“Is it me or does this beer taste like crap?” Wil said as we all sat at the bar, staring down at our untouched drinks. None of us said it, but I’m pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing: What the fuck happened?
“Yeah, I know how you feel.” Jay pushed his beer to the side. “Kind of hard to celebrate your freedom when your friend has just lost his.”
“Now I’ll drink to that.” I picked up my beer and took a sip.
“What do you think is gonna happen to him?” Wil turned to Jay, who shrugged.
“I don’t know. Goldstein’s one of the best criminal defense attorneys money can buy. With him having a breakdown and seeing a shrink, maybe he can get him off on an insanity defense.”
“Let’s start with hoping he gets bail,” Wil said.
“Maybe we should talk to Lisa,” Jay suggested.
Wil turned his whole body to face Jay. “Are you nuts?”
“Yeah, well, speaking of Lisa… I hate to sound selfish at a time like this, but something tells me that Lisa isn’t going to allow her husband’s friend to continue to stay on that boat.” I looked at Jay and Wil. “So a brother may need a place to stay.”
“Don’t look at me,” Jay said, finally picking up his beer. “I was going to ask if I could stay with you on the boat.”
Wil sat there shaking his head. “Un-fucking-believable.”
“And that, my friend, says it all.” Jay took a drink.
“Go home, Allen,” Wil said emphatically.
“You have no idea how much I’d love to,” I said, “but Cassie probably has nine-one-one on speed dial waiting for my ass.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, Wil’s lips parted into a mild yet mischievous grin. “I’m not so sure about that,” he said cryptically.
Wil’s actions didn’t go unnoticed by Jay either, as he shot me a confused look.
“Wil, is everything okay?” Jay asked him.
Wil didn’t answer. He took a large gulp of beer and then placed his glass down with a loud, satisfied “Ahhhhh.”
I wished I was feeling as good as Wil seemed to be feeling. Hell, I wished I could be privy to what he was so relieved about.
Wil put his hands on the bar and said, “You know, fellas, I’ve really—I mean really—started to learn what family is… what family means. You should go to the ends of the earth and back for family, whether they are right”—he looked at me—“or whether they are wrong.” He took another drink from his beer. “And you two are my family.”
Jay and I shrugged, realizing we might never figure out the riddles Wil was talking in.
My cell phone started buzzing. I took it out of my pocket and answered it.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Allen, this is Sue Smith with the public defender’s office.”
I was a little puzzled at first. Why would the public defender’s office be calling me? Kyle had an attorney, a damn good one. I was hoping his ass hadn’t done something stupid like fire his attorney.
“Yes, Ms. Smith, what can I do for you?”
Her next words stunned me. “I’m calling about your wife.”
“My wife? Cassie?” I knew she couldn’t see it, but I rolled my eyes.
“Yes, sir. She’s been arrested. I’m going to need you to come to the 103rd Precinct.”
“Arrested for what?” I raised my voice, and Wil and Jay turned to stare at me.
“Sir, your wife needs your support right now.”
“Ms. Smith, what exactly is this about?” I asked, curious but not really interested in giving Cassie any kind of support.
“Well, your wife’s car was pulled over. Apparently the police received an anonymous tip that she was carrying a large amount of drugs. And I must say, there was quite a bit of cocaine found in the trunk of your wife’s car when the police pulled her over. She swears up and down that the drugs aren’t hers, that she doesn’t even do drugs. Any chance they might be yours?”
I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at it, contemplating whether I should just end the call. Then I realized that if I hung up, I might look guilty. I put the phone back to my ear.
“Hell no, they’re not mine. I don’t do drugs, and I still don’t understand the purpose of this call. I haven’t spoken to or been near that woman in weeks. She’s got a restraining order on me. Did she tell you that?”
“Uhhhhhh, no.” She sounded totally confused. “You’re the only person she asked me to call.”
“That’s because I was the only person in her life who would come running to save her ass. But this time, she’s wrong. Tell her she made the wrong call.” I hung up the phone and turned to my friends.
“Well, you’re not going to believe this, but it looks like I can go to my own house after all,” I told them.
“What happened?” Jay asked.
“Cassie was locked up for having a carful of drugs,” I answered. Then I looked at Wil, who had that smug smile on his face again, like none of this surprised him.
“Wil, you wanna say something?” I asked.
“Nah, just glad to have you guys in my life.” He raised his glass and toasted, “To family.”