air like Exhibit A. “Seriously, Cassie, how many times do we have to talk about you and your shopping? You’ve got a closet full of clothes.”
“But I didn’t shop for myself this time,” she said.
This wasn’t the first time she’d used that excuse to justify her spending. Sometimes, among several purchases for herself, she’d buy a shirt or a sweater that she’d like to see me in, and then claim that she’d gone shopping for me. She’d pull out the shirt, have me put it on, then gush over how sexy I looked and how hot it made her. We’d end up having sex, and that shit was always so good that her overspending would be all but forgotten. Sex with Cassie was like a drug to me, and sometimes I swear it was killing enough brain cells that I couldn’t always think straight around her. I had to learn not to let her trick me so easily or we’d end up bankrupt one day.
“Cassie, you can’t keep buying clothes for me. My closet is full, just like yours.”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t shop for you either.” She opened the bag of Chinese food that I’d set down on the coffee table. “I bought this stuff for Jay. The man’s been wearing that same sweat suit for a week now.”
“Well, all right. I guess that makes se—” I opened a bag from Bloomingdale’s and pulled out a pair of stilettos in a size I didn’t even know they made. Now this definitely did not make sense. “You bought this for Jay?”
“Mm-hmm, and be careful with them. He’s very particular about his shoes.” She laughed as she opened up the carton of chicken and broccoli, digging in with a pair of chopsticks.
I was so confused I didn’t even know how to respond to her comment. “Ummm, where is Jay anyway?”
“He had to go out,” she replied, stuffing her face with Chinese food.
“Out? I thought he said he was going to lay low for the next couple weeks. What could possibly be so important that he’d risk getting caught?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged her shoulders, then turned on the TV like our conversation was done. Apparently Maury Povich was way more important than keeping track of the fugitive who was living in our house.
I stepped in front of the TV to get her attention. “So he didn’t say why or where he was going?”
“No, he just said there was something he had to do, so he had me drop him off at a corner over in Little Neck.” She waved her arm at me. “Now can you please move?”
“Are you kidding me?” My face flushed with anger. “You shouldn’t be driving him around, and especially not over in Little Neck.” I couldn’t believe Jay had the nerve to risk my wife getting caught up in his mess, and I couldn’t believe my wife was stupid enough to go for that shit.
Then a sobering thought came to mind: Maybe it was me who was getting her all caught up. After all, I was the one who opened my doors to an escaped convict, even if the escaped convict was my best friend.
“I should have never gotten you mixed up in all of this.” I sat down next to her.
“Look, babe, I’m a big girl. I know what I’m doing, okay?” Cassie hugged me from the side and rested her cheek against my shoulder. “Besides, didn’t you always tell me Jay was family?”
“He is family,” I said.
“Then stop bitching. Jay is cool people, and this is what real family does. I’m even more convinced of that after spending time with him. Most of your friends and their wives are full of shit and don’t even come around. Jay could have turned to any one of them, but he turned to you for help, because he knows that you trust him and believe in him.” She paused for a minute. “I mean, you do believe him, don’t you? You told me yourself that the Jay you know would never rape anybody.”
“Of course I believe him. And I want to help him, but you’re my wife, and I have to think of you first. This whole situation is pretty dangerous, Cassie.”
She smiled. “I’m fine, Allen, and Jay really needs us. I know firsthand what it’s like to feel as if you don’t have anybody in the world, but then there is that one person who proves they’re on your side no matter what. That night I showed up on your doorstep, that’s exactly how I felt about you. You didn’t turn me away. Now it’s Jay who needs you. And I know my kind and caring”—she kissed me on the chin—“gentle”—she kissed me on the nose—“husband”—she kissed me on the lips—“is not going to turn his best friend away either.” My wife was such a sweetheart. Damn, I was one lucky bastard indeed.
My cell phone rang, interrupting the action that was getting ready to take place. I pulled my phone out and answered the call.
“You have a call from the New York City jail system.” It was a recorded voice.
Fuck!
Jay never should have gone out on those streets. The only good news was that he was able to place a call. At least they hadn’t killed him.
“Caller, please state your name,” the automated voice continued.
“Wil Duncan.”
What? I heard the name, but it didn’t make any sense. Was this Jay’s way of trying to get around something?
“Please press one to accept this call,” the automated system stated.
I was so confused that it took a moment before I snapped out of my daze and pressed the button.
“Hello? Hello, Allen?”
Fuck, there was no mistaking that voice.
“Wil? Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“What the fuck is going on? Why are you calling me from jail?”
Cassie put down the Chinese food and muted the TV, all ears now.
“I got into something stupid at work,” Wil said. “I need you to come get me. They set the bail at a thousand dollars.”
“What the hell did you do?” I still couldn’t believe Wil, of all people, was calling me from jail.
“Dammit, Allen, can you just come get me out of here?” he said in a raised tone. “I’ll explain everything when I see you. I’m at Manhattan Central Booking, and whatever you do, don’t call my wife.”