Black

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Black waited by his car, smoking his fifth cigarette in the last hour as he contemplated excuses for buying a bottle of Jack and drinking it straight to his head - not that he particularly needed an excuse. A tapestry of stars glimmered overhead through the haze of smog that accumulated nightly east of L.A., the beige residue of the rush hour into Riverside. The freeway had been quiet on his night drive east, for which he was grateful. Since watching the debacle at the theater, a small part of him had died as he realized that Hunter had just shot his entire career down the toilet due to an inability to control his anger. Ground that was all too familiar to Black.

He flicked the cigarette butt away like it had stung him and turned when the front door of Colleen's trailer opened.

Colleen stepped out wearing a fuzzy pink terrycloth robe that had seen better days. She studied Black's face in silence and then wordlessly approached him and hugged him in an oddly maternal way. They stood together like that for an endless moment and then she pulled away.

"Sorry to impose. I just couldn't think of anyone else to talk to about the case."

She nodded.

"You look like a guy who could use a drink."

"I'm an open book to you."

"Come on inside before you scare the neighbors."

He hesitated. "I'm kind of afraid if I start tonight, I might not stop."

She shook her head. "If you were the guy who couldn't stop, you wouldn't be afraid. Just one. Then I throw your ass out."

"That's the best offer I've had all night."

"I'll bet. Wanna tell me about it?"

"Absolutely."

As they entered the trailer, Colleen frowned at all the newspaper and plastic taped down and shrugged. "Sorry about the mess. Seth's painting and doing some updating."

"No worries. He's pretty handy, then?"

"Yeah. You could say that."

"How did a director wind up..."

"...like this? It's okay, sweetie. I know what I am. I don't mind. The answer is, life happens. And when it does, sometimes you find yourself in places that surprise you."

She poured two glasses three fingers each of bourbon and handed him one.

"I know that feeling," Black confirmed.

"Nobody gets the life they want. Sometimes, not even the life they deserve. So you make the best of it. Cheers."

They each took contemplative swallows and Black began pacing. Colleen sat on a plastic-covered easy chair and let him be. He looked at the little collection of photographs on her bookshelf and smiled.

"You were a lot younger in these. So was Seth, in that one." He motioned to a shot of Seth standing in front of a gangplank in Newport harbor, a festive sign announcing 'Newport Beach New Years, 2000' mounted on the archway leading up to the harbor cruiser. He tapped another one. "And look at you here. What were you, fifteen?"

"Hardly. Let's just say it was a while ago. Time has a way of running away from you if you're not careful. One day you wake up and you're inhabiting your mother's body. And it's always a shock. Just as it probably was for her."

"There's something to look forward to," he said, then took another swallow.

"It happens to everyone, darling. There's no shame in it. Just...it is what it is."

"You haven't seen my parents. Where is your handyman, anyway?"

"He's out. He's a night owl. I give him his space. He gives me what he can. It works. For now."

Black didn't have anything to add, and silence settled over them like a heavy blanket.

"Tell me everything that happened, Black," she said softly.

He stopped delaying, sat down, and did.

When he finished, she whistled and downed the rest of her drink. "God, I'm sorry I got you into this. What a disaster. Although I would have paid money to watch Freddie get the crap kicked out of him."

"I'm pretty sure it will be on YouTube by tomorrow, if it isn't already. There's no place to hide anymore when every phone's a camera." He rubbed his face, tired. "Don't worry about me and Hunter. It's not your fault. Oh, and by the way, his movie blows goats. It's a total dog."

She shook her head. "Poor bastard."

"I'll say. Don't ask me how I know this, but he's up to his ears in debt."

"That doesn't entirely surprise me. I heard rumors."

"Still plugged in, are you?"

"Old habits."

Black finished his drink. The amber fluid seared a punishment down his throat before spreading welcome warmth through his body. A part of him wanted to finish the bottle with her, but a bigger part of him refused to go down that road. She was right. By now, if he was going to choose that path, he would have. After his marriage had cratered and his career had hit a wall, he'd certainly had the chance. And he'd flirted with climbing into a bottle, no doubt, but it had never happened.

And it certainly wouldn't tonight.

He looked at his watch. Three a.m. A long night by any measure.

Colleen watched him walk into the kitchen with his glass and set it next to the bourbon bottle, hesitating briefly before walking to the door.

"You live in a dark place, don't you, Black?"

"At least the rent's cheap. It's the only neighborhood I can afford."

"You're a good man. Don't ever forget that. It counts for a lot."

Black twisted the knob and pushed the scarred plastic-coated door open. "Thanks for the drink, Col. You're the best."

"One day you might be lucky enough to find out," she said, but her heart wasn't in it. "Drive safe. I'll lock up behind you."

A hot breeze off the nearby desert stirred the oleanders around the trailer as he approached his car, the liquid courage still strong in his veins. An orange moon sneered down at him as he felt in his pockets for a smoke, and he was inwardly uttering a lunar curse when his phone rang, the sound jarring in the night's stillness.

He looked at the display and spat next to his tire before answering. "I gather you made bail," Black said as he climbed into his car.

"Good guess. I could use a ride," Hunter said, his voice defeated and tired.

"I'll be there in half an hour. Maybe less."