Rock Chick Rescue (Rock Chick #2)(34)

Lavonne, on the other hand, didn’t have staying power.

She left Bear at least once a year; however, for reasons known only to Lavonne she always came back.

I hadn’t seen Bear in over a year, back when times were better and he and Lavonne had come to a big picnic in Washington Park that I had for Lottie when she came to visit.

Tex, Indy and I walked up to Bear’s house, which was a one-storey, cracker box house that had yel ow aluminum siding and a mess of kid’s toys in the front yard. This was tel ing because Bear and Lavonne’s two kids were the same age as me and Lottie and had moved out of the house nearly a decade before.

I knocked on the door and Bear answered. His eyes got big, then they got panicked, then they settled on cagey.

Not good.

“Jet! Shit! Haven’t seen you in ages, girl. How’re you keepin’?”

“Hey Bear.”

He pul ed me into (you guessed it) a bear hug and then let me go. His eyes moved to Indy briefly and then stayed on Tex.

I introduced everyone. Throughout the introductions, Bear pretended to be cordial but he was anything but relaxed.

“What brings you out here?” he asked, not taking his eyes off Tex and not moving from the door.

“Dad’s in town,” I said.

Bear’s eyes final y came to me. “Is he?” Bear lied. He total y knew Dad was in town.

“He’s in trouble, Bear. Can we come in for second and talk?”

Bear didn’t move from his body blockade of the door.

“Wish you could, girl, but Lavonne’s workin’ nights and she gets a little cranky when her beauty sleep’s disturbed.” At last, Bear spoke the truth. Lavonne got cranky when the sun rose, when it set and when the earth revolved around it. Then again, Lavonne had been supporting a ne’er-do-wel for thirty years, albeit a lovable one, that would make me cranky too.

“Do you know anything about Dad?” I asked.

“Un-unh, haven’t heard from Ray in ages,” Bear said.

Back to lying.

Damn.

I sighed, then ran down my latest adventures with Dad, Slick and Slick’s knife.

It was then, Bear looked angry.

“What’re you doin’ workin’ at a titty bar?” Wonderful.

“That isn’t the point.”

“It is the point. You need money?”

Like Bear had money.

Before I could answer, Tex boomed, “Let’s stay focused here, people.”

Bear tensed, stil angry and he glared at Tex.

I moved into Bear’s line of sight. I didn’t need two big, hairy men wrestling amongst a bunch of rusty tricycles. I had to find Dad and then find a Kil er Eddie Date Outfit and make sure my legs had a clean, close shave. I didn’t have time to go off target.

“Bear, I real y need to find Dad.”

Bear looked at me.

“I haven’t heard from Ray. Al right? If I do, I’l cal you.

And I won’t tel Lavonne you’re workin’ at a titty bar. She’d have a shit hemorrhage.”

With that, we had no choice but to say good-bye. Then we trooped back to Indy’s Beetle. We sat in it, me in the back, Indy driving, Tex in the front passenger seat.

We stared at the house.

“Do you think your Dad’s in there?” Indy asked me.

“No, but I think Bear knows where he is,” I said.

“Maybe we should drive around the corner and hang out for awhile, watch the house,” Indy suggested.

“Fuck that. I don’t do stakeouts. I need food. I missed lunch. Let’s rol ,” Tex said in a voice you didn’t want to argue with.

Indy took us to the Einstein’s Bagels on Alameda. Tex got an onion bagel with turkey, sprouts and cream cheese, a bag of chips, a huge cookie and a Rice Krispie treat. Indy and I got Diet Cokes. We sat at a table so Tex could eat.

“You got any more ideas?” Tex asked me, his mouth ful .

I shook my head.

He turned to Indy.

“You were more fun.”

I’d heard snatches of conversation about Indy’s drama, but never the ful story. Since I’d shared my life story, I thought it would only be fair to ask hers. The time was right, Tex had a mountain of food to get through and so I asked.

She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t have anything to hide.

She told me the whole thing, with Tex interjecting every once in awhile. He’d been more than a bit player in her drama. He’d gotten himself shot while protecting her (which explained the sling he wore when I first met him).

They’d only known each other a few weeks longer than I’d known them, which was surprising. I thought they’d known each other for years.

After she was done, I didn’t know what to say. Her story made Slick and his knife seem tame. Then again, she had Lee and his army of hotties backing her up.

Tex wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and threw it on the table. “I gotta go home, play with the cats.” Tex was a kind of nutcase renaissance man: by day a coffee genius, by night a cat sitter. Apparently, he always had dozens of cats coming and going at his house.

According to him, sometimes, if he didn’t like the feel of the cat’s owner, he wouldn’t let them have it back. I didn’t find this surprising, not a lot of people would argue with Tex, even if he was essential y stealing your cat.