Page 59 of Lawless
“Okay!” He reached out, possibly to pat my face, but missed.
I looked around the church again and spotted Red Joe’s unmistakable profile. He had Baby Joe on his hip, while Amy was showing Eddie something on her phone. I wended my way through the crowd to get to them, but before I did, I spotted Susan Harper sitting at the end of a pew with Addy beside her. I changed direction and made my way over to them instead.
“Hi,” I said.
Susan smiled faintly, and Addy smirked and raised her eyebrows.
“Have you seen Natty?” I asked. “He said he was coming to take Susan home.”
Addy wrinkled her nose. “What? No, me and Mum are keeping Aunt Susan company tonight. Natty went home with you. Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You haven’t had a fight already, have you?”
“No.” I peered around the church. “No, he said he was coming back here to take Susan home.”
“Well, he’s not here,” Addy said, her usual brashness tempered with uncertainty.
“If you see him, tell him I’m looking for him, can you?”
She nodded, her brow furrowed.
I turned around and almost walked smack into Nipper Will, who was glowering at me.
“What’s this about Natty?” he asked through his scowl.
“He’s not here,” I said. “He said he was coming back here, and he’s not here.”
“He’s probably just cracked the shits at something,” Nipper Will said with a shrug. He snorted. “You piss him off already?”
“No, but thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said, and began to shoulder my way back through the crowd towards Button John. I needed to try to get some sense out of him this time, because if anyone knew where the hell Natty would disappear to in the middle of the night, it was Button John.
I grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him towards me. “Button John?—”
He lurched sideways, stumbled, and then recovered enough to stay upright as he vomited all over my shoes.
“Jesus.” I led him outside into the darkness and stood beside him as he knelt on the ground and finished. “Button John? John?”
He made a pathetic sound. “I don’t feel well. I think I’m gonna...”
“That ship has sailed,” I said, and leaned down to pat him on the shoulder. “Button John, where’s Natty? He’s not here.”
Another sad little noise escaped him.
“Button John?”
He made a squealing sound as he was suddenly wrenched to his feet. I spun around to see Nipper Will holding him upright.
“Where’s Natty?” Nipper Will asked, his tone fierce.
“I dunno!” Button John exclaimed. Why would I—oooh.” He struggled free. “Why is everything moving?”
“You’re drunk.”
“That makes sense.” He swayed. “What’s going on? Where’s Natty?”
Nipper Will growled.
