Free Bookmaker, The by Chris Fraser

which wasn’t helping my hangover.
    “Papa is a sick man,” Corynne said with more worry in her voice than anger. “He can’t be over-doing it like that. Booze is the worst thing for him, and the last thing he needs is a drinking buddy.”
    “You’re right, I was just trying to be a good guest, didn’t want to disappoint my host.”
    “Bullshit, you were all for wasting the day away, indulging Papa in his whims. I think you two are gonna be trouble for each other,” she said with a smile starting to break over her face.
    She grabbed Tucker off me, and he cried, “Car car, car car !” Corynne had me find the toy car he dropped somewhere in my sheets. I handed it to him and he smiled, “Car car, car car,” pleased to have his toy back.
    “That’s right Tuck, that is a car,” Delotta said. “Now , Trent, you take it easy on Mr. Walker, he don’t need to get any get sicker than he already is,” she said as she placed a stinky plate of something that made want to vomit onto the nightstand. “Fried catfish—Mr. Walker’s all-time favorite. We’re off to his room next. It seems we won’t be having a traditional dinner tonight, on account of all the festivities this afternoon,” she said with slight disapproval, which I felt would have been far worse had she known me better.
    As they filed out the door , Corynne turned and said with a sad grin, “You know, Papa really is excited about having you here with us, we all are. Just promise you’ll take it easy with him and don’t egg him on, he can get into enough trouble on his own.”
    “Point taken.”
    “Good night, Trent.”
    “Good night,” I replied and fell back into bed.
    The smell of catfish overtook the room, there was no way I was going to eat it. I had to get out of bed and throw it in the outside trash to avoid a lingering stench.
     
     
    Jay was excited to hear from me. It’d been a few days. I called at noon my time, knowing that I was two hours ahead of him and hoping he was up by now.
    “So how’s it going out there?” he asked.
    “Actually, really good, Preston seems to be a cool enough guy and everyone else has gone out of their way to make sure I’m comfortable.”
    “He tell you his story yet?”
    “We tried yesterday but got drunk and high instead,” I said with a laugh.
    “No shit?”
    In the background, I heard the telltale sounds of fingers tapping buttons and knew they were playing Madden.
    “Oh, and you gotta try this guy’s weed, it’s amazing.”
    “Really, the old guy tokes? How cool, where does he get his shit from?”
    Then I heard Jay yell at Nate, “Fucking pause it man!”
    “I forgot to ask, didn’t wanna pry. Oh, and his granddaughter staying out here is hot. You remember Marcus’s little sister, Corynne?”
    “No, not really, didn’t know he had a sister. But damn, sounds like you fell into a decent situation.”
    “I’m in no hurry to get home.”
    Jay’s tone turned serious, “Yeah, that might be a good idea bro, that bouncer guy came knocking on our door yesterday. I was at Dayla’s, but Nate was scared shitless, said the guy was a big motherfucker. Maybe you should try and extend your stay out there. I don’t think I want to have anything to do with that guy , and I know you don’t.”
    “Are you serious?” I said nervously, yet also relieved I was two thousand miles away from that mess. “Maybe I will. I’ll feel these people out, see how long I can extend my stay.”
    “Don’t worry about it , bro, just have a good time out there,” Jay said, trying to reassure me.
    “Look , I gotta split, me and Nate are in a tight one over here, and he’s itching to unpause the game. I’ll call you if there’s any news on our end.”
    “Thanks man, yeah call me if that bouncer comes back,” I said , wondering how I’d get out of this situation.

9
    “Good times yesterday, good times,” Preston said , showing no visible signs of a hangover as I walked into his office at 10:00 the next