HDU #2: Dirt (29 page)

Why am I even surprised?

“Hey!
Jake.”
 
Amanda stood unmoving, her
big eyes watching Jake speed walk over, favoring his left leg as usual.
 
“Oh boy,” she murmured under her
breath.
  
There was something
bad, something dangerous about the fact that he had caught her at this
particular moment but in her brief confusion, Amanda couldn’t quite put her
finger on it.

Oh wait.
 
I remember
, she realized as she watched Jake’s eyes go
from neutral on her to wide as they slid over her shoulders and past her.

“
Ass
hole!” he somewhat gasped.

Ian blinked,
only caught briefly off guard.
 
“Yeah, I’ve gotten that one already.
 
Like a hundred times.
 
You’re going to have to come up with a more original one than that,” he
said while tucking his iPad away in his backup.

Oh geez
.
 
“No, no, no — ” Amanda put her hands on Jake’s
shoulders as he attempted to charge forward, though he didn’t quite take anyone
by surprise with his slow, hobbled pace.

“What… is going
on,” Ian asked, squinting as Amanda held Jake back.
 
“You… are definitely the biggest Casey fan I’ve encountered
so far.”

“I’m her
brother
, you piece of shit!”

Ian’s eyebrows
shot up as Jake suddenly stopped with a little gasp.
 
Eyes wide, he peered around the square, which was empty save
for a man sitting under a tall, bearded statue.
 
He hadn’t appeared to look up once let alone at them.

“
Oh
… this is the one?” Ian mouthed to
Amanda, who nodded, prompting his sigh.
 
His shoulders slumping, Ian softened.
 
“Listen, dude,” he started, holding both hands up as he took
a step closer to Jake.
 
“I can
understand why you’re upset but — ”

His sentence was
cut off the second Amanda let go of Jake, who swung his arm hard to land a fist
onto the side of Ian’s left cheek.

“
Jake
!”

“Fuck, dude,”
Ian cursed, squeezing one eye shut and wincing as he clutched his face with one
hand.
 
But judging from the way he
stayed on his feet, the hit wasn’t too hard.
 
Glancing at Jake as she held him back, Amanda could detect
in his eye a hint of embarrassment over the lack of impact.

“Fuck
you
, dude,” Jake sputtered upon finding
his voice again.
 
“You’re an
asshole.
 
My sister’s a good
person, she didn’t deserve what you did to her, you… sicko
bully
.”
 
He wet his
lips once he’d finished his sentence.
 
It wasn’t the best retort and he knew it.
 
“I’ve dealt with bullies my entire life but you’re
definitely the worst I’ve seen.”

Blinking to
regain focus, Ian stood straight again.
 
“You’re joking.
 
Really? Casey’s
the bully, kid.
 
You’re her brother
and you don’t know what a maniac that girl really is?”

Jake’s pale eyes
went wild again, his lips contorting with the beginnings of a thousand
different insults, none of which he seemed able to decide on.
 
“You don’t know what the hell you’re
talking about.
 
Cokehead
,” he finally spat.

Ian’s stare
dulled at Jake as Amanda continued to hold him back.
 
Finally, his blank expression broke into a sneer.
 
“Yeah… when was the last time you saw
your sister? Elementary school? Middle school?” He nodded when Jake didn’t
answer.
 
“Right.
 
Go find her crazy ass now and see what
she’s really like.
 
And
then
come talk to me because you have no
damned clue who she really is, blood or not.
 
You have no idea what kind of sick
shit
she’s pulled since moving back here.”

“Alright,
enough.”
 
Feeling the muscles in
Jake’s brittle body tense up again, Amanda pushed him gently with one hand,
backing him away from Ian till they were two thirds of the block down.
 
Meanwhile, her other hand composed a text
which she hardly had to look at to type.

Harper.
 
If you’re still in the area please come back and take care
of Ian right now. Craziness just happened and he needs you.
 
So do I. Thank you girl.

“What the hell
kind of drugs is that guy on?” Jake breathed, unblinking as he continued
staring down the block.
 
Amanda
frowned as she watched him do something of a hop on one foot, seeming not to
notice his own hobble at all.

“Jake.
 
Are you okay?”

“Huh?”

“You’re
limping.”
 
Worse than usual
, Amanda nearly added.

“Oh.”
 
Jake grabbed hold of a cast iron railing,
waving a casual hand through the air though his cheeks visibly blushed.
 
“It’s nothing.
 
I’ve always had this.”

Because… you fell from a ledge at a lake
when you were eight years old?
Amanda bit her tongue again.
 
“Why?” The question blurted from her lips
despite the fact that she was certain she knew the answer and that it wouldn’t
be the most pleasant memory for Jake to revisit.
 
She winced guiltily when he looked down at the ground, her
inquiry seeming to sober him down quickly from his riled state.

“Uh.”
 
He looked up at her and then down the
street, once again checking to see if anyone was around.
 
“I don’t know if we should be talking
out here anymore.”

Damn it.
 
Trying her luck, Amanda cocked her head.
 
“Can I buy you dinner? Or a snack? We
can talk somewhere private then.”

Jake chewed on
his lip, his hand unconsciously touching his stomach.
 
“Okay.”

“Okay.”
 
Amanda turned around to check on
Ian.
 
Just as she did, she saw
Harper’s Audi roll to a stop next to where he stood on the sidewalk.
 
He stared into the car for a second,
giving a single sheepish wave before turning to look at Amanda.
 
He nodded at her before climbing
in.
 
Turning back to an anxious
Jake, Amanda nodded herself.
 
“Alright.
 
Let’s go.”

~

“Man.
 
This is really good.
 
I don’t even know what this is.”

Jake stared into
the little wax bag of springy, grape-sized cakes as he sat with Amanda in yet
another Chinatown cafe — one which he had wordlessly ventured into upon
spotting the their colorful drinks in the window.
 
Amanda approved since the place was nearing its closing time
and completely empty.
 
Plus, there
was a small booth in the back that was completely obstructed from anyone’s view
by the cashier stand.
 
With no one
on the street and no one in the cafe, it was the perfect place for Jake to take
his time while marveling over his snacks.

If only all problems could be this easily
solved with food
, Amanda mused as she watched Jake shake the bag, counting
how many cakes he had left before continuing his snacking.

“I wonder if
Casey knows about this stuff,” he said quietly, with genuine interest.
 
“She has to.
 
She’s been living here for so long.”

Amanda nodded,
squinting in the fluorescent lighting of the cafe as she studied Jake, willing
his attention to finally move from his street cakes and bubble tea to the
conversation from before.
 
“When
was the last time you saw Casey again?” she asked, hoping to steer the topic
back where she wanted.

“Forever
ago.
 
Thirteen years ago but we
talked here and there,” Jake answered, relaxed and at ease thanks to his array
of snacks.
 
Amanda felt herself
laugh quietly as he pulled out the grape and melon-flavored packs of Hi-Chew
candy that he had let her purchase for him around the corner.
 
Underneath the six-foot frame, he was
the quintessential little brother.
 
“But yeah, last time I was saw her I was eight.
 
I think.
 
Is that right? I can’t do math.”

“That’s right,”
Amanda said quietly, feeling a small chill crawl up her arm.
 
He had been eight at the time of that
mystery accident by the lake — which she assumed he was in fact the
victim of.
 
“So… why did you choose
to stay in Missouri? Since Casey was moving to New York and all.
 
You two got along, right?”

Jake’s laugh was
muffled as he sheepishly chewed a large mouthful of cake, having just emptied
the last five or so straight from the bag and into his mouth.
 
He held up a finger to keep Amanda on
hold until he finished swallowing.
 
“Totally,” he finally answered, offering little payoff for the amount of
time he’d kept her waiting.
 
But
after a long sip of his bubble tea, Jake continued.
 
“She was like a cool older sister.
 
She didn’t hate me.”

Amanda burst out
laughing.
 
“Did your friends’ older
siblings hate them or something?”

“I, um, didn’t
really grow up with friends.”

Shit.
 
Right
.
 
Not knowing what
to say, Amanda offered an awkward smile of condolence.
 
“Their loss then, right?”

He
shrugged.
 
“No.
 
My leg was all messed up so I sucked at
sports and sports were all that mattered, so.”
 
Jake pulled his sweatshirt sleeves over his hands, nodding when
Amanda’s mouth opened only to close a couple seconds later.
 
“I mean.
 
I had one friend.
 
She was really nice.”

Jesus, this is brutal.
 
Say something else for God’s sake
,
Amanda scolded herself.
 
She
decided to change the subject back to the one that had had Jake beaming just a
few seconds ago.
 
“So, Casey.
 
Cool big sister, huh?”
Thank goodness
, she thought to herself
as Jake’s face quickly brightened again.

“Oh,
totally.
 
She was always nice to
me, snuck me junk food ‘cause my mom never bought junk food.
 
Took me to places.
 
You know.”

“Yeah.”
 
Amanda nodded though she couldn’t
relate.
 
“So, why didn’t you move
to New York when she decided to come here and be an actress?”

“You didn’t tell
her I’m here, right?”

“What?”

“Sorry, I
interrupted you.”
 
Jake winced
apologetically while unconsciously folding the empty wax baggie into a paper
plane or some sort of origami.
 
“You didn’t tell her though, right? That I’m here?”

“No.”

“Okay.”
 
He exhaled, tightening the drawstrings
on his sweatshirt so that the hood puckered tight around his face.
 
“It’s just I know you guys are still
kind of friends — ” He cut himself off, frowning briefly at Amanda.
 
“You guys are still friends right?”

She
blinked.
 
“We’re good friends, I
just haven’t seen her in awhile,” she said, rattling off the answer she had
given to Fleur Magazine.

“Right.
 
Good.
 
I knew you guys weren’t close like Jamie-close so you
wouldn’t necessarily tell her right away that I’m here.
 
Especially not tonight since she’s busy
with her premiere and stuff.”

“Is that why you
followed me tonight specifically?” Amanda asked, actually somewhat impressed
with Jake’s reasoning.

“Yeah.”
 
He grimaced, looking embarrassed.
 
“And I followed you again to make sure
you didn’t tell ‘cause we didn’t really get to finish our conversation in the
car but that was my fault.
 
Sorry.
 
Tell your blonde
friend sorry, too, for sitting in her seat.”
 
Jake bared his teeth in a sheepish smile of sorts.
 
“I just had to make sure.
 
‘Cause Casey can’t know yet.
 
That I’m here.”

Feeling her
interest build again, Amanda tried to subdue the curiosity in her voice.
 
“Why can’t she know?”

“Hm? Oh.
 
I just want to be all settled into my
job and my apartment before I tell her I’m here.
 
I don’t want her to think I came to New York to get money or
connections from her.”

Oh
.
 
Amanda felt her shoulders slump, utterly disappointed with
Jake’s completely normal answer.
 
It suddenly occurred to her that he might not in fact be her key to Casey’s
skeleton-filled closet.
 
“I’m sure
she wouldn’t think that,” Amanda offered halfheartedly, unsure if she were
telling the truth or not.

“No, she would,”
Jake answered confidently.
 
“I
screwed up once ‘cause I asked her to help my friend get an acting job.
 
Which was why we’ve gone the past few
years without talking again, really.
 
Which sucks.
 
But it’s my
fault.
 
But it sucks.
 
‘Cause like, I had two best friends
growing up and Casey was one of them.”