one.”
“I need clean clothing. I ran in these, and I can’t shower and then put them back on again.”
“There’s a terrific boutique on the mezzanine level. Give me a list of your sizes, and someone will send up whatever you need. Next objection? We’re two stubborn people, Jade. I can keepgoing as long as you can. But at the end of it, we both know what we want. Don’t we?”
A horn honked behind her.
Jade turned right.
MONDAY, 8:34 A.M.
“T URN RIGHT at the next corner,” Jade said, and then sighed in relief as she saw that the car wash was already open for business. “I suppose we may as well get Sam’s car washed while we’re here. You stay with the car, and I’ll go hunt for Jermayne. Just pray he’s here.”
But instead of pulling onto the lot of the car wash, Court pulled over to the curb half a block away. “You want to try that again, Jade? From the top?”
She sighed, almost like Jolie would sigh as a teenager when asked to actually make it home before her curfew. Almost theatrically. “Jermayne’s shy, and nervous. I don’t want to scare him by showing up with you next to me.”
“Let’s review. Jermayne Johnson, as I remember him from the last time we were here, stands well over six feet tall, and he’s built like an All-Pro tackle. He could probably snap me like atwig if he wanted to, shy or not, so I think he can handle being a little scared.”
“Jermayne is mine, Court. I get to handle him. You understand that and you won’t try to take over?”
“When have I ever done that?” He grinned like a child. “Tried to take over, I mean. That part of your two-part question.”
Jade laughed softly. “Right. Silly me. What could I have been thinking? All right, but just in case you’re wondering, this isn’t a good-cop, bad-cop situation.”
“You’re right,” Court said, putting the transmission into Drive once more and then parking the car in the Valet Service area of the car wash. “It’s a
no-cop
situation. Not to mention a no-win situation, since you’ve met with Jermayne a couple of times now, Teddy stuck close to him all these years, and nobody’s gotten any new information out of either little Jermayne or big Jermayne.”
“I love working with optimists,” Jade muttered, opening the car door as she spotted Jermayne, dressed in bright yellow coveralls that could have doubled as prison garb, which seemed reasonable, as half the car-wash employees were probably on work-release programs. At themoment, Jermayne was wiping down the hubcaps on a car parked over in the shade. “Okay, let’s go.”
Jermayne saw them, or sensed them, and his entire body stiffened, as if an adrenaline surge had him caught between fright and flight.
“Jermayne, hi,” Jade said quickly, hoping to make up his mind for him. “We were out this way and I thought I’d stop and see if you’ve filled out those forms I gave you last time. School starts soon, and you don’t want to be too last minute, right?”
“I tol’ you, Ms. Sunshine, I ain’t goin’.” Jermayne spoke softly, with a touch of velvet in his voice that belied his size. “I tol’ Teddy the same thing I tol’ you. It’s too late. I messed up in high school, I messed up bad, so there ain’t no way I can cut it in no trade school. Besides, Teddy, he done enough for me and my gran, so there ain’t no need to do no more, you know?”
“Teddy wanted you to go to school, learn a trade, Jermayne,” Jade reminded him, suddenly weary of hearing the same excuse yet again. “He did everything but hold a gun to your head to get you to sign the papers. He wanted what’s best for you. He made that promise atTerrell’s funeral, and if he can’t keep it, then I will.”
Jermayne seemed to reel where he stood, and Jade suddenly realized what she’d said.
Terrell Johnson had been shot in the head all those years ago. Just like Teddy. Talk about your dumb choice of words.
“Look, Jermayne, I’m sorry,” Jade said
“I need clean clothing. I ran in these, and I can’t shower and then put them back on again.”
“There’s a terrific boutique on the mezzanine level. Give me a list of your sizes, and someone will send up whatever you need. Next objection? We’re two stubborn people, Jade. I can keepgoing as long as you can. But at the end of it, we both know what we want. Don’t we?”
A horn honked behind her.
Jade turned right.
MONDAY, 8:34 A.M.
“T URN RIGHT at the next corner,” Jade said, and then sighed in relief as she saw that the car wash was already open for business. “I suppose we may as well get Sam’s car washed while we’re here. You stay with the car, and I’ll go hunt for Jermayne. Just pray he’s here.”
But instead of pulling onto the lot of the car wash, Court pulled over to the curb half a block away. “You want to try that again, Jade? From the top?”
She sighed, almost like Jolie would sigh as a teenager when asked to actually make it home before her curfew. Almost theatrically. “Jermayne’s shy, and nervous. I don’t want to scare him by showing up with you next to me.”
“Let’s review. Jermayne Johnson, as I remember him from the last time we were here, stands well over six feet tall, and he’s built like an All-Pro tackle. He could probably snap me like atwig if he wanted to, shy or not, so I think he can handle being a little scared.”
“Jermayne is mine, Court. I get to handle him. You understand that and you won’t try to take over?”
“When have I ever done that?” He grinned like a child. “Tried to take over, I mean. That part of your two-part question.”
Jade laughed softly. “Right. Silly me. What could I have been thinking? All right, but just in case you’re wondering, this isn’t a good-cop, bad-cop situation.”
“You’re right,” Court said, putting the transmission into Drive once more and then parking the car in the Valet Service area of the car wash. “It’s a
no-cop
situation. Not to mention a no-win situation, since you’ve met with Jermayne a couple of times now, Teddy stuck close to him all these years, and nobody’s gotten any new information out of either little Jermayne or big Jermayne.”
“I love working with optimists,” Jade muttered, opening the car door as she spotted Jermayne, dressed in bright yellow coveralls that could have doubled as prison garb, which seemed reasonable, as half the car-wash employees were probably on work-release programs. At themoment, Jermayne was wiping down the hubcaps on a car parked over in the shade. “Okay, let’s go.”
Jermayne saw them, or sensed them, and his entire body stiffened, as if an adrenaline surge had him caught between fright and flight.
“Jermayne, hi,” Jade said quickly, hoping to make up his mind for him. “We were out this way and I thought I’d stop and see if you’ve filled out those forms I gave you last time. School starts soon, and you don’t want to be too last minute, right?”
“I tol’ you, Ms. Sunshine, I ain’t goin’.” Jermayne spoke softly, with a touch of velvet in his voice that belied his size. “I tol’ Teddy the same thing I tol’ you. It’s too late. I messed up in high school, I messed up bad, so there ain’t no way I can cut it in no trade school. Besides, Teddy, he done enough for me and my gran, so there ain’t no need to do no more, you know?”
“Teddy wanted you to go to school, learn a trade, Jermayne,” Jade reminded him, suddenly weary of hearing the same excuse yet again. “He did everything but hold a gun to your head to get you to sign the papers. He wanted what’s best for you. He made that promise atTerrell’s funeral, and if he can’t keep it, then I will.”
Jermayne seemed to reel where he stood, and Jade suddenly realized what she’d said.
Terrell Johnson had been shot in the head all those years ago. Just like Teddy. Talk about your dumb choice of words.
“Look, Jermayne, I’m sorry,” Jade said
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