On the highway to the airport, with thirty minutes to spare before our
plane took off, I decided that now would be a good time to tell Leon about
his little buddy Jesse.
"Le, I got somethin' to tell ya," I began.
"What, Lett?" He lit another cigarette and took a long ass drag, the floppy part of the bucket hat blowing in the wind.
"Ya know, just after we left the fort to go to Hawaii, Jesse came back." Leon turned toward me.
"He did?"
"Yeah, bro. He pulled up in the Jetta like, a half hour after we left for the airport."
"Damn, we missed him."
"But, uh, somethin' bad happened, Le." Leon's stomach suddenly turned to ice. He smushed his cigarette out on the outside part of the door and turned to look at me.
"What."
"The Trans came by to get him, just after he pulled up to the fort. They opened fire on everyone there, Brian, Dom, Mia, Jesse."
"Shit." Leon pretty much knew what was coming.
"Jesse got hit," I told him. Leon was silent, as if he hadn't quite comprehended what I said. "In the stomach." Leon remained quiet, but I could now see big tears forming in his eyes and begin rolling down his ruddy cheeks.
"Is he dead, Letty?" whispered Leon.
"No, no, he's alive." Leon sighed a sigh of relief.
"But what's wrong?"
"He had to go through, like, seven surgeries to fix his intestines. He's taking it easy at the fort." I glanced at Leon again.
"Shit, why didn't ya tell me sooner, Lett?" Leon lit another cigarette and dragged from it like there was no tomorrow. To calm his nerves, I guessed.
"I didn't want you to get worried about going home, ya know?"
"Yeah, yeah." We drove in silence.
When we reached the airport, we had to hurry to get our boxes checked in. Leon and I would be taking our duffel bags as carry-on, while the five boxes went to the luggage hold in the bottom of the plane. We pulled up to the luggage loading area. A man wearing a pilot outfit and a nametag that read 'Skycap' put tags on all of our boxes and assured us that we'd get the boxes in L.A. A valet parking guy came up to us.
"Can I park your car for you?" Leon handed him the keys.
"Sure thing, bro. In the back lot, where you park long-term stuff."
"Absolutely, sir." With that, the man drove off in the Cutlass. I laughed at Leon.
"You know, no one is ever going to come back for that car!" I snorted.
"I know, Lett. That's the brains of it all!" exclaimed Leon, who was feeling better about the whole Jesse thing. In a few short hours, we'd see them all for the first time in a year and a half. Leon and I raced inside to get our tickets and soon, we were the last passengers to board the 747.
"First Class, Lett? What's the occasion?" Leon exclaimed as we buckled ourselves into leather seats. I shrugged.
"It was all they had open." I smirked.
After the plane took off, Leon grew bored. Dinner wasn't for another hour, and the in-flight movie was some gay-ass film about street racing called The Slow and the Curious. He couldn't smoke, so he chewed on bubble gum practically the entire flight.
"Le, get out your CD player, man! Quit bouncing the seat!" I exclaimed, after Leon bounced his knee up and down one two many times. He reached into his duffel bag and came up with a bunch of CDs and his CD player. He selected a CD called "Poundin' Down the Walls" by a group named The Slime Kings.
"What the fuck is that shit?" I asked him, smiling.
"It's 80's heavy metal," he answered. He popped The Slime Kings into the player and began to listen. So I got out my CD player and selected a Paul Van Dyk CD. I reached into my duffel bag and pulled out Super Street, but I was unable to concentrate on it. I kept thinking about going home. I was actually scared to see Dominic again, scared of how he would treat me. I was scared to see Vince's arm, scared to see Jesse, with A.D.D., actually "taking it easy". I was looking forward to seeing Mia, though. She had been angry, too, at Le and I for taking off like that, but she's totally over it. I knew I could count on her to make everything okay again. My brain drifted to that girl I helped out at the beach, and why she had run away. I guess it was a mystery that I'd never solve, but I'd have the busted up knuckles for a while.
Beside me, Leon had fallen asleep, with that racket still playing into his head, and was snoring. I put my CD player and magazine away and leaned against Leon and fell into a deep, deep sleep. We slept through dinner. Leon was mad when we landed because it was spaghetti and meatballs, his favorite.
"Le, I got somethin' to tell ya," I began.
"What, Lett?" He lit another cigarette and took a long ass drag, the floppy part of the bucket hat blowing in the wind.
"Ya know, just after we left the fort to go to Hawaii, Jesse came back." Leon turned toward me.
"He did?"
"Yeah, bro. He pulled up in the Jetta like, a half hour after we left for the airport."
"Damn, we missed him."
"But, uh, somethin' bad happened, Le." Leon's stomach suddenly turned to ice. He smushed his cigarette out on the outside part of the door and turned to look at me.
"What."
"The Trans came by to get him, just after he pulled up to the fort. They opened fire on everyone there, Brian, Dom, Mia, Jesse."
"Shit." Leon pretty much knew what was coming.
"Jesse got hit," I told him. Leon was silent, as if he hadn't quite comprehended what I said. "In the stomach." Leon remained quiet, but I could now see big tears forming in his eyes and begin rolling down his ruddy cheeks.
"Is he dead, Letty?" whispered Leon.
"No, no, he's alive." Leon sighed a sigh of relief.
"But what's wrong?"
"He had to go through, like, seven surgeries to fix his intestines. He's taking it easy at the fort." I glanced at Leon again.
"Shit, why didn't ya tell me sooner, Lett?" Leon lit another cigarette and dragged from it like there was no tomorrow. To calm his nerves, I guessed.
"I didn't want you to get worried about going home, ya know?"
"Yeah, yeah." We drove in silence.
When we reached the airport, we had to hurry to get our boxes checked in. Leon and I would be taking our duffel bags as carry-on, while the five boxes went to the luggage hold in the bottom of the plane. We pulled up to the luggage loading area. A man wearing a pilot outfit and a nametag that read 'Skycap' put tags on all of our boxes and assured us that we'd get the boxes in L.A. A valet parking guy came up to us.
"Can I park your car for you?" Leon handed him the keys.
"Sure thing, bro. In the back lot, where you park long-term stuff."
"Absolutely, sir." With that, the man drove off in the Cutlass. I laughed at Leon.
"You know, no one is ever going to come back for that car!" I snorted.
"I know, Lett. That's the brains of it all!" exclaimed Leon, who was feeling better about the whole Jesse thing. In a few short hours, we'd see them all for the first time in a year and a half. Leon and I raced inside to get our tickets and soon, we were the last passengers to board the 747.
"First Class, Lett? What's the occasion?" Leon exclaimed as we buckled ourselves into leather seats. I shrugged.
"It was all they had open." I smirked.
After the plane took off, Leon grew bored. Dinner wasn't for another hour, and the in-flight movie was some gay-ass film about street racing called The Slow and the Curious. He couldn't smoke, so he chewed on bubble gum practically the entire flight.
"Le, get out your CD player, man! Quit bouncing the seat!" I exclaimed, after Leon bounced his knee up and down one two many times. He reached into his duffel bag and came up with a bunch of CDs and his CD player. He selected a CD called "Poundin' Down the Walls" by a group named The Slime Kings.
"What the fuck is that shit?" I asked him, smiling.
"It's 80's heavy metal," he answered. He popped The Slime Kings into the player and began to listen. So I got out my CD player and selected a Paul Van Dyk CD. I reached into my duffel bag and pulled out Super Street, but I was unable to concentrate on it. I kept thinking about going home. I was actually scared to see Dominic again, scared of how he would treat me. I was scared to see Vince's arm, scared to see Jesse, with A.D.D., actually "taking it easy". I was looking forward to seeing Mia, though. She had been angry, too, at Le and I for taking off like that, but she's totally over it. I knew I could count on her to make everything okay again. My brain drifted to that girl I helped out at the beach, and why she had run away. I guess it was a mystery that I'd never solve, but I'd have the busted up knuckles for a while.
Beside me, Leon had fallen asleep, with that racket still playing into his head, and was snoring. I put my CD player and magazine away and leaned against Leon and fell into a deep, deep sleep. We slept through dinner. Leon was mad when we landed because it was spaghetti and meatballs, his favorite.
