Total Immunity Read Online Free PDF Page A

not?”
    Charlie motioned to Sam, the Italian barmaid, and she picked up the shot glass and filled it with Jack Daniel’s.
    â€œYou and Julie doing good, Jackie?”
    â€œSure,” Jack said. “Pretty good, anyway.”
    â€œWedding bells?”
    â€œNah, not yet, Charlie. You know how it is. I’m already zero for one on that score. ’Sides, I haven’t known her long enough.”
    â€œShe living with you now?”
    â€œPart-time,” Jack said. “She’s keeping her own apartment until . . . you know, we’re sure.”
    â€œKnow what you mean,” Charlie said. “Hey, you gonna bring your son up to the Brentwood League this year?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Jack said. “He’s got so many things going already. Plays guitar in his rock group, and he’s taking AP classes.”
    What he didn’t say was that Kevin had been rebellious lately. Just a couple of weeks ago, he’d lied about going to the library, and stayed out late, behavior which sent Julie into a panic. Jack had done much the same kinds of things as a kid, so he wasn’t that worried. Not yet, anyway.
    â€œYeah, sure,” Charlie said. “But you gotta get the kid outdoors a little. We’re talking baseball, the greatest sport of all time.”
    â€œI’m a little busy right now, Charlie. I don’t know if I can coach.”
    â€œWho says you gotta? I’m up there. Kev can play on my team. The mighty Brentwood Dodgers.”
    Charlie assumed a catcher’s pose, and Jack laughed and punched him in the arm.
    â€œAll right. Maybe. When’s sign-up?”
    â€œSaturday at eleven,” Charlie said. “Bring him up. I remember he can really pound the ball.”
    â€œYeah, no doubt about it. He’s got a good eye and real good bat speed. I’ll talk to him about it.”
    Charlie smiled happily and nodded his head.
    â€œMan,” Jack said. “The way you are . . . you shoulda had kids, Charlie.”
    Charlie sighed and shook his head.
    â€œTried, man. Wasn’t in the cards. Tried the normal way, and then we did the in vitro thing. Now lemme tell you, Jackie, that’s a lot of fun. You go into some little room and they got porno DVDs in there and some lesbian mags, and you jerk off into a cup, and have to come out into the hallway afterward carrying the fucking thing and you run into all these other cats who are also carrying their cups around. Oh, man, it’s Loser Land.”
    Charlie limped around with an imaginary cup in his hand as Jack smiled sympathetically.
    â€œAnd after all that, and the ten grand it costs you, the shit doesn’t even work. It’s 12 percent or something. We did it three times, too . . . and that was enough ’cause not only did I not have the kid, but I lost my wife. You try fucking on schedule for two and a half years . . . giving her injections at night, waking up at three A.M. to crying jags. No, man, that was the end for me. But it’s okay. This way I get to coach the kids when they’re sweet and young. Later, when they become car thieves and teenage crackheads, I don’t have to be involved.”
    â€œI’m sorry, Charlie. That must have been rough.”
    â€œYeah,” Charlie said. “It sucked. But that’s long ago and far away, my friend. Look at that ocean, listen to that surf. That’s what we’re living for nowadays. Let the past go, Jackie. That’s what you gotta learn.”
    Jack looked at him and smiled.
    â€œGet out there with your kid,” Charlie said. “’Cause in a few years he’ll have a girlfriend, and then it’ll be bye-bye, Daddy.”
    â€œI hear you, Charlie,” Jack said. “Thanks for the drink. See you tomorrow, coach.”
    Charlie smiled and hugged Jack and Jack felt a bolt of affection for him. Something surprising and tender that he had rarely felt for his own dad.
    He was