I put the plates on the kitchen counter, tapped on Rex’s cage, and said hello. Diesel strolled in and did a head-to-toe body scan.
“What’s the other guy look like?” he asked.
“There were multiple other guys. I’m not sure what they looked like. It was dark and chaotic.”
“Was it fun?”
“Not especially.”
He opened some kitchen drawers until he found a tea towel. He loaded it with ice, smashed the ice with a fry pan, and gently put the towel to my swollen black eye.
“Are you hungry?”
“Yes!”
He poured me a glass of red wine, took two mac and cheese boxes out of the freezer, and popped them into the microwave. He sliced the hot dogs, put them in the defrosted mac and cheese, and nuked it all for another minute. He dumped one box onto a plate for me and the other onto a plate for him.
“Instant happiness,” he said, draping an arm around me, shepherding me into the living room. “The Yankees are losing. It’s all good.”
“You’re not a Yankees fan?”
“Red Sox.”
I forked into my frank and cheese. “Who would have thought you could cook?”
“Just the tip of the iceberg.”
“No doubt.”
I ate my dinner, drank my wine, and put the ice pack back on my eye.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Diesel asked.
“No. It’s not that interesting.”
“You’ve got something on your forehead and in your hair. It’s either raw egg or else someone got happy on you.”
“It’s egg. I guess I should take a shower and wash it out.”
“Let me know if you need help,” Diesel said. “I’m good in the shower.”
I shuffled off to the bathroom and cringed when I saw myself in the mirror. My eye was swollen and ringed with deep purple. My T-shirt was ripped at the neck. My hair was spiked with egg goo.
This is no way to live, I told myself. There must be a better way to pay the rent. When my face stopped throbbing I was going to think about it.
I called Morelli and told him I was going to pass on the dinner thing. For starters, I didn’t have a car.
“Rekko said he saw you at the Korean grocery protest. He said you started a riot.”
“I wasn’t the one who started the riot. I tried to make an apprehension and it went south, and then one thing led to another. How’s the head count going?”
“It’s going freaky. Bad enough we’ve got these heads in cold storage, it turns out they haven’t got brains.”
“Say what?”
“I’m not going to repeat it. I shouldn’t have told you because it hasn’t been released, but I’m creeped out, and I’ve had two whiskeys straight up. No fucking brains.”
“Do you think it’s the zombies?”