Free Bite Me (Devlin Haskell 3) by Mike Faricy

arrived through a secure door about five minutes later. He looked better than I’d seen him in years, fit, clear eyed, shaved, clean and steady.
    “Gary, man you look fantastic. You really do.”
    He beamed a smile.
    “Thanks Dev, good to see you, just getting things back together, finally, you know, one day at a time.”
    “Man, I should check into this joint,” I joked.
    “Yeah, you probably should, Dev.” Gary looked serene but serious.
    “Let’s go,” I said and we walked out the door.
    As I drove, we caught up on “whatever happened to” sorts of things. It really was over two years since I’d seen him last. He kept looking left and right as we drove over to Kiki’s.
    “God, great to be out, D ev. I’ve been under wraps, sort of, for almost a year.” He turned round completely in his seat to stare at two young women walking down the sidewalk.
    “Forget that stuff, it’ll only get you in trouble,” I joked.
    “Yeah, trouble,” Gary said wistfully and nodded.
    “So look, here’s the deal. You just cover up this shit on Kiki’s bedroom wall, shouldn’t take but a minute, then maybe we’ll go grab something to eat. Sound okay?”
    “Tell me what’s with the wall, I feel like I’m not getting the full story here.”
    “Oh, I don’t know…”
    “Don’t bullshit me, Dev. We’ve know n each other too long. You screw something up? What, kick a hole in the wall? ‘Cause that’ll take some sheet rock and taping compound, gonna be more than just a few minutes, stuff has to dry overnight, then….”
    “No, nothing like that, just, well there might be a little spray paint.”
    “Yeah, I knew it was something. You?”
    “Me?”
    “Yeah, I think you just answered my question, you did it, right?”
    “Yeah, I guess.”
    “Should be honest with yourself, Dev. You did it, not, you guess.”
    I glanced over at him.
    “There, see it’s over. Was it so hard? No, of course not. Simple, if only you follow the rules and are honest with yourself.”
    “You know me, Gary, I’ve never followed the rules,” I laughed.
    Gary sat straight faced and looked at me.
    “Yeah, well. Okay, here’s what I’ll have to do. If it’s just one wall I have to paint it corner to corner, otherwise you get some tonal difference and it will look like shit. What’s the girl ’s name, Kathy?”
    “ Kiki.”
    “She got the paint?”
    “Told me she has everything, paint, tray, roller, the works.” I didn’t mention the dog leash.
    “ Okay, shouldn’t take that long, we’ll see, but I’m guessing two coats. I can do them both today but it’s gonna take at least an hour between coats to sort of dry, hope it’s latex. Is it?”
    “Latex?”
    “The paint, oh Christ, it doesn’t matter. Just good to be out, God I haven’t really been out in the world for the better part of a year. Jesus, the women.” He said turning around in the seat again staring at a teenager riding past on a bike. “God, you see that? Man, I’ve been living like a damn monk for forever.”
    I pulled into the alley and parked behind Kiki’s house. We entered through the back gate, then climbed up onto her back porch and rang the doorbell.
    “Nice shack?” Gary said looking around.
    “Hi g uys,” Kiki answered the kitchen door, thankfully she was dressed.
    “ Kiki, Gary. Gary, Kiki. Gary is one hell of a painter extraordinaire, he’ll get that bedroom taken care of. That the paint there?” I pointed my chin at three different gallon cans sitting on the edge of the kitchen counter.
    “Yeah, do you think it’s enough to do the job?” she asked.
    Gary looked at the cans.
    “These are all different colors?”
    “Yeah, I couldn’t remember which one we used in the bedroom. They’re all similar but I was hoping maybe you could decide.” She sort of shrugged her shoulders, then bounced her breasts as an added incentive.
    “I’m sure we can figure it out . Why don’t you show me the wall,” Gary said.
    “Sure, come on. Y ou