Rain Gods (Hackberry Holland 2)

?You don?t remember?? Preacher said through the flap.

?I get it mixed up.?

?Two cubes and a half teaspoon of canned milk.?

Bobby Lee brought the cup back inside the tent and placed it in Preacher?s hand. ?You?re not diabetic??

?No, I told you that.?

?So you avoid alcohol out of principle rather than for health reasons??

?Why should you care, Bobby Lee??

?Just one of those things. Liam and me were talking once about how you got medical issues of some kind.?

Preacher was standing up over his writing table, unshaved, wearing an unironed white shirt. He drank from his cup, touching his lips gingerly against the rim. ?Why would you and Liam be talking about my health??

?I don?t remember the circumstances.?

?You think I have a health problem that people need to know about??

?No, Jack, I know you?re good about taking care of yourself, is all. Liam and me were just making conversation.?

?But a man like Liam Eriksson was intensely concerned about my well-being??

?Wish I hadn?t brought it up.?

?Did Liam bring it up??

?Maybe. I don?t remember.?

Preacher sat down on his unmade cot and set his coffee on the writing table. Before going to bed, he had been playing blackjack against himself. The deck was splayed facedown on the table. Two cards had been dealt faceup to the imaginary player. The dealer?s hole card was facedown. The second dealer?s card had not been dealt. ?What do you reckon has given you that ulcer??

?Everything went south because of the Asian women. It was a mistake that just happened. You and me shouldn?t have to pay the price. It?s not fair.?

?You?re still a fish.?

?About what??

?We weren?t hijacking the women. We were hijacking the heroin in their stomachs. They started going nuts on us, and Hugo decided to waste the whole bunch and use the lot behind the church as a storage area. He was going to dig them up later.?

?That?s sick.?

?But this Holland fellow came along and changed all that. What I?m saying to you is there are no accidents.?

Bobby Lee wasn?t about to enter into Preacher?s psychotic frame of reference. ?What if we get out of the country for a while? Let everything cool off??

?You disappoint me.?

?Come on, don?t talk to me like that, man.?

?We?ve got Arthur Rooney and Hugo to deal with. Sholokoff is going to send another hit team after us. I?ve got all that federal heat coming down on me because of that fellow from ICE. I don?t think I?m quite finished with Sheriff Holland, either. He spat on me. The girl did, too.?

?Jesus, Jack.?

?Also, I?ve still got my commitments with the Jewish family.?

?That last bit just won?t go down the pipe. I can?t fathom that, man. It?s absolutely beyond me.?