Page 80 of The True Garza
Oh. “I really admire how you lean into your weaknesses instead of running from them or using them as an excuse.”
“There’s also Thriller Thursdays. I’d invite you, but they don’t seem to like you.”
A laugh escapes me. “No shit.”
True speeds all the way to Studio City. And, as I grip the oh-shit handle, I make a mental note to insist on driving the next time we have to travel in the same vehicle.
When he halts with a sharp brake outside Brook’s house, I say, “You should be banned from driving.”
“They’ve tried.”
I hop out and get my bag from the back.
“London,” he calls when I’m about to leave.
I go to the window. “Hm?”
“Take the money.”
“Why?”
“’Cause if you don’t, I’ll go to jail,” he says with an easy shrug. “A simple ass-kicking won’t be enough for me unless you take the money.”
“Why did you even do that?” I press. “It was unnecessary.”
“What did I tell you?”
“What do you mean?”
“What did I tell you, London?”
Nonplussed, I take a minute to think about it. “You mean that I’m yours?”
“Exactly.” He jerks a nod. “He tried to touch what’s mine.”
“But I’m not yours, though. Mybodyenjoys submitting to you, but that doesn’t mean I belong to you.”
“The happiest people on earth are the ones who dwell in delusion.”
With that, he speeds off.
And, once again, I’m left staring in his wake. Wondering who’s the delusional one in this scenario.
Him, or me?
CHAPTER Twenty-One
“Why are you like this?”
True
“Has he lost his mindyet?”
Ray pulls on his cancer stick, eyes squinting. “He’s getting there, looks like it. Dropped his bar gig and hasn’t really left his house. I’d wager he’s sleeping by the front door with a Glock.”
“Good,” I say. “No rest for the wicked. Keep fucking with him.”
Ray taps the smoking end of his cigarette to rid it of the ashes, particles of gray falling to the sidewalk. “Not complaining—you pay me well—but you’re a weird motherfucker, you know that? You coulda just let me break his legs and fingers or something, be done with it. But bubble-wrapping his bike? Rearranging his furniture every time he leaves his house? Hacking his devices and blasting theSharksong in the middle of the night? Leaving crabs in his bathtub?”
