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"I'm really sorry officers —" Ethan said, though his voice did not sound atallsorry to Jakob's ears. Sounded smug as hell, actually; which was a distraction Jakob couldn't afford right that moment. But later maybe… "— but I'm afraid I just can't be of any help to you. If you'll excuse me, I've got to finish up this call. Got another with a parent here in a few minutes, and then an absolute mountain of grading to get done before classes tomorrow. You ever had to grade a hundred and forty essays about high schooler's favorite art movements? Every single toilet-related pun gentlemen, to the point words and life both lose all meaning. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Hope you have a nice day now."
There was the sound of a door closing on a muffled, angry "Sir! Please open the door sir!" from the phone as Jakob and Alex got into the rideshare and greeted their driver, who thankfully took off with a minimum of fanfare.
But Jakob couldn't immediately relax though — only breathing out the sigh he had been holding, only feeling all his muscles untense when he finally heard the faint sound of Ethan's lock sliding home.
Chapter 10
"Hey, you still there?" Ethan asked; his voice coming in much louder and more clearly than before over the phone’s little speaker.
Jakob glanced at Alex, before nodding at the ride-share driver in front of them as he thumbed the phone off speaker mode and unmuted it.
Alex rolled his eyes, but nodded and turned to watch out the window, the shopping bag clutched tightly to his chest like he was afraid of losing that too now.
Jakob wondered if he was just people-watching in general as the rideshare wove them through the parking lot, or if the kid was scanning for the telltale outline of a crown vic; on the lookout for more of his dad's buddies on their tail.
He was betting on the latter.
"I'm here," Jakob said into the phone. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ethan replied so confidently Jakob could practically see the shit-eating grin he was no doubt wearing. The same one that he had seen on his old friend through so many stunts before. "They didn't have a warrant or anything to charge me on, so they can't do sweet fuck all."
"If you say so," Jakob said, exhaling slowly. "Sounds as if you’ve got more experience with all this than me."
"What'd you say about earlier? This ain't my first rodeo either. Though usually, it's protests and the like, not… well. You know."
"Yeah. Still — had me worried," Jakob said, feeling the tips of his ears heat as soon as the words left his mouth.
He glanced over at Alex, but the kid was sullenly looking out the window at the scenery passing by; the cheerful big-brand stores and chain restaurants clustered around the mall, blending into the general blandness of retail parks and outlet strips, car dealerships and office buildings, and so on.
He gave off every appearance of ignoring Jakob as they rode, but Jakob occasionally caught the flash of those bright copper eyes reflected in the window, watching him.
"You hear that bit about the tipoff?" Ethan's voice rumbled along the connection with concern.
"Yeah," Jakob sighed, remembering the sight of Alex ripping all the stuff off his backpack. All those patches and pins that had made ithis; that had made itspecial.
Jakob could get him a new bag. Could even try and help replace the individual accessories, but he knew from experience it wouldn't quite ever be the same. Wouldn't erase the memory of having to destroy that first bag either, that flash of raw loss he had seen in the kid's eyes.
And that was assuming Alex would even let him help replace his stuff. Jeans and shirts were one thing, but something so obviously personal…
Jakob could already tell the kid had a stubborn streak a mile wide, and an honestly healthy sense of caution about his current situation. Could be he would rebuff any gesture Jakob made that Alex might see as putting him in some kind of debt; no matter if it was given freely, without strings attached.
Didn't mean Jakob couldn't at least try, though.
"He thinks he took care of the problem," Jakob answered Ethan simply. "Ask me about it later. You know, as a break from grading all those essays."
He grinned at hearing Ethan's warm chuckle through the phone.
"Alright," Ethan said. "I'll call you tonight, then. You can catch me up on your end. Plus, we never got to finish that conversation earlier. You free around… eight, maybe?"
"Need to check in with Frank at eight," Jakob replied ruefully. "Then he spends half an hour trying to figure out how to adjust his camera so it isn’t just his forehead. Make it nine?"
"It's a date," Ethan said brightly, before apparently his brain caught up with his mouth and his tone turned nervous. "I mean… Well, um — I didn'tnotmean — "
"No, um. It's fine. I don't mind if… I'll just call you at nine then," Jakob said; stumbling over his words and wondering if at this point the tips of his ears would stay permanently warm like one of his neighbors used to threaten him would happen as a kid.
One of his many,manyneighbors through the years; them moving around as his mother's free-spirited whims and whimsy took her.Be nice enough in the winter, came the errant thought.Damn annoying in the summertime, though.
"Might not be a good idea to meet up for coffee again for a while, anyway. Not if they're watching me like they did the last time," Ethan warned. "Cop car's still parked outside on the street."
