Thaddeus was in his car a half hour later cruising along Washington Boulevard. He had one arm thrown across the passenger seat while he steered with one hand. Lying on the backseat was a knapsack in which he'd thrown a few items: clothes to wear for tomorrow along with shoes. A pouch bag that contained his toiletries; other house clothes to wear; three jazz audio CDs, and a Stephen King novel. He didn't have to worry about his gunβhe had the 45. automatic in the glove box. All that was left now was where to lay his head for the night. He wouldn't mind searching for a motel, but that seemed kind of cheap to him. He would lack company if he went to a motel, and right now company was uppermost on his mind.
He was unsure what Artie's reaction might be now that he and Erica have been caught. All those early warnings he'd taken with her in the past now was for nothing anymore. The way Artie left his apartment was most unsettling. It was better when a man was emotional than when a man kept his cool; he never know what he might be coming at you with. Which was why he wasn't taken any chances of remaining at his pad for now. Erica had jumped back into her clothes, mumbled 'later', to him then scampered after her husband. While he packed, he'd overheard their screaming and shouting coming from their window. It would only be a matter of time before much of that spilled over towards him and such was the last thing he wanted to be a part of. It was bad enough that he was fucking his neighbour's wife, but even worse that he got caught in the act. Besides, Artie was kind of like a friend to him. Or was he really? Sure, he was an amusing fellow to be with, though more of an aggravating one at times ... still, he wasn't going to sit at home and wait for him to go find himself a shot gun and come use it at him. Hell no, he needed to bail out of his apartment maybe for a day or two till whenever he figured things might have quieted down. He would give Erica a call tomorrow to see how well things are going.
Pimp Zee.
Yes, his was the sort of company he needed tonight. Better staying with a homie than anyone else. Plus, he's got an accommodating pad too. Thaddeus checked the street he was in and as he approached the upcoming junction he turned on his traffic lights and took a right, heading in the direction of Frisco Beach. He took out his phone and dialled his number.
"Yo, yo, my brother!" Pimp Zee screeched in his ear when he picked his call. "What's happening, m' man?"
"All kinds of shit is what's happening, Zeke. I'm in some type of situation and need a place to lay low for a night or two. You think you can hook me up?"
"Most def I can hook you up anytime," replied his friend.
"I'm heading down your spot right now. Hope your ass is at home."
"I was going to go cool off at the club tonight, but since you called ... how far are you right now?"
Thad drove into another street. He scanned the numerous billboards and building signs he drove past till he found what he was looking for.
"Right now I'm on Ellis Avenue," he said. "I'm still a bit farther from your end, but I'll be there in the next ten or fifteen minutes." "No problem. I'll be waiting for you."
Thaddeus hung up his phone and continued with his driving. He was five minutes from reaching his friend's neighbourhood when his phone rang. At first he feared the call might be coming from Erica, or worse, Artie. He couldn't recognise the number showing on his screen, but his mood lightened after he'd said hello into the mouthpiece as he recognised the voice at the other end.
"Hi, Thad," a woman's voice said to him.
"Hello, Constance, my darling," he smiled while he drove. "How're you doing, girl?"
"I'm doing fine. We haven't arrived yet, but I thought I should call you to let you know we'll be arriving there in the next couple of hours."
"That's lovely. What about Johnny? How's he doing?"
"He's sleeping it off right now. He's been watching movies since we took off. I'm missing you so much over here."
"I know, that's the same with me too. I'm missing you down here, and I can't touch you right now."
"A good thing you can hear me, right?"
"Yes, that's great about technology these days. Pretty soon, they're going to come up with an invention that'll enable two people to fuck each other even when they're miles away."
Constance tore herself up with laughter. "You're so wonderfully crazy. Now you know why I wished you'd come with us."
"Hey, let's not start now, okay. You go to Paris and spend some lovely time with your kid?"
"I hope you're doing fine over there without me."
"You know me, babe. I'm a resourceful type of guy."
She laughed at this. "Just sitting here talking about you, much of what I've got in mind to say are awful nasty thoughts. I'm afraid if I mention them to you someone else might listen in." Her voice adopted a conspiring tone. "You do know what I'm talking about, don't you?"