Chapter 18

The operator repeated that Mike wasn’t available and that Nick should leave a message if it was necessary. There was a squeaked emphasis on ‘if it’s necessary.’ Nick tossed the phone on the phone holder and drove with both hands. He’d been trying to reach him for days, and yet each time, it was the operator who attended to him. He’d sent lots of ‘after messages, ’ none of which had been responded to.

He imagined Mike was in some club fucking a woman or in some late-night movie bar playing the hero. It had always been his routine, but then, each time he went on any of these sprees, he wasn’t unreachable. Nick thought about Mike avoiding him. He’d used that a lot, too, in the past.

He knew Nick always came around, but he’d stopped using that style since his publishing firm grew and he became a man in the business. Nick thought they’d outgrown all that. They were childish pranks for all he cared. He got tempted to call his father but then crossed it out. Their father would