“How fuckin’ old is she?” Tyler asks, not quite buying my quick fix.
I shrug. “I don’t know. She’s older than my mom.”
Oscar interrupts. “Whatever. We still gotta talk to her.”
Tyler crosses his arms. “Too bad for you. You’re gonna have to wait until she finishes her shift.”
I groan. After Monty’s closes, she stays to clean up and have a drink herself. She isn’t usually home until 4 AM.
Oscar’s glaring at the bouncer. Oscar looks like his dad and in a few years, that scowl will probably make a man pee his pants. And a woman. And everyone else. He says, “This can’t wait.”
Tyler tilts his head. “What do you need? Elle isn’t exactly a problem-solver.”
He’s so right. “We need a ride to Reno,” I reply. It’s kinda strange that no one including Tyler has asked what two kids are doing wandering around in the middle of the night.
Tyler doesn’t seem to pick up on my thoughts. “You got money?”.
“Yeah,” Oscar says. “You gonna drive us?”
“Depends.” Tyler crosses his arms. “How much you got?”
“How much you want?” Oscar says.
He sizes us up and down. “$200.”
I open my mouth to say, done, but Oscar elbows me. “We don’t got $200. Best we can do is $140.”
“I don’t believe you,” Tyler says.
“We’re kids. You’re lucky we’ve got $140.”
Tyler scowls. “You’re lucky you’ve got $140.” He adds, “Be right back,” as he goes into Monty’s.
“He isn’t coming back,” I say to Oscar.
“He’s coming back,” Oscar says flatly.
“Why didn’t you just give him the $200?”
“Shut up,” he hisses as Tyler returns with a backpack in hand.
“Let’s go,” he says as he nods towards a real nice-looking jeep.
“How can you afford that jeep on a bouncer’s salary?” I ask as I jog to keep up with him.
“Henri, would you just shut up?” Oscar says.
I clamp my teeth together. He’s such an ass.
I don’t protest when Oscar holds the passenger seat forward. I don’t wanna be up front with Tyler.
“Money now, kid,” the bouncer says as he starts the truck.
“Half now, half when we got to Reno.”
He swivels his head and tries to stare down Oscar. “I could pound you into the ground, fucker, and leave your body in the woods.”
Oscar holds his eyes. “You could, but my dad’s a member of Hell’s Jury and he wouldn’t like if you did that.”
