Chapter Fifteen – Jack
Chapter Fifteen
Jack
Rabbit and I ate quickly while he told me about the games he was looking forward to playing—other children had thoroughly explained the magic of Happyland to him and he was in a rush to get to it.
Meanwhile, the table behind Rabbit had been turned over.
Another kid Rabbit’s age sat directly behind Rabbit and across from him sat his mother, an attractive redhead with her hair in a messy bun.
I was trying to be good, honestly I was—but I was so used to being me.
She caught me noticing her and grinned. Rabbit, also observant, looked over his shoulder.
“She’s pretty,” he said, returning his attention to his placemat while we waited for the check—he’d started drawing in a landscape behind the car, with a curved orange road and green trees.
“Yeah, she is,” I said.
“Not as pretty as my momma though.”
“Definitely not,” I agreed.
After that, Happyland was ours. I followed him from game to game, helping him to win when he’d let me—unless he wanted to play against me, whereupon I’d put up a decent fight before ‘losing’ to him. I was particularly good at skee ball—and he really enjoyed accruing tickets.
“Hey, so how’s Mark?” I asked, pitching the ball into one of the 50 point concentric rings again. “Is he a good guy?”
“I dunno,” Rabbit said, from hovering over the vicinity of the next machine over’s ticket extruder, trying to finagle another one out with his small fingers.
“Do you like him?”
“He’s all right.” He held up the free ticket he’d stolen with unabashed glee. “My best friend likes him.”
“Yeah? Who’s that?”
“Buster.”
“What kind of name is Buster?”
“I dunno. He’s imaginary.”
“Does he know that?” I asked, and Rabbit snickered.
“That’s what mom says.”
“So, this Buster—does he have good taste in people?”
“I dunno.”
“Does Buster like me?”
“Yeah.”
“Then he must.” I pitched in the last ball, and Rabbit carefully pulled off the twenty tickets we’d earned. “Ready to spend these and go home?” I’d reached the end of my cash on hand, and it was getting late.
“No!” he protested. “Not yet!”
“I’m all out of quarters, Rabbit,” I said, ruffling his hair.
I could see his mind wildly searching for options. “There’s a ball pit! The ball pit is free!” he said, grabbed my hand, and started running backwards.
“Only fifteen more minutes,” I said, letting him pull me.
There was indeed a ball pit, and while wild horses couldn’t have gotten me inside of it, Rabbit was content to plunge in, leaving me with all his tickets to guard. I sat on one of the benches that lined the nearby wall, joining the other parental-inmates killing time, playing with their phones.
Are you done yet?
A text from Paco, from an hour ago. Almost, I texted back. Just fifteen more minutes.
There’s no way to actually protect you here. Too many doors and only one of me.
We’re fine, Paco. The most frightening thing here is whatever’s in the bottom of the ball pit. How do they even clean those things? Do they even clean them? There could be a body in there, is what I’m saying.
I was interrupted from whatever Paco said next by the arrival of a lean tan woman with black hair in shining waves, black jeans, black low-cut top, and a push-up bra holding her breasts up for easy inspection.
She looked over at me from where she’d sat down, clearly too close.
“Are you as exhausted as I am?” she said, giving me a weary look.
“I don’t know—I’ve only been here an hour and a half.”
“Three hours. I got drunk, but now I’m sober again, and if I hear one more,” she gestured back toward the cacophony of the arcade floor, rather than finish her sentence, “I’m going to shoot someone.”
I laughed. “Which one is yours?” I asked, looking out into the sea of multicolored balls.
“Lexie—third from the left—Lexie, don’t!” She shouted the last part louder, as Lexie proceeded to pitch a ball as hard as she could at the netting keeping the balls in. It bounced back, almost hitting another kid’s face, and she laughed. “Sorry.”
“It’s all right—mine’s Rabbit, back in the corner.” He was making a row of red balls, then trying to create a pyramid.
“What an interesting name! What’s it mean?”
“Uh.” Truth was, I’d never asked Angela. When I’d met Rabbit, it’d just made sense. He’d always been small and a little too fast. “His mom picked it.”
“Oh!” she said, then looked at me. “Is she here, too?”
The hunger lurched inside me again, same as it had at dinner for the redhead. “She is not.” Nothing I could do about things tonight, but there was nothing wrong with keeping my options open for later. “I’m his uncle, by the way.”
She smirked a little at me taking her bait. “I would’ve guessed that. You don’t look anything like him. I bet he takes after his dad. Your…brother?” she tried.
“No—I’m related to his mom.”
“Ahh. Faithful uncle, out on the town.”
“Yeah, she’s off on a date night and, well—you? You come here often?”
“Often enough to have the club card,” she said with a chuckle. “And I’m on my own tonight too, if that’s what you’re asking.”
And that’s what I liked about moms. Once you got past the veneer of propriety, they didn’t like to waste time. I gave her a wide smile, trying to envision a world in which I saddled Paco with both Rabbit and Lexie and took her back to my car. “I was—but….”
“Girlfriend?” she interrupted.
“No. I just can’t be a bad example for him.” I jerked my chin in Rabbit’s direction.
She gave me a ‘get-serious’ look, subtly pushing her chest out and leaning forward. “Like that’s ever stopped a man.”
And I wasn’t even one. But I’d made a promise—and Paco would never let me hear the end of it if I ditched Rabbit, besides.
I inhaled and exhaled, standing before turning toward her.
“You’re pretty much exactly my type and I’d love to get your number for later—later on tonight, even. But for right now, I have to be good.”
She stroked a hand through her hair and tossed it back, staring up at me with challenge in her eyes. “Good’s overrated.”
My eyebrows rose. I was so used to being the predator the experience reversed was novel. “What’re you even suggesting?”
“I have my Lexie watch your Rabbit and you and I find somewhere accommodating. This place has got to have a broom closet. We’re away ten minutes, tops.
” The hunger rose up inside of me like a separate beast, and it was very interested in her proposition.
“I mean, I’m sure in better circumstances, we could manage things for longer—but when you’re a parent, you catch as catch can.
” She stood up beside me, like I’d said yes and we were about to go somewhere.
“I’m Nikki,” she said, offering out a perfectly manicured hand, with nails I could already imagine clawing down my back when I put her on a wall.
“Jack,” I said, reaching out to shake it.
A jolt of electricity passed between us—no—only me. I could tell by her triumphant expression that she thought nothing had changed.
But I’d felt like that before—when I’d touched Angela, a few nights ago. I didn’t know what that meant—but something was not right, and I pulled back. “Numbers, maybe?”
“Really?” she said.
“Yeah—it’s past our bedtime.” I looked over my shoulder where Rabbit was now playing with Lexie, pitching balls with glee. “Rabbit! Time to go!”
“But Jackkkk,” he started whining.
I turned to face him. “We’re going,” I said, letting a hint of my whammy through. He started wading through the ball pit in response.
“What happened?” Nikki asked me, reaching out to rest her hand on my arm and drag it down, trying to slow me.
“Nothing,” I said, stepping back and away toward Rabbit. When he got to the edge of the pit, I boosted him up and held him like a much smaller child. “It’s past his bedtime, and we’ve got to go. Nice meeting you.”
She pouted. “Nice meeting you, too.”
We started walking toward the entrance and I didn’t set Rabbit down. He knew something was wrong. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I lied to him as well, pulling out my phone to text Paco: Heading home.
We stayed in the shadows in the entryway, waiting until we saw Paco’s dark car circle near, then walked out under his watchful eyes.
“You’re sure everything’s okay?” Rabbit asked, after I’d installed him in my car, closing the door firmly behind him.
“Yeah. It’s fine,” I said, getting in the other side. “You had fun, didn’t you?”
“I did! I didn’t get to spend these, though,” he said, shaking a fistful of tickets at me.
“Save them for next time, then.”
“There’s going to be a next time?” Rabbit asked, hope in his voice.
“Yeah. Swear.” Hanging out with Rabbit wasn’t so bad.
And next time I’d have made sure to feed, plus we’d stay away from strangely electric women.
I pulled out of the Happyland parking lot, with Paco’s car right behind mine, not even pretending to hide.
Why had Nikki felt like Angela? What could they possibly have in common? Was I a fool to let it spook me?
“I hope Lexie’s there next time,” Rabbit said.
“Why’s that?” I asked, flipping on a turn signal.
“Because Buster really liked Fluffy.”
“Fluffy who?”
“Lexie’s imaginary friend.”
I gave him side-eye. “Yeah? The two of them talk? Have a big conversation?”
“They don’t talk, Jack,” Rabbit said, with the exasperation of a child who knows he’s being patronized. “They’re doggies. It’s like barks and feelings.”
I inhaled to say something snarky but all that came out was, “Oh.” And suddenly I didn’t think I needed to have Rabbit touch silver anymore to prove anything.