The Crush Read Free

fist. "Let me help you clean up."
    "Leave it. Bring your beer."
    A dirty table wasn't going to make much difference to the condition of Wick's house--which barely qualified as such. It was a three-room shack that looked like it would succumb to any Gulf breeze above five knots. It was shelter from the elements--barely. The roof leaked when it rained.
    The air conditioner was a window unit that was so insufficient Wick rarely bothered turning it on. He rented the place by the week, paid in advance. So far he'd written the slum lord sixty-one checks.
    The screen door squeaked on its corroded hinges as they moved through it onto the rear deck.
    Nothing fancy--the plank surface was rough, wide enough only to accommodate two metal lawn chairs of vintage fifties style. Salt air had eaten through numerous coats of paint, the last being a sickly pea green. Wick took the glider. Oren looked dubiously at the rusty seat of the stationary chair.
    "It won't bite," Wick said. "Might stain your suit britches, but I promise that the view'll be worth a dry-cleaning bill."
    Oren sat down gingerly, and in a few minutes Wick's promise was fulfilled. The western horizon became striated with vivid color ranging from bloodred to brilliant orange.
    Purple thunderheads on the horizon looked like rolling hills rimmed with gold.
    "Something, isn't it?" Wick said. "Now tell me who's crazy."
    "I never thought you were crazy, Wick."
    "Just a little nutty for shucking it all and moving down here."
    "Not even nutty. Irresponsible, maybe."
    Wick's easy smile congealed.
    Noticing, Oren said, "Go ahead and get pissed. I don't care. You need to hear it."
    "Well, fine. Thank you. Now I've heard it. How're Grace and the girls?"
    "Steph made cheerleader. Laura started her periods."
    "Congratulations or condolences?"
    "For which?"
    "Both."
    Oren smiled. "I'll accept either. Grace said to give you a kiss from her." Looking at Wick's stubble, he added; "I'll pass if you don't mind."
    "I'd rather you did. But give her a kiss from me."
    "Happy to oblige."
    For several minutes they sipped their beers and watched the colors of the sunset deepen. Neither broke the silence, yet each was mindful of it, mindful of all that was going unsaid.
    Eventually Oren spoke. "Wick ..."
    "Not interested."
    "How do you know until you've heard me out?"
    "Why would you want to ruin a perfectly beautiful sunset? To say nothing of a good Jamaican beer."
    Wick's lunge from the glider caused it to rock crazily and noisily before it resettled.
    Standing at the edge of the weathered deck, tanned toes curling over the edge of it, he tilted back his beer and finished it in one long swallow, then tossed the empty bottle into the fifty-gallon oil drum that served as his garbage can. The clatter spooked a couple of gulls who'd been scavenging on the hard-packed sand. Wick envied their ability to take flight.
    He and Oren had a history that dated back many years, to even before Wick had joined the Fort Worth Police Department. Oren was older by several years, and Wick conceded that he was definitely the wiser. He had a stable temperament, which often had defused Wick's more volatile one. Oren's approach was methodical. Wick's was impulsive. Oren was devoted to his wife and children. Wick was a bachelor who Oren claimed had the sexual proclivities of an alley cat.
    In spite of these differences, and possibly because of them, Wick Threadgill and Oren Wesley had made excellent partners. They had been one of the few biracial partnerships on the FWPD.
    Together they had shared dangerous situations, countless laughs, a few triumphs, several disappointments--and a heartache from which neither would ever fully recover.
    When Oren had called last night after months of separation, Wick was glad to hear from him. He had hoped that Oren was coming to talk over old times, better times. That hope was dashed the moment Oren arrived and got out of his car. It was a polished pair of wing tips, not flip-flops or