“Okay, James.”
Then we’re standing by a car, and Sadie opens the door.Lying down! That’s what I’m talking about!I dive across the seat, resting my head on the leather. God, that’s so good! The whole world dips like I’m on a roller coaster.
“Is he drunk?” A voice washes in from somewhere to my right.
“He’s fine. James, sit up.”
I try to shuffle over, but my head is stuck to the seat. Someone is pushing my legs, so I swing them round, and then Sadie pulls on my arm and hauls me into a sitting position. I wriggle up the backrest, head lolling on the top of it.
“You okay back there?” the driver says.
“Never better,” Sadie says.
I squint at the talker, and a pair of glowering eyes meet mine.
“I’m only taking you, buddy, because I don’t want to leave this nice lady on the street on her own with you. You start feeling sick, you holler, because there’ll be a big bill for you cleaning the inside of my cab otherwise. You hear me?”
“We hear you,” Sadie says beside me, and he grunts, turning back around and pulling out into the traffic.
“Slorry I can’t shttand,” I whisper. “Slorry I’m drunk.”
“Shh,” she says. “Not so loud. You can apologize when we get home. Justrest.” She pats my hand, and I take hold of her small palm and weave my fingers through hers. Then I bring her hand up to my mouth and kiss the back of it.
“Thanks for taking care of me. And for getting me back home.”
“We’re not there yet. But it’s my pleasure.”
“I’m recommending you for promotion.”
My head lolls on the back of the seat, and as I twist it to look at her, I find her amazing eyes twinkling back at me.
“Really? That was easy. You better believe I’m going to remember you said that,” she says.
I wave a hand around and clonk it on the window. “Ouch.”
Chapter 14
Sadie
James is lying on his back on Des’s bed, hands stretched over his head, damp patches under his arms as he snores softly. Part of me wants to take a picture, to remind myself that the guy I had a total crush on wasn’t so shiny, but maybe that’s unkind. Mr. Karen jumps onto the comforter next to him and comes to an abrupt halt, watching him with one paw raised.
“He ain’t moving, buddy. He’s dead to the world,” I say.
He sniffs James’s shirt as I stare down at my phone. A message flashes across the screen:
Where’s the money?
Fuck. Too much to hope for that he’d managed to sort that out for himself.
I told Mom, I can’t get a paycheck I haven’t earned. It would jeopardize my job, okay?
And I’ve got other problems that are more important than you, I don’t say.
I look down at James again. My best idea is to let him sleep it off.Should I tell Des about this? He is one of James’s closest friends, and I’m sure he’d want to know what’s going on. Des isn’t going to be anything other than supportive, is he? He was often going out on total benders before he and Alex got together. I type in a text:
James met up with Jane at lunchtime and got drunk afterward. I babysat him all afternoon. I thought you ought to know. He did call me to come and chaperone him, though.
It’s better than thinking about jumping off the roof of a building, isn’t it? And if Des is aware of that, perhaps he’ll see this as progress.
