A Surprise Party?

"So what we're in Alabama now?" I ask.
"Yeah." Gerard is moody again. He seems on edge.
"How far in?" I ask.
"'Bout half way..." he looks ahead and lights up a cigarette. We sit in silence for a couple of towns.
Finally Gerard breaks it. "Frankie, I know a guy here. I just thought we better check up on him, see what's up, ya know?"
"Uh, sure." I say, a little intrigued by the company Gerard keeps, and a little scared.
"His name is Willis Jackson, and to my knowledge he's still holding up in Bumfuck, Alabama."

We did 2 banks on our way through Georgia, so that brings the count to five. We've robbed 5 banks in 12 days. We've burned through 4 different cars since Joseph's place, as well. We've also heard 3 news reports about ourselves, and Gerard has adopted a new fake driver's license under the name Rusty Shackleford.

"So how do you know this guy?" I ask.
"We met in training..." he trails off.
"Did you meet everyone you know in the military, or what?"
"Well, when you keep guys from all over the country in close proximity, you get to know each other." I digest that.
"Well, how far from here?"
"Only about 4 hours north." I do the math, on the highway that's about 280 miles yet. It's midnight now.
"Do you really wanna bust this guy's door in at 5 am?" I ask, I know I'd be pissed.
"I don't think he'd mind...." Gerard trails off.

He definitely minded.

"Who the fuck is that!?" a hoarse deep voice yells.
The house Gerard pulled up to is guarded by a barbwire topped chain-link fence. As soon as we pulled in a huge black dog starts barking like a rabid beast. The curtains in the front window are closed immediately, and a spotlight is flipped on the front porch.

Right now Gerard is trying to convince Willis to shut the spotlight off and open the door. "Dude! Just- It's me! Gerard! Gerard Way!" Willis falls silent. I count 8 locks unlock and the heavy door swings open.
"Gerard!" A large black man says happily, when literally 11 seconds ago he was just screaming at us for our I.D. "Hey man! What brings you? Borris SHUT UP! You need help with something?" Gerard laughs with relief and Willis pulls him into a short hug.
"Well, come in then..." he says in a deep southern drawl as he leads us into his dark house. Willis is wearing a red plaid flannel, dark jeans, and black combat boots. Not sure how in Alabama. He shoves junk aside as we walk through a narrow hall. We're brought to a kitchen with white floors, walls, and cabinets but still manages to be dark and dreary. Maybe it's the grey early morning light.
"I just thought I'd drop in..." Gerard says as Willis pours 3 cups of coffee.
"Well," Willis chuckles, "Ya scared the shit out of me... Don't really get many visitors around here..." Gerard exchanges a glance with me, it has become quite apparent to each of us that Willis still live quite a militaristic lifestyle. "So... I' been hearin' about you two a couple times now. Robbin' banks now, huh?" Gerard smiles.
"Yeah. Yeah we have been." Gerard says.
"Well, I don't mind much." He turns to give us our coffee, and smiles real big at his last statement. All of Gerard's friends seem thrilled to have company. "Introductions?" Willis seems smart, I note, Gerard wouldn't hang put with anyone stupid.
"Uh, well, Will this is Frankie." Willis reaches his hand out for me to shake. I take it and nod. "Frank..." I mutter. I'm used to Gerard calling me that, but it's still a cutesy pet name around other people.
"Frank," Gerard continues, "This is Willis Jackson. He and I were in the same division back in 'Nam. Got real close, right Will?" Willis grins big.
"Right." he says in his cloudy drawl. "I tell you, you know how many times I saved this kid's ass?" he directs at me. I laugh politely. "This one time, he got his boot stuck in these tree roots! The damn idjit! And the Kong were comin' for us, they were right real close to him, shootin' like crazy, but he wouldn't yell for help from any of us, you must know what a selfless bastard he is-"
"It would have been a suicide mission for any of you, and you were the only one stupid enough to come get me!" Gerard interrupts. Willis looks at him and laughs.
"Anyhow," Willis starts up again. "I went back there and grabbed him right out of that boot, wasn't much trouble, he's such a little shit, and yanked him along with me to the rest of the guys."
"And I had to walk 17 miles with one boot!" Gerard recalls resentfully.
"Better than me cartin' you back dead, in'it?" Willis asks, not angrily.
"You would have too." Gerard says. They both chuckle a bit. We all sip our coffee. Gerard offers us all a cigarette. We sit for a while.
"So, what can I do for you?" Willis finally asks. Gerard thinks about it. "Well, honestly, I'd like to see your set up here, ya know, how you run things. It seems like a pretty tight ship." Gerard says. He's really referring to the paranoia Willis obviously lives in when he's not in the comfortable company of an old friend.
"Oh! Of course man," Willis chuckles, "I trust you around here." He then looks to me, "And any comrade of Gerard has got to be a comrade of mine."

Notes

Holy shit it's been forever! Can I apologized enough? I don't think I can. I don't really have a good excuse either....
But thank you to anyone who's stuck with me, and tanks to those who have read and subscribed while I was on hiatus.
Thank you for reading.<3
Also let me bitch to you- What's with all the damn adds? I hate them. And there's not italics/bold option anymore? odifhepoirghnqeirve33rvsdvnsmasdfghjkl; !!!