There was only one place in Augur’s Well where you could get a late night coffee and that was the twenty-four hour burger chain. It was full of rowdy post-pub drunks and more subdued youth group types. I couldn’t feel nervous―this was just Jude. I could almost forget it was a date, except that he chose to hold hands while we waited for our order. I was a little uncomfortable at first but Jude had a gift for making everything easy and after a little while I forgot he even had hold of my hand.
“Right,” I said when we had our burnt-tasting coffees―I always forgot how bad the coffee was in this town, “tell me the truth. Is Cain a drug dealer?”
“What the hell?” He stared, amazed. I searched for signs that he was performing but there were none. Jude’s blue eyes were just as candid as ever. “Is this because of his arm?”
“I saw the needle scars, yeah.”
“That’s ancient history for Cain. He was a user but he gave that shit up years ago.”
Again, I couldn’t detect any duplicity. There went my drugs theory. I wasn’t sure if I was more relieved or crestfallen to be wrong.
“So where did he go the other night?”
“What do you mean?” Jude sipped his coffee and made a face, adding more sugar. “God, that’s foul.”
I snapped my fingers to get his attention. “Jude. Where’d he go?”
“I dunno.” Jude focused on stirring in the sugar. “What’d he say? Ran into a friend, or something?”
“Are you lying to me?”
He heaved a sigh. “Shit, Frankie, I dunno where he went. Why don’t you ask Cain?”
“I already did. He wouldn’t tell me, either.”
“Maybe because there’s nothing to tell.”
We were going in circles but I would have pursued it anyway if we hadn’t been interrupted by one of Jude’s old school friends. The girl―I thought her name was Jess―had been at the pub all night. She hung around us to chat and eat her fries. When she finally left us alone Jude changed the subject with not-so-subtle determination. It was clear he didn’t want to talk about Cain anymore on our date. I complied begrudgingly. He asked me all about the classes I was enrolled in at my college and we talked a bit about his auto-electrics course. When I left him at his house he asked if we could go out again. Maybe it was unwise but I couldn’t think of a reason to say no, so I agreed.