Allow the guy a little mercy. You know yourself that riding the L can be a peculiar, smelly kind of hell.Besides, after looking out the window to see the rain had started up again—hard and relentless, the sky heavy with clouds and closer to night than day—Jasper had to concede the ride south in a warm, heated car occupied by only the two of them in the back seat sounded awfully fine.
They emerged from his apartment building to hurry to the waiting black Lexus. Jasper thought suddenly of the man who’d picked him up in front of Carltons on Clark one cold winter night. What was his name? Jerry? He could see him in his mind’s eye and recalled how trepidation had turned to grudging appreciation for the man who bore an uneasy resemblance to John Wayne Gacy. Jerry had told him to find fireworks while he was still young.
And almost as if on cue, the sky lit up with a brilliant streak of lightning, so bright it hurt his eyes. The thunderclap that immediately followed was so loud it hurt his ears and set off car alarms on the street.
There was a sharp tang of ozone in the chilly air.
He clutched on to Rob. “Wow.”
Rob said nothing for a moment, then turned to Jasper. “I felt the earth move. Did you?”
Jasper smiled as the car pulled smoothly away from the curb. “Earlier I did.”
“That’s what I was talking about,” Rob whispered.
The driver, a middle-aged man with thinning red hair and freckles, eyed them in the rearview mirror with bloodshot blue eyes. Jasper snuggled closer to Rob, who put an arm around him.
At first, Jasper thought the driver was appalled, but then he broke into a grin. He took one last look at them in the mirror and sighed, “Young love.”
Truer words, Jasper thought,truer words….
TRAFFIC WASbad all the way downtown, especially on Lake Shore Drive. Jasper had witnessed it before—a little rain and drivers went nuts, suddenly losing any skills behind the wheel they’d once possessed.
The only saving grace was that he was in this warm little bubble with Rob. Rain smeared the windows, and the driver had set the heat to just the right temperature. He had his music tuned to something classical and soothing.
Jasper fell asleep on Rob’s shoulders somewhere in between his apartment and the Four Seasons.
He was in Louise’s kitchen, sitting, as they always would, at her maple kitchen table. Jasper stuffed his face with a huge piece of Louise’s homemade sweet-potato pie.
Louise watched him, sipping coffee, the steam from which would obscure her entire face when she lifted it close to her lips.
“You know that man’s gonna be good for you, huh?” The steam cleared as she set the mug back down.
His mouth full, Jasper could only nod and attempt a smile.
He looked up as he heard the floor creak. Lacy stepped into the room. She wore a pair of black leather pants paired with a simple cotton men’s button-down shirt, also in black. Her dark hair tied back from her face, she wore no makeup, and this fact made her look younger, almost innocent. Jasper swallowed, staring up at her, lingering there in the archway between Louise’s kitchen and dining room.
Louise looked over at her. “I like your hair that way. Shows off that pretty face.”
Jasper shivered. “You’re both dead.”
And they both burst into laughter.
Rob was shaking him. “Jasper? We’re here.”
Jasper felt disoriented as the car pulled up in front of the Four Seasons. A uniformed bellman hurried over, umbrella raised, to protect them from the rain.
Clutching Rob’s arm, Jasper hurried inside.
He tried to shake the dream as they passed through the lobby full of people and headed upstairs in one of the silent elevators, their only companion a small woman in a lavender skirt and tan sweater set who put him in mind of Judi Dench.
Once in the room, Rob gestured toward the couch. “Have a seat. I never did get that coffee, so I’m going to order some room service. You want anything to eat?”
“Now that you mention it, I’m starving.”
Rob raised an eyebrow. “We both worked up an appetite.” He groped around on the desk and handed Jasper the room service menu. “Tell me what you want.”
I want Lacy back. I want a relationship with my dad. I want to talk to Louise at her kitchen table just one more time, to be sure she knows how much I love her.The words sprouted automatically in Jasper’s mind, but he didn’t utter them. He was surprised at how they came to him, at him, so quickly. He bowed his head to peruse the menu, pressing a finger to his lips. He pretended to be in earnest thought to try to regain his composure. It took him a moment for his eyes to focus on the print in front of him.
