Read - Black Gold 2 - Double Black Online

Authors: Clancy Nacht,Thursday Euclid

- Black Gold 2 - Double Black (8 page)

BOOK: - Black Gold 2 - Double Black
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This
is normal?”

“Well, yeah.” Cole offered Goldie his hand again, seeming worried he might not take it, as if he might have been sullied by contact with the cart.
Goldie took it to reassure him, and maybe because he was starting to feel out of his element.
“How do you usually get stuff if you don’t go shopping? You only live a couple of miles from here.”
“I do?” Goldie looked around in amazement. His eyes froze on the items in the basket. “That bag of chips is bigger than my head.”

Robbie leaned in. “He has people. He can’t just go out in public; he’d get mobbed.”
Goldie walked down an aisle that felt a mile long. Then he remembered that signs hanging from the ceiling indicated the different sections of the store. “Oh, clothing is over there. Anyway, I can shop in some places. I just have to arrange it ahead of time so there’s adequate security.”
“What does Jethro think of that? Don’t you ever go out together?” Cole twined their fingers, a more romantic gesture than Goldie could rationalize, but before he could say anything, Cole was talking to Robbie. “Do you go on these runs for him? How many people does he have? Does Jethro have people too?”
Robbie shrugged. “Sometimes I do, sure. It’s a helluvalot easier than getting a store to shut down so Billy can pick up some lube in the middle of the night.”
Goldie frowned and looked down at the grimy floor. “I go out with Jett. To dinner. Sometimes. When he wants to deal with it, I guess.”
Was that why Jett ran off in the morning? It could be an ordeal for Goldie to go somewhere. As long as they stuck to Beverly Hills and exclusive restaurants, Goldie could travel with relative ease, but those weren’t the sort of places Jett liked.
So far, though, things seemed to be going well. Maybe he was just a hat away from being able to hang with Jett at any time. If they could go out together, maybe Goldie wouldn’t feel so lonely, and maybe the bourgeois desire for family would go away.
“Well, if you were my boyfriend, I’d always think it was worth it.” Cole smiled. “You’re Gold—you. How can you be anything but worth it?”
Cole rested his head on Goldie’s shoulder just long enough to impart solidarity. Jett did that sometimes too, when he was feeling boyish.
Then Cole pulled Goldie’s hand and dragged him toward a display of twentydollar denim. “So like this, see? This is what I usually wear. And stuff like that.”

Goldie followed Cole’s finger toward a display of cheap hoodies and V-neck tees. The shirts bore various logos, none of which were particularly artistic. Still, Cole bounced as he asked Goldie if he could get some things.

“Sure, load up the cart.” Goldie slipped his hand from Cole’s grasp and crossed to a rack of flannel shirts. He held one up. It felt stiff, but would Jett like it? He wore flannel sometimes. It wasn’t particularly well made, but perhaps with a few hard washings, some safety pins, and creative fraying, he could make it Jett-able.

Would Jett be proud that Goldie went out? Surely he’d be surprised. But Goldie could do this. Maybe if he came back with something from a megastore, Jett would see that he could go places.

Without realizing he was doing it, Goldie wrapped his arms around the empty shirt as if it contained Jett. The ghost of Jett was about the most solid thing he had to hold on to in the daylight hours.

Cole stacked several pairs of jeans and a dozen shirts in the cart, occasionally glancing over at Goldie with a puzzled expression. Cole disappeared for a few minutes and returned with bags of underpants and socks, along with a single pair of knockoff Chucks, size 13, like Jett’s.

“You thinking of trying out a new look?” Cole directed an odd look at the shirt Goldie was hugging.

“Oh. No. I thought Jett might like it. He wears things like this sometimes.” Goldie considered telling Cole that Jett wore shoes like the pair he’d picked, but the look on Cole’s face and the fact the boy was unpacking all flannel from the cart made him think better of it.

Goldie inspected the merchandise. Everything looked youthful and nondescript. “Maybe I should pick out a few things for myself if I’m going to go out more often?”
At that Robbie stepped in and raised a brow at Goldie. “I don’t think you should depend on this ruse. I just had to wave off a couple of people with camera phones. We should scoot.”
“We can share clothes, if you want.” Cole sounded excited by the prospect. Then Cole looked at Robbie, brows knitting in frustration. He looked frightened by Robbie’s urgency, clearly unaccustomed to being noticed. “We have to go already? He hasn’t even been here half an hour!”

A flash intruded on Goldie’s field of vision from across the aisle. Cole seemed baffled even as Robbie goaded them into action and herded them toward the checkout.
At the register, Goldie realized someone had to pay.

Robbie chuckled at Goldie’s wild look. “It’s all right, Billy. I’ve got the card.” Goldie sighed in relief but kept a wary eye out for people catching on. “Sure, we can share clothes. If we need to go out again.”

As the cashier rang up the purchases and Robbie handled the payment, Cole slipped an arm around Goldie’s waist and gave him hopeful puppy eyes. “Don’t you like going out?”

He seemed so young and oblivious, like he had no idea what they’d be in for in the parking lot if they didn’t make it to the SUV quick enough.
“Wouldn’t it be fun to hang out together? You could show me around town.”
Robbie cleared his throat and nodded toward the cashier, warning them nonverbally that she was listening in. Her account of ringing up Goldie’s purchases could land in the tabloids before the week was out.
Well, at least she’d get some extra money.

Goldie could feel the ruse collapsing. The bagger looked at Goldie with wonder. Cole had to do it himself to keep things moving.

A group of teens formed a semicircle around them, filming every moment as if they weren’t experiencing it. The low-fidelity movies could be on YouTube before Goldie made it to the car.

The thickening crowd started to chant Goldie’s name. A couple of people yelled for him to sing their favorite song.
Things were going south, fast.

Robbie wrapped up the purchase, then took the lead. “Cole, you’re going to have to watch his back, okay, kid?”

Cole stared at Robbie, more bewildered than ever. His usual attitude dissolved in the crush of bodies behind them as people elbowed in. A riot would start if the people in the front took exception to being shoved by people in the back trying to get a better view.

If Jett were here, no one would get that close. If Jett were here, he’d break people’s cameras and their teeth, shout terrible things in their faces like they were subhuman rabble. As awful as Jett could be, as bad as his reputation was, in moments like this, he would stand tall and unafraid for Goldie to latch on to and then shepherd him to safety as Robbie cleared the path.

He missed Jett desperately.
Poor Cole blinked at Goldie, at the cashier, at the growing press of customers with cameras. Robbie smacked Cole’s back to jolt him to reality. Cole clung to Goldie, less protector than frightened little boy afraid the milling crowd would separate them.

Robbie wielded the cart to force people back. Goldie stayed as close to that broad back as possible, but Cole slowed him down.
Once they’d cleared the checkout counter, people started to move. Most stood back, seeming content to snap pictures with their phones rather than engage. A few, however, started to close in.
One very tall man shouted that Goldie was going to hell. Goldie couldn’t say with any conviction that he wasn’t already there. A couple young girls screamed with excitement, but it was their mothers’ long, sharp nails that grabbed for him.
The situation was surreal. They were only a few feet from the door, but getting through was impossible. As Goldie tried to exit, people handed him random things to sign while others shouted obscenities and spat at him.
Goldie kept his cool until someone grabbed the hat.

His
hat. The hat he’d worn the night he met Jett.
With an irrational, blinding surge of energy, Goldie sprang from between Robbie and Cole to tackle the thief. In the mad scramble, a searing pain tore into the side of his head. His knuckles hurt because he’d never really thrown a punch before.
Cole shouted profanity behind him, only identifiable amid the other screams because it was moving toward Goldie instead of away. Then Cole was beside him, snatching the hat. He ran behind Robbie and helmed the cart. Arms free, Robbie rushed the crowd and grabbed Goldie by the waist. He hurled Goldie over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and double-timed it for the exit as Cole careened ahead of them with the cart.
As they emerged into the sunlight, Goldie was blinded by flashes going off. Robbie set him on his feet, wrested the cart from Cole, and used it like a lion tamer with a stool, driving them back.
Cole took Goldie’s hand and dragged him toward the SUV. “I’ve got the keys! Robbie said to drive back and get him!”
What Cole also had was the hat. Goldie snatched it and put it on his head. His face was wet, and his sweat dripped into his eyes. When he wiped it away, his hand gleamed red.
He was still holding the flannel shirt he’d picked up for Jett.
Add shoplifting to my list of charges.
Goldie used the shirt to blot his head. Jett would probably appreciate some blood on his couture.
Cole dragged him to the SUV, and once Goldie registered where he was, he jumped in on the passenger side. Cole threw the SUV into gear and backed out of the parking spot. His control of the vehicle was surprisingly precise, and he swung in behind Robbie so the rear door was easily accessed with one hand. Robbie yanked it open, shoved their shopping bags into the backseat, and climbed in. One big foot kicked the cart and sent it crashing toward the closest lookie loos.
Robbie yanked the door shut, leaned around Goldie to hit the power locks, and shouted at Cole to drive.

Cole hit the accelerator and sped out of the lot. “Where am I going?”

As he peered into the mirrors, Cole’s eyes widened. He glanced at Robbie before turning his gaze back to the road. “Also, we’re being followed.”
Goldie looked back through the darkened windows.
Paparazzi.
Though he wasn’t Catholic, he crossed himself. “Oh God, I don’t want to die like Princess Diana!”

Cole grabbed Goldie’s hand, squeezed it, and checked the mirrors. He changed lanes, made for the underpass, and shot through the U before the frontrunner paps could follow. There was still a car behind them, one person driving and another filming video, but Cole didn’t seem worried.

As they merged with oncoming traffic, Cole pulled the SUV ahead, executed another smooth lane change, and checked the onboard compass.

Robbie leaned over the console, pressed the Home button on the GPS, and an automated voice read out instructions.
“Oh thank God.” Cole shot Goldie a big smile. “See, we’re taking care of you, Goldie. Nothing to worry about.”
Goldie kept looking back to make sure no one was following. He crumpled against the leather seat. “We have to go back.”
Robbie snorted disapproval. “Like hell. Kid, the police are probably there now. You’re lucky not to be arrested.”

Goldie looked guiltily at the flannel shirt. “But I didn’t mean to steal it. Everything happened so fast.”
At that, Robbie laughed and patted Goldie’s shoulder. He turned to Cole. “Good work, Cole. You a stunt driver?”
Cole beamed, looking comfortable with Robbie for the first time as he turned toward Goldie's home. “Spent a lot of time driving my mom, helping her get around in her wheelchair in this big van and stuff. Got really good at maneuvering, I guess.”
Cole reclaimed Goldie’s hand, holding it like Jett would’ve as they slowed to twenty miles an hour through the winding hills. “It’ll be okay when we get home. You’ll see. And we’ll have stories to tell!”
Stories to tell
. Or stories told about him. Goldie was probably going to be sued a thousand times over. The most expensive trip to Kmart ever.
Goldie was too exhausted to argue or care.
He rubbed his eyes. There was blood crusted in his eyebrows.

“I need a bath.”
Chapter Four

Jett was sipping a Scotch and soda and talking to promising multi-instrumentalist Pauly Pocket in the VIP room of a trendy bar on Sunset when he heard a quiet huffing sound behind him. Expecting a fan, he turned instead to see the bartender standing at his elbow.

The media’s so-called “King of Underground…Whatever” never had to wait for refills. Goldie might be royalty on Rodeo Drive and in boardrooms, but Jett was lord high stud of the tattooed underclass.

“Hey, Zap.” Jett shot the bartender a smile worthy of their long years of acquaintance; he’d known Zap since ’02 when the Jett Black Band had played the Troubadour to sold-out crowds three nights running. “I’m good on drinks right now. You good on drinks, Pauly?”

Pauly glanced at the bartender, then back at Jett. He arched a hot-pink brow. “Don’t think Zap’s here about drinks.”
Zap shook his head. Straggly, white-boy dreadlocks flopped around his skinny shoulders. “Think you need to see this, Jett, but you aren’t gonna like it.”

He offered Jett his iPhone with trembling fingers. Zap had seen Jett pissed off back in the day; Jett couldn’t fault him for worrying he might grab a chair and bust some heads…or break his expensive electronics.

Jett eyed it with mistrust. He’d almost caved to Billy’s wishes that he carry a smartphone before he found out that they could transmit your location to the world. Not only was that freaky-deaky Big Brother bullshit, but Jett had a bad habit of forgetting things. After what happened the last time his phone fell into the wrong hands, he wasn’t in a hurry to upgrade to an even more invasive piece of equipment.

As much as he missed Billy throughout the day, it was being attached at the hip like they were on tour he missed, not stilted conversations over bad connections.
When Jett made no move to take the phone, Zap thumbed over the screen. At his touch, it displayed surreal photos of Billy shopping in a discount store. Beside him, holding his hand, was Cole. There were videos too, of the two seeming to cuddle up in the middle of the store, heads close, whispering together.
Cole was giving Billy the same hungry look he had the night before. There it was, for everyone in the world to see.
“The shit is this?” Jett glowered at the screen, then glanced at Zap.

BOOK: - Black Gold 2 - Double Black
9.82Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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