Everything Changes

tanned, their discreet jewelry shimmering in the sun when they move. The men are potbellied and silver haired, with gold diver’s watches and scrawny, bowed legs. Jed waves and Norm says good afternoon. They nod back in greeting and then, as we pass, hold a muted conference about us. A cell phone is produced. “And . . . we’re screwed,” Jed pronounces, although he doesn’t seem terribly concerned. “Let’s split up,” he says.
    “I’ll go this way,” Norm says, heading down the paved golf cart path that disappears behind some trees. “I’ll call you if I find him.”
    Jed and I continue past the green of the third hole and across the lawn to the fourth tee. “Nice day,” he observes exactly as if we’re not about to be busted for trespassing on the grounds of an exclusive country club. It’s quite a gift, I think, to be so comfortable anywhere you are, so unconcerned about the outcome. “What is it that you and Norm have that I don’t?” I say. “The two of you never seem to worry about consequences.”
    “What sort of consequences?”
    “I don’t know, the consequences that come from disregarding basic social boundaries. Norm makes a scene at the doctor’s office; you run into the back hall like you own the place. Now we’re sneaking into a private club, and you know we’re going to get caught.”
    “I’m still not hearing any dire consequences,” Jed says.
    “We could be arrested,” I say.
    Jed shrugs. “You got arrested yesterday, didn’t you? And here you are today, consequence free.”
    “That was a fluke.”
    “Really, Zack,” he says. “What’s the worst that can happen? You get arrested, issued a summons, pay a fine, maybe. Either way, the sun goes down with you still sleeping in your own bed.”
    I nod, agreeing. “And yet, I’m nervous, and you guys are fearless.”
    “I’m fearless,” Jed says, smiling bitterly. “That probably explains why I haven’t left my apartment in almost two years.”
    “Hey, don’t let Norm get to you.”
    He waves away my remark and turns to face me, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “You know what Norm and I have that you don’t have?” he says. “Nothing. And like the song goes, when you ain’t got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose. No job, no girlfriend, no circle of friends. We’re both alone, and so maybe what you consider fearlessness is actually just an expert level of loneliness.”
    “You’re alone by choice,” I say.
    “It doesn’t feel that way.”
    “And maybe I actually do need to lose something.”
    He looks at me and grins, nodding his head. “The grass is always greener.”
    We begin making our way down the next fairway, which descends away from us in a set of graduated slopes, and in the distance we can make out another group of golfers congregating on the green.
    “You see him down there?” Jed says.
    I cup my hand over my eyes to block out the sun and peer at the figures on the green below. They’re four men, but at this distance, it’s impossible to make out any details. “I don’t know. Could be.”
    We’re about to continue down the hill when we hear the rumble of an engine, and a gas-powered golf cart with a flashing yellow light emerges from behind the tree line to the rear of the green, heading up the hill in our direction. From our vantage point, we can make out the two men in their gray-and-blue uniforms, the driver watching us intently as his partner talks into the radio clipped to his shoulder.
    “Uh-oh,” I say.
    “That was quick,” Jed says.
    “Should we run for it?”
    Jed shakes his head. “Never make it. They’re only rent-a-cops. Maybe we can bribe them.”
    The cart arrives and parks a few feet in front of us. The guards step out and approach us cautiously, game faces on, hands resting threateningly on the billy clubs dangling from their belts. The driver is tall and fair, with a lean, athletic build, while his partner is rotund, with a frowning, dimpled baby face. “Are you gentlemen members of the club?” asks the driver.
    “Not exactly,” I say.
    “You’re trespassing on private property,” Baby-Face says. “How’d you get in here?”
    “You fellows want to make some money?” Jed says, pulling out his wallet.
    “Excuse me?”
    Jed counts the bills in his wallet. “It’ll be the easiest three hundred and sixty-three bucks you ever made.”
    The driver takes an angry step in Jed’s direction. “I know you didn’t just offer me a bribe.”
    “We