The train brings him at night. Works out, really. Jack barely gets any sleep, which means when he stumbles his way off before the sun’s even risen, he doesn’t have any brain cells left to tell him which way to go. Instead, he’s carried on feet that know where they want him instead. Left, right, left, right, across a bridge, down a long street, until he sits down against a wall and shuts his eyes to rest.
He wakes from a bell. Sleeps. Wakes again from a police officer. This time he stumbles out of sight again, lips drawn into a tight line, until he’s not being watched, can wander back again. Behind him, there’s the sound of races already getting kicked off.
The likelihood of Race still selling at Sheepshead after a full year of Jack being in Santa Fe is slim to none. But he has to try anyway.
Time passes. Jack’s stomach rumbles. But he punishes himself, making himself stand there with his bag, staring into the distance. Waiting. And, finally, he’s rewarded when he turns his head and sees a familiar blond head and a bag of papes. Race is older now. Filling out just that little bit more. Grown into his eighteen years. Jack being near twenty hangs on him - not nearly as carefree as he used to be. No, that’s gone, left in a street he disappeared from the day the rally ended, just like he wanted.
When Race sees him, Jack doesn’t move. Nor does he speak.