Gale insisted that they not talk about anything potentially unpleasant until after they had eaten. Walter wasn't sure about the explanation he gave about Chinese medicine, and he was equally unsure about the vegan BLT he ordered for lunch. The fake bacon reminded him of the veggie bacon Skyler had tried to convert them to months ago: a memory that was unpleasant for several reasons.
His companion, however, delighted in his chard wraps, and seemed pleased enough to discuss the similarities in their educations while he ate. Walter made do with his coffee. When Gale was finished, he pushed his plate to the side and sighed as he looked sadly at Walter.
"Okay, so I'm just going to throw it out here, Mr. White: I'm afraid that I just don't understand your choice of lab assistant."
Walter reclined in his seat a little, somewhat taken aback. "Is Jesse somehow a problem?"
Gale was quick to shake his head in denial. "Oh, no, not in the sense that he's an obstacle. But… Frankly, if I had to describe the antithesis of Walter White, it would be that young man." He gestured sweepingly with his hands. "You're polished; an expert in your field. A chemist par excellence. He's…" Gale leaned forward and peered at Walter intently. "Is it true he's a high school drop-out?"
"No, actually it isn't. He did finish high school," Walter replied. "Jesse may not have been a stellar student, but that's immaterial. When it comes to cooking," he continued, lowering his voice and leaning forward a little himself, "Jesse is nearly as good as I am."
Off Gale's disbelieving expression, Walter added, "Oh, yes. Jesse may be… a little rough around the edges. But I can tell you this: he's the only person I know that knows my method, inside and out." Walter sat back again and sighed, tapping his fingertips on the tabletop. "I'm afraid we're a package deal, Gale."
"I certainly don't mean to imply I can't work with you both," Gale said quickly, his expression pained. "I am so honored to have the opportunity to work with you, so I just wanted to get my reservations out in the open air so that we could talk them through. I don't want anything to taint our little… happy place." He smiled wistfully. "I truly hope I haven't offended you. It wasn't my intent at all. The furthest thing from my mind, Mr. White."
"No offense taken," Walter replied amicably. "Now, with that out of the way… Any thoughts on our process?"
Jesse sat in his car, knee jogging up and down as he nervously tapped a foot on the floorboard. He exhaled an explosive, preparatory breath, then opened the door and got out. The cool weight of the newly-acquired pistol tucked into his waistband was emboldening as he slunk casually across the quiet street, to where a boy was turning circles on a bicycle in an empty parking lot. He approached the boy and jerked his chin upward in greeting.
"What up?" Jesse said, glancing around and seeing no one else. The kid returned the nod, but said nothing. "You, uh, know where I can score a teenth?"
The kid looked Jesse over, finally holding his hand out wordlessly. Jesse fumbled in his jeans pocket and pulled out a couple of bills.
"It's three, man," the kid said. After a second, Jesse pulled out another bill and passed the money to the boy. "Wait here." The kid put his feet back on his pedals and rode to the edge of the parking lot where an older Camaro, paint peeling, slowly pulled up. The kid passed two of Jesse's hundred-dollar bills through the car window and palmed something small. As the car pulled away again, the kid rode back over to Jesse and tossed him a small baggie filled with tiny blue crystals. "Get lost, dude," the kid yelled over his shoulder as he went back to riding in slow circles.
Jesse stuffed the bag in his jacket pocket, and strode quickly back to his car. His breathing was rapid and rough to his own ears as he pulled the door open and climbed in, starting the car and driving away down the street opposite the one the Camaro had headed.
When he was several blocks away, back in a busier, commercial area of town, Jesse pulled over to the curb and parked. He slid the bag out of his pocket and held it up, looking at the crystals in the bag. Tinted a familiar blue, they caught the bright mid-day sun and glittered like jewels inside their plastic container.
Jesse could hear his heartbeat echoing in his ears as he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and pulled up his contact list. He was about to hit "Send" to call Walter when he remembered that he might be at the lab, so he sent a text message to the older man instead.
call me asap!
Walter was enjoying the current discussion much more than the previous one. Gale was telling him how he'd set up the lab equipment a few months ago, and how he'd had drawn out floor plan after floor plan before settling on the final arrangement. He opened his mouth to compliment the setup again when his phone chimed.
He gave a polite smile to indicate that Gale should hold his thoughts, and slid the phone out of his jacket pocket. When he saw the message from Jesse, he frowned.
"Need to go?" Gale asked in an understanding tone. "I've kept you here quite a while," he added with a smile.
Walter shut the phone and tucked it back into his pocket. "It seems that way. Having a little – temporary – trouble with the wife. Probably shouldn't keep her waiting."
"Certainly not!" Gale agreed, as he slid out of the booth and pulled his wallet from his pocket when Walter stopped him.
"Let me get that," the older man said with a smile. "It's the least I can do, considering you saved me from another solitary peanut butter and jelly sandwich."
As soon as Walter was back on the road after dropping Gale off back at the laundry, he pulled his phone out again and dialed Jesse's number. Jesse answered after a single ring, sounding anxious.
"We need to talk, Mr. White," he said in a rush.
Walter frowned. "Jesse, what's wrong?"
"Are you alone?"
"Am I… what? Yes, I'm alone. I just dropped Gale off at the lab. Where are you? What's going on?"
"We need to talk," Jesse repeated.
"Well, I was planning to head back to the apartment," Walter replied, confused, but concerned at the urgency in the younger man's tone. "Can we just talk there?"
Jesse paused for a moment. "No, man. I don't think we should talk there."
"Okay," Walter said slowly. "Uh… what about the Taco Cabeza near the apartment?" He was beginning to get frustrated with Jesse's evasiveness.
"Yeah, yeah. That's good, man. Taco Cabeza. I'll, uh, see you there in a few minutes." Before Walter could respond, Jesse had hung up. Walter closed the phone, frowning at the device before tucking it back into his pocket with a shake of his head.
When Walter stepped into the restaurant, he could see Jesse sitting in the back, facing the door, with his knee bopping nervously up and down as he chewed on his fingernails. As he approached, Jesse sat up straighter and jammed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.
Utterly confused, Walter slid into the booth across from the younger man, setting his hands on the table. "Jesse, what on earth is…" He trailed off as Jesse pulled his hand out of his pocket and thrust the small baggie of meth beneath one of Walter's palms. Instinctively, Walter covered it with his own, drawing it back toward him and into his lap.
He gave Jesse an incredulous stare. "Are you using? You're a week out of rehab," he began, fury building as he spoke. Jesse shook his head.
"No. No, man, no I'm not fucking using. When have I had time, yo? You've been with me every night." Jesse shook his head. "But I gotta know - is that ours?" When Walter looked back at him, baffled, Jesse gestured to Walter's lap. "Is that our stuff? Because it sure as hell looks to me like our shit."
"Do we really have to do this here?" Walter asked, the anger replaced with perplexity as he slid the bag across his leg and into the late afternoon sun coming through the window. The color looked right, and the crystal size was consistent… Walter shrugged, meeting Jesse's eyes again and tucking the bag into his own jacket pocket. "Without a mass spectrometer, Jesse, I can't tell you with absolute certainty, but… yes, it looks like our product," he said, still puzzled.
Jesse's expression changed from anxious to furious. "I fucking knew it," he blurted out loudly. A woman at a nearby table turned and glared at him, pointedly telling the children sitting with her to ignore the rude stranger. He lowered his voice a little as he continued, "I fucking knew that Gus is up to something."
"Jesse, what…" Walter cut himself off, closing his eyes briefly and flaring his hands as he collected his thoughts. "Where did this come from? And why are you so upset? Surely you realized that this was going to," he leaned closer and lowered his voice even more, "be marketed somewhere, right?"
The younger man nodded, his knee jogging as he bounced with nervous energy again. "I knew, yeah. What I didn't fucking know is that he was going to have kids pushing it, and offing my guys while they did it."
Walter's eyes widened, and he stood quickly, reaching down and pulling Jesse up abruptly by his jacket. The younger man protested, but Walter pushed him in front of him as he walked toward the door. When they got outside, he gestured at the Aztek and said gruffly, "Get in. We are not having this conversation in the middle of a crowded restaurant, Jesse."
Jesse climbed into the SUV, and turned to face Walter. "Mr. White, what's to stop Gu-"
"Stop." Jesse stared at him incredulously. Walter took a deep breath. "Just… calm down a moment. I need you to start at the beginning, all right?" Jesse sighed, leaning his head back against the headrest momentarily before looking back at his partner and nodding. "Okay. Slowly now."
"You remember Combo, right?" When Walter nodded, Jesse said, "Okay. Combo got shot by a little kid, in a part of town that we'd never sold in before, man." He paused and sighed again. "I went to a meeting today, like I said I was gonna do. There was a girl there, man, who said that her little brother had to shoot a dealer for, like, gang initiation shit, okay? That dealer was Combo."
"How do you know, for certain, that it was the same boy?" Jesse gave him a wide-eyed, disbelieving look, and Walter held up his hands defensively. "Think about this, Jesse. We can't exactly run to Gus with a wild, unsubstantiated claim and expect him to listen."
"It's the same kid, Mr. White. I went to the corner where Combo got shot, found the kid, and I bought that," he nodded toward Walter's pocket, "off him. You said the shit he's selling is the shit we're making? No one else knows that recipe, man. So the dealers that the kid works for have to work for Gus, right? There's no other way that this is on the street without it coming from him."
Walter scrubbed a hand over his goatee, looking upward. As he contemplated Jesse's story, he could hear the younger man breathing rapidly in the passenger seat. "Okay. Okay," Walter repeated, collecting his thoughts. "Let's assume that this is in fact our product. Combo was killed prior to our partnership with Gus, Jesse. It's unfortunate that he died, yes, but Gus wouldn't have known that he was… affiliated with you and I."
"Bullshit!" Jesse exploded. "Combo was selling our blue, man. Gus knows where every ounce of crystal comes from in this town." He met Walter's eyes. "They had a kid do it. A fucking ten year old kid."
Walter's chest constricted briefly at the thought; his mind going immediately to his own children. He took another deep breath, and carefully laid a hand on Jesse's shoulder. "Alright. Let's go back to the apartment-" He stopped as Jesse pulled away abruptly and shook his head furiously.
"No fucking way. We are not having this conversation at the apartment. That bitch is probably fucking bugged, man." Walter couldn't suppress an answering eyeroll.
"Jesse, now you're being completely paranoid."
The younger man's eyebrows rose to his hairline. "The guy we're working for killed one of my friends – one of our employees, has dealers usingkids as foot soldiers, has cameras on us when we're at work, and I'm fucking paranoid?"
Pinching the bridge of his nose and screwing his eyes closed, Walter replied, "Isn't there a device that you can use to detect surveillance equipment?"
"Like I know?" Jesse retorted. "The science is your department."
"Saul would know," Walter said, ignoring the sarcasm. He pulled his phone out of his jacket. "Tell you what - we will ask Saul. Then, we can find somewhere else to stay for the evening, we can talk about this calmly," he emphasized, "and think about what we're going to do next." Jesse didn't respond, so Walter put his hand back on the younger man's shoulder and gave him a little shake. "I need you with me on this," he said warningly. "You're not running off half-cocked and doing something stupid, Jesse."
A few seconds later, Jesse nodded, not meeting Walter's eyes. Walter sighed, but pulled his hand back and flipped his phone open to dial their lawyer.
"We got a problem, boss," Mike said heavily as he reviewed the screen on the laptop in front of him.
"I'm listening," Gus replied placidly.
"It's the kid. He's been in a part of town he doesn't have any business visiting." Mike had already triple-checked the GPS reports, but he pulled up the readout from the device hidden beneath Jesse's car as he spoke. "I think we're going to get some pushback from his direction soon."
Gus closed his eyes for a moment, careful to keep any hint of irritation out of his voice when he replied. "I assume this is related to the incident that occurred a few months ago."
"Yep," came the dry response.
"I believe I'll leave it up to you to deal with Mr. Pinkman," Gus said after a brief silence. He heard a deep sigh on the other end of the line.
"You know I got boundaries when it comes to kids."
"You misunderstand. Redirect him," Gus elaborated. "See if you can't find another outlet for what might otherwise develop into a problem."
"Alright. That I can do," Mike said. "I'll check in once something changes."
"I wouldn't expect anything less," Gus replied.
