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Back Just Thieves Save as PDF
Chapters (42)
  1. Cover
  2. Other Titles
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. 1
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 2
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 3
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. ACCOMPLICES AND EASY MARKS

I always expected to get caught, either through some fault of my own, or just due to the law of averages, but once Frank joined, I started to think maybe every job would be flawless. Frank had that way of solving the problems. You didn’t think anything would go wrong; you didn’t think chance would ever enter into it.

—

Frank never met Froehmer, never wanted to. “He’s your guy,” he said, “besides, he doesn’t need to know both of us, does he?” Frank didn’t want anyone in his life he didn’t invite in, and as far as I could tell, that included hardly anyone but me. I never met any of his family; he never even talked about them. He had friends, I’m sure, but I never met any of them. Frank could build walls around different parts of himself, keep his life in different compartments. Maybe that’s why he never wanted to meet Froehmer. But I think the main reason was that Frank still had a foot in the respectable part of the world. He still volunteered at the treatment facility, still had a strong connection to the staff and the patients, and still had a need to share things with them, teach them a thing or two from his books. He’d been a sponsor to a lot of people, and as far as I could tell he still was. He was on the phone a lot every day, trying to help this or that person. He never talked about any of them with me, not in any specific way, but he did all he could to help a lot of people.

“Sometimes you gotta give back,” Frank said, not as explanation but as expectation.

“It’s easy for you,” I said. “You’re smart. You’re good with people. They like you, listen to you, all that. I got nothing to give.”

“Time,” Frank said. “You can give that. That’s all they need. That’s what I give them, really. Everything else is for me. Believe me, I take more than I ever give.”

In the end he took everything.

13

THE BAR

IT’S HARD TO SIT ALONE AT A BAR AND NOT HATE YOURSELF. I sort of feel that’s why they were built the way they are, a long line of sturdy wood to accommodate a row of people, who all feel alone, even if they’re with someone else, and a big mirror right there in front of them to remind them how truly alone and miserable they are. I was miserable enough, but I wanted the reminder.