Gents & Dames
Four: I'll Know
Nathan swept into the room with a grin on his face. It dropped off abruptly when he saw Jack at the table. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it and glanced at Thomas.
"Sit down, darling," he said, his voice still high.
"Drop your voice or put your wig on, it's disturbin' when you do that," Nathan snapped.
"Don't tell me what to do," Thomas answered immediately. "And don't snap at me 'cause you're mad at him." But his voice dropped back to its normal register.
"Yeah, I am." He glowered at Jack. "You oughtta get lost, Kelly, before I clock you."
"He already did," Jack mumbled.
"Really?" Nathan gave Thomas a surprised look, and Thomas shrugged.
"I assumed even a rake like him wouldn't hit a girl."
Nathan turned to Jack again, glaring. "I want you out of here." He turned to Nick. "Didn't I say I want him out of here?"
"Did you say that?" Nick asked innocently.
"I definitely didn't tell you to bring 'im back here to harass my..."
"Listen, Nathan, I just—"
"I don't wanna hear it!" Nathan yelled. "I don't wanna hear nothin' from you, Kelly, not now and not ever."
Jack pressed the ice to his face again and mumbled, "I've got the cash I owe you, Nathan."
"It ain't about cash!"
Thomas let out a bleat of a laugh, and Nathan glared at him. "Nathan, you've never given a damn about anything but money. Christ's sake, you of all people shouldn't be turning down cash."
"I'm tellin' you again, this ain't about cash." Nathan scowled at everyone around the room, and finally stuck out a menacing finger and waggled it at Jack. "You know what kills me, Kelly? What really kills me?"
Jack sighed. "Tell me, Nathan. Please."
"I defended you!" Nathan yelled. Jack blinked, confused, but he continued ranting. "You dirty scab. You sold us out. You remember that? You sold us out! And I defended you. I told everyone it wasn't worth it, bein' mad at you. I told 'em, we'd all do what you did, if we got half a chance. I defended you, an' if it wasn't for me, no one woulda ever forgiven you."
Jack stared. "I—I didn't know that." He glanced at Thomas and Nick.
Nick nodded. "He's right, Jack. Everyone was so mad, an' David was..." He shook his head. "David was no good to anyone that day."
Jack gaped a little, but Racetrack just glowered. "I defended you, you bum. An' if I hadn't, no one woulda forgave you. And you wouldn't have been able to run off with our money."
Jack sighed. "I'm sorry, Nathan."
"I thought I knew you, Jack," he snarled. "I thought I did. I figured—you sold us out, you had your reasons. You lied; we all told lies, what was the difference? But you—you wasn't like the rest of us. You didn't give a damn about the rest of us. You told us we was your brothers, you borrowed our money for a wedding, and next thing we know..."
He didn't say it. Jack leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling.
He'd borrowed their money, but the day of the wedding, he'd run off, cash in hand. But they didn't understand—he hadn't been able to explain, and he hadn't had time.
Finally, Jack reached for his wallet and fished out a wad of cash. He dropped it on the table. "I owed you nineteen bucks, Nathan. Right there, and interest. I've got cash; I've got enough to pay back everyone I owe."
"Yeah? What about the rest of it? How the hell are you going to pay back David and Sarah?" Nathan snapped, not touching the money. "An' me—I believed in you, that you were a stand-up guy in the end. Money ain't gonna stop me from feeling like a fool. It ain't gonna make me like you again. Nothing can do that. So just get lost, an' take your money, too."
"That ain't gonna happen, Nathan," Jack said, his voice calm and steady.
"I'll throw you out," Nathan snapped.
Jack raised an eyebrow and they looked at each other. And they both remembered when they were kids growing up together, that they'd almost never fought. But everyone got into fights sometimes, and they'd been no exception. Their fights had been explosive, hard to break up; Jack had the advantage in size, but Nathan fought dirty. It was a surprisingly even match.
"Nathan, I messed up bad, leaving here the way I did. I had my reasons," Jack said quickly, "but that don't make up for a goddamn thing. I'm only in the city a few days, but if everyone I did wrong to is here, I gotta think it's for a reason. Us all being here at once. It's gotta be so's I can make it up to everyone."
Nathan clenched a fist.
"If you don't forgive me, fine. Maybe I don't deserve it," Jack continued.
"Goddamn right you don't."
"But I gotta try." And Jack gave him the face. The sincere face. And even though everyone in the room knew that Jack could lie through his teeth with that look on his face, it was like a force of nature.
But Thomas spoke up. "I think you should forgive him, Nathan. At least... Well, maybe..."
"Maybe what?" Nathan snapped.
"Maybe you should forgive him when—if—David does." Thomas smiled sagely.
Jack stared and Nathan snorted. "Yeah, that's a good one, Thomas. I'll forgive you, Jack, if David does."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"
Nathan let out a bleat-like laugh. "Yeah, sure. Hell, I'd even put money on it. A grand and my forgiveness, whatever that's worth, if you get David Jacobs to say the words, 'I forgive you.'"
"I'd take that." Jack nodded. "And—and if Dave forgives me, you've gotta let me in on this game, so's I can see everyone."
"Yeah, sure." Nathan cocked his head and looked at Jack. "You really think you can do it, don't you? You borrowed money from all of us for the wedding, then ran off the morning you were supposed to get married. You left the Jacobs family in debt up to their eyebrows, you left Sarah waiting at the altar, and you disappeared for a decade. You really think David's just gonna forget about all that?"
"No," Jack said, but he didn't sound cowed or nervous. "I don't think he'll forget any of it. But that don't mean he won't forgive me." He almost laughed, then spat on his palm and held it out, a gesture he hadn't done in years. "A thousand bucks, forgiveness, and a crap game. Come on."
Nathan shrugged. "If you've got the cash to lose, Kelly. An' one more thing—when I win, you get lost again. Permanently, this time."
"Sure," Jack said, though now he felt a little nervous. But he still shook Nathan's hand. "So now, where do I find 'im?"
"Oh, he'll be along." Nathan relaxed in his seat. "He never misses an opening."
Jack blinked. "Really?"
"Really." Thomas sighed. "He's quite sweet, you know; half the girls who work here have tried throwing themselves at him. I wonder why that hasn't worked." He looked at Nick. "I need to fix my nails; I think Jack's face broke one."
Nick grinned. "You shoulda seen that, Nathan. I swear, I ain't seen Thomas do anything so manly in years."
Jack ran a finger across the bruise and winced. "You don't hit like a dame, that's for sure," he mumbled.
"Oh, don't make that mistake, Jack," Thomas said. "I dress like a dame; I sing like a dame. I like gentlemen like a dame. But I ain't a dame."
"Sure," Jack agreed. He still had no idea what to think about Thomas, but then again, Thomas was quickly becoming the least of his worries. He didn't feel quite right about putting money on David's emotions, but he definitely hadn't taken the bet to get Nathan's money. All he wanted was to apologize.
He shut his eyes and felt the bruise on his face throb.
He wanted to apologize, and he wanted David to accept that apology. And he did want Nathan's forgiveness, and everyone else's, but the only person he'd been really hoping to see in New York was David. He was sure he'd betrayed Sarah worse, but it was the thought of David's anger that had haunted him.
"So how was business?" Thomas finally asked Nathan.
"Better than usual; your new number went over great," Nathan said. "Real sexy."
"You thought so?" Thomas smiled.
"Everyone did."
"Hmph." Thomas gave him an unreadable look. "And the costume?"
"Pink always looks good on you, you know that," Nathan said tonelessly.
"Yes, but the corset, and the slip—did you like it?"
"You were gorgeous, Tom," Nick put in.
"You're so sweet, Nicky." Thomas flashed him a smile, then turned a scowl on Nathan. "I was gorgeous. Wasn't I?"
"Yes, goddamnit," Nathan snapped, blushing furiously. "Why do you always have to do this to me, Tom?"
"Do what?" Tom snapped back. "Ask you what you think of my act?"
"You know that's not what you were asking."
"Hey, hey," Nick interrupted. "Come on, you guys, give it a rest. It was a great show, Tom, everyone liked it. Even Jacky-boy here." He threw a desperate look at Jack.
"Yeah, yeah," Jack agreed. "It was real...You got the legs for it, you know?"
"Why, thank you." Thomas smiled and Nathan rolled his eyes.
"Don't take anything he says serious," Nathan muttered. "He's a liar, Tom."
"And you're a gambler and a cheat." Thomas raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "And he's right, I have better legs than any girl in the show."
"Whatever you say," Nathan snorted.
"Just because you don't appreciate 'em, that doesn't mean—"
They were interrupted by a banging at the door. "Adelaide? Thomas? You in there?" The voice was female.
"Sure thing, Laverne!" Thomas called back.
The door swung open, and a young woman in a leotard and tights, her hair pinned up, sauntered in. She was one of the dancers from the show. And at her heels was David.
Jack stared.
David had aged well, mostly, though his skin was lined with the beginnings of wrinkles. Jack knew them immediately—the wrinkles he'd get from furrowing his brow, when he read or when he concentrated; the lines he'd have around his mouth from smiling and laughing. And he still had the curls, and those wide blue eyes...
"Hi, Dave," Jack said.
And David stared at him.
"David," Thomas said finally, "this is Jack Kelly—you might remember him."
"Yeah," David said. "If this is a bad time, I can come back later."
"No, it's fine," Thomas said.
"David?" Laverne asked, sounding confused.
"I should go," David said. He turned towards the door.
"Wait!" Jack yelled. "David, please, wait."
David did stop and wait, but he didn't turn around.
"I just...I came back to apologize," Jack said. "To you, to Sarah, and everyone. I...I'm so sorry."
David snorted. "Sure, Jack, whatever you say." Then he walked back through the door, Laverne following him nervously, and shut it calmly behind him.
"Easy money," Nathan mused.