Generations

Generations Part 2, Chapter 4

Audree walked up the sidewalk back to Nathan and Jacob's apartment panting. He wasn't in any yard, alley, or dumpster within at least four blocks. She hadn't thought he'd stay close, but she had to try.

The front door was still unlocked. She'd always told Nathan never to leave the front door unlocked. She walked in quietly this time, mostly because she was too exhausted to do anything else.

Jacob was on the couch, his legs curled under a heavy quilt. White and brown candles flickered from the windowsills and table. The artificial scents of cinnamon and vanilla made her nauseous, like she was walking through a gaudy store at the mall.

"Did you find him?"

"No. I didn't think I would. Not this way."

Jacob sat up straighter and reached for a mug on the coffee table. Audree recognized the acrid spice of the steam. "Do you know what you're going to do? Do you want me to call the police?

"Nate doesn't do well with the police."

She knew she had to find him today. There was a wild, scurrying sensation in her chest that told her she couldn't let him come back on his own this time.

Audree fell into the carved rocking chair across from the couch. "You told me when he goes out at night he goes to bars, goes to his dealers. Where does he go?"

"I don't know for sure. I haven't gone with him when goes out like that in a long time."

"What do you mean? You used to go with him? To his bars, his dealers?"

Jacob looked to his mug. His face didn't flinch, but he pulled his legs tighter under the blanket. "No. I never went with him."

Audree leaned forward in her chair. She put both hands on the coffee table that sit between them. "Jacob. Look at me right now."

He pulled his eyes from the mug. His expression still betrayed nothing, but Audree was sure his eyes were shaking. "I know some of the bars he likes."

"And you know his dealers."

"I do."

"They were yours."

"No." Jacob shot up from the couch, walking back and forth across the living room. "They weren't 'mine.' I knew people. I met Nate and we wanted to do the same things, so I—"

"You helped him get on that shit." Audree was on her feet now too, following Jacob as he circled the room.

"No! He'd done it before. He's the one that came to me. He didn't know anyone here and he was looking for a connect."

"You pretentious little asshole. Did you bring on him on dates to heroin dealers?"

"Look, I'm sorry. You think I don't regret it? I was the first one telling him to slow down after he started. I stopped using when I saw how much it tore him up. I tried to get him to stop with me."

"Stop talking."

Jacob went quiet.

Audree looked hard at the hardwood panels on the floor. She breathed in and she breathed out. "None of this matters right now. I need to find Nathan. You said you knew his dealers. You used to get high together. Where did you go?"

"Usually my friend Marco. He would let us stay there and shoot. He had an extra bedroom and didn't care if we crashed."

"That's where I'll try first. Write down his address. I'm calling a cab."