away from them, and then another. There’s a feeling of finality to this moment, and instead of immediately running from it, I do something crazy.
“I love you guys,” I say. Before I can see whether they look dumbfounded, disgusted, or something else, I spin away so fast Smith stumbles behind me, and take off for Smith’s Cherokee.
GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS
As we come around the side of the house, we run into Dyl and W2 and . . . the odd hairy man they’re talking with. As if sensing my gaze, the hairy man turns and waves at me in a friendly way, and that’s when I recognize him as the guy I met at the bar last night. Rabbit. The one who “takes care of” things for my father.
“Hello, hello!” he says, coming at me with an arm outstretched and ready for a hearty handshake. After pumping my hand up and down a few times, he finally releases me and folds his hands on top of his rounded little stomach. “What luck to run into you! I was just asking these two where you might be.”
“Yeah, this Rabbit guy is gonna take us to your daddio,” W2 interrupts. “And let us do a group selfie with him if at all possible.” He looks around to the rest of us. “That would be sick, right?”
“No way,” I say, having no problem with bursting W2’s bubble. “I’ve got enough shit to handle right now, I’m not adding him to the mix.”
Rabbit smiles in this strained way. “Well, yes, that’s the thing. You see, your father has become aware of your, erm, problems and thinks he may be able to offer some help.”
“And if I say no, you’re gonna drag me there anyway, right? You’re not the first of my father’s friends to hunt me down today, you know.”
“I do know, and I apologize for such tactics. Dragging you,” Rabbit shudders. “And bringing you to your father, against your will. No. I would never do such a thing. Lennie, you may recall I put you in a cab the other day. Had he known, Cash would’ve preferred that I’d detained you.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Well, Cash never gave specific orders on what to do if you were to show up at the bar soaking wet and . . . Ahem. Excuse the presumption, but drunk as a skunk as well. So I used my own judgment and decided that kidnapping you hardly seemed an auspicious way to kick-start a father-daughter reunion.”
“Right,” Smith says, bleeding skepticism. “Tell that to the two psychos who broke into Lennie’s house a few hours ago.”
“Stay away from us,” I add, as Smith and I start to make a detour around Rabbit, all the while making sure to stay out of snatching range—just in case.
“Of course, I respect your wishes . . . er, bad choice of words—that is to say, your desires, and I would leave it at that,” Rabbit calls after us in his gratingly ingratiating way. “But the thing is, your father has a way to break wishes. One hundred percent guaranteed to work as long as the original wish granter is present and recalls more or less the wording of the original wish.”
“More or less?” I ask, intrigued despite myself. My footsteps stall even as Smith attempts to keep tugging me along. “I was totally wasted, or you know, drunk as a skunk, when I granted all those wishes. What if I can’t remember exactly how the wish went?”
Rabbit shrugs. “You’ll have to ask your father for the exact details. I’m afraid that I’m merely the messenger.”
I glance over at Smith, wanting to know what he thinks and if I’m totally crazy for even considering this. “It’s something,” he says, which is pretty much what I’d been thinking, but then he adds, “Or a bunch of bullshit so your father can get his hands on you.”
“And give you a great big hug,” Rabbit interjects.
Smith and I ignore him.
“I still think it’s a total badass move,” W2 chimes in.
We ignore him too.
For better or worse, Smith and I are connected, and this is our decision to make.
“Okay,” Smith says, leaning in close and shutting everyone else out. “If this Rabbit guy hadn’t shown up, what was your next move?”
“Um . . .” I chew on my lip, waiting for something to come to me. Nothing does. “Go back to my house and try to think of an idea?”
Smith says nothing in response. He doesn’t need to. We