Prez rocks back and forth in his chair. “People leave all the time. They also know how to use the internet, email, text messaging, Zoom, social media, the USPS—shit, even smoke signals, to drop a quick hey or how are you doing. You dropped me and D like the plague. And Rory…” Prez bites his tongue. “You fucking destroyed her, man. So, whatever you have to tell me, I can guaran-damn-tee you it won’t make a difference. Besides, it’s not me you should be explaining things to. And you have four minutes left,” he says, looking at his watch.
“When did you become such a hard ass?”
He glares at me.
“It’s about Candace.”
Prez’s eyes go wide, and he stills his rocking before reaching for his desk phone. “Hey, Penny. Can you cancel my meetings for today? I’m taking the rest of the day as a personal day and won’t be back in. Call Dustin’s office and tell him to meet me at O’Reilly’s in ten. Thanks,” he tells her and hangs up. “Well, JD, you certainly have my attention. But not here. There’s a bar down the street.”
I follow him out of D & D and onto the sidewalk. The lunch crowd is already milling around. Men in suits and women in sharp dress skirts and high heels walk briskly down the sidewalk, eager to have a break from their cubicles and enjoy the warm, sunny spring day for an hour before they have to be back in the office.
Several food trucks are scattered along the main thoroughfare, quickly handling orders and getting food out to hungry customers in record time. The air is drenched in the aroma of sizzling beef and baked pizza.
“Is she really with Knox now?” I ask him because it’s been gnawing at me since yesterday.
Prez makes a humming sound which neither confirms nor denies my question. “I’m not talking about Rory with you.”
Okay. “How have you been?”
“Busy,” he clips out.
He opens the door to O’Reilly’s and waves at the bartender. “Three IPAs please, Ben. We’re heading to the back table.”
“Coming right up, Prez,” the bartender says then gapes when he sees me. “Hey, you’re JD Hallstead. Holy crap! Can I get your autograph or something?”
I put on my public smile. “No problem.”
I walk over to the bar, and he hands me a napkin to sign then snaps a selfie of the two of us.
“This is awesome.TheJD Hallstead. I can’t believe that guy who sacked you during that blitz play. Hey, what do you think—?”
“Listen, Ben, is it? I need some private time to catch up with some high school friends of mine. You think you can help out by keeping me being here on the down low?”
I sign a Benjamin before sliding it his way. He looks at it like I’m Santa Claus delivering a present in person.
“Yeah, I can do that.” He gingerly picks up the bill with his thumb and forefinger. “Going to frame this puppy.”
“Thanks, man. I’ll take those three beers with me if you don’t mind.”
Ben has been nodding his head continuously like one of those dunking birds high school physics teachers use to explain gas laws. “I’ll get those right now.”
Grabbing the beers, I’m walking back to our table when Dustin walks in. He greets Ben and then tips his chin at me. “Prez agreed to hear you out?”
“Hopefully.”
Dustin thumps me on the back and takes one of the IPAs from my hand. “We may need something much stronger than this. I know I do. Hey, have you seen or spoken to your mom yet?”
“No. And I don’t plan to. If I never see that woman again for the rest of my life, I’ll die a happy man.”
“A little harsh, don’t you think? I mean, you may have hated your dad, but she just lost her husband.”
“She’s better off. Hopefully now, she can enjoy the rest of her years on this earth without having that asshole breathing down her neck and making her life miserable. Besides, she made her choice a long time ago. She chose him over her son. She always did.”
“Hasn’t she ever wanted to see—”
“No,” I bark, shutting his line of questioning down. Dustin snaps his mouth shut.
The two of us sit down and Prez grabs the bottle I place before him, chugging it in one go. He plunks the empty bottle on the table and sits back with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for me to begin. I should’ve known he wasn’t going to make this easy between us.
