They ran the reverse, sweeping toward the right side of the field and Hax felt excited to see the defense collapsing that direction. Argo made a perfect handoff to Johnson who shot back around to the left. Hax desperately wanted to see what happened, but continued trying to sell the play by looking off to the right as if Johnny still had the ball.
A crunch of pads and the coaches’ whistles told him the play was over. When Hax turned he saw that Darren Elias hadn’t been fooled by the trick play. Elias had tackled Johnson for a loss and incidentally knocked the wind out of him. Hayes congratulated Elias. However, at least when Johnson took quite a while to get up, Hayes did remind Elias not to be quite so aggressive in practice.
Hax thought that if, Elias had figured that out, he probably belonged on the first-team.
Some of the other trick plays worked, but none of them gained many yards. Hax started to feel good about the first team’s preparation. The fact that Elias was a big part of stopping several more of the trick plays got Hax down, but also made him admire his nemesis.
Then practice was over. As Hax trotted toward the locker room with the rest of the team, he heard Coach Hayes bellow his name.
Hax stopped, turning and trotting worriedly back over to Hayes. When he reached the coach, Hayes was talking to Coach Albright. Hax stopped and waited patiently. When the coaches had finished their conversation, Hax spoke up, “You called for me, sir?”
Hayes eyed Hax as if he wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. After a few moments of consideration, he said, “You’re a hell of an accurate passer Buchry… like I thought you would be from watching you pitch.” He paused, chewing his lip, then continued, “And I know you’re smart—I looked up your transcripts.” He shook his head, “Smart enough to keep track of your third and fourth receivers and actually use ‘em, which is rare. But, remember, I know you didn’t know squat about football before this summer. So, it makes me nervous when you call audibles and throw to your third receiver ‘cause I’m afraid maybe you don’t actually know what you’re doing.” He arched an eyebrow at Hax, “Especially when you decide to run a play that isn’t even in our book… for instance, having a running back who’s supposed to be blocking, roll off and catch a shovel toss. A know-nothing quarterback who’s making up exotic plays in the huddle really makes me nervous.”
Hayes turned to yell at one of the other players who was supposed to be doing laps for an infraction earlier in practice. This gave Hax a few moments for his stomach to congeal around a lump of certainty that Hayes was about to come down hard on him.
Instead, when Hayes turned back to him, he gave a little grin and said, “But, so far, you’ve been shittin’ nothing but little gold eggs.” He snorted, “I’d have to be crazy to come down on a quarterback who’s dropping golden ones, right? Therefore, even though I worry about you, it’s pretty obvious you’re going be getting more playing time, and I want you to be able to keep doing the things you do that work. If it has been just luck, and some of those turds start to stink, you can count on me to tell you to cut that crap out, okay?” At Hax’s uncertain nod, he continued, “And if you have any more crazy-ass plays like that lateral shovel pass to a running back when the whole team thinks you’re going to throw a long bomb down left field… I’d like you to tell me about them. We’ll put them in the playbook under ‘trick plays’ and make sure the rest of the team knows about them so they might be ready to block for said running back, okay?”
Uncertainly, Hax said, “Yes sir… Do you want me to stop by your office with the plays during my free period tomorrow?”
Hayes barked a laugh, then said with a sigh, “How many fancy plays are you talking about Buchry?”
“Um, fifteen…? Or more?”
Hayes shook his head, though he kept smiling. “You gotta remember that these guys are just in high school and very few of them are as smart as you are. Consider the fact that they’re having trouble remembering the limited number of plays we’ve already got in the book. If we add a bunch more plays to the stack they’re supposed to remember… they’ll really start screwing up. I believe in the KISS principle…”
Hax interrupted, “KISS principle?”
“Keep It Simple, Stupid,” Hayes said, “You take your fifteen plays and winnow them down to the seven best. Then I’ll pick the three I like and we’ll hope the team can remember those, all right?”
“Yes sir.”
As Hax turned to go, Hayes said, “Your special plays should take advantage of that arm of yours, okay?”
“Yes sir.”
***
As Hax walked into the school the next day, Hallie stepped in front of him, arms crossed, eyes flashing. “Why’re you acting like such a jerk?!”
“What do you mean?” Hax said, startled to be confronted.
“Pretending I don’t exist yesterday. Looking past me like you couldn’t see me. Not saying hello! What’s your deal?!”
“You’ve been talking to Darren Elias!” Hax said hotly.
“So? Is that some kind of crime? Talking to other people? That’s so terrible that you’re freezing me out? I thought we were friends… More than friends.” She said almost plaintively, then she narrowed her eyes, “Are you trying to say that if I want to be your friend, I can’t have any other friends? Are you that kind of possessive asshole? You want to be just like your old buddy Vito?”
Hax stared at her wide-eyed, trying to think of some justification for the way he’d behaved. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Hallie rolled her eyes and started to turn away in disgust. “I see…” she began.
“Hallie… I’m sorry. You’re right, I’ve been acting like a jerk. I don’t like Elias and seeing him hanging around you drives me crazy but…” With a small shake of his head he gave her a contrite grin, “Treating you like crap probably wasn’t the best way to get you to ignore him, was it?”
Hallie’d turned partly away. Now she looked at him out of the narrowed corner of her eye, but after a moment a smile blossomed across her lips. Turning toward him, she said, “Bend down here.” As Hax bent down, she threw an arm around his neck and rubbed her knuckles roughly on the top of his head, though not hard enough to really hurt. “Let this be a lesson to you,” she said fiercely. “And remember, there’s more where that rub came from!” As he stood back up, she said, “Holy crap, you’re getting tall! What are you? Six-one?”
Hax gave her a sheepish look, “Almost six-three.”
Hallie shook her head as if amazed, then looked at the clock. “Hey buddy, you’re gonna be late to class if you don’t hustle.” She turned and started striding toward her own class, then called back over her shoulder, “I’ll see you in English, second period… And you’d better see me too!”
***
Randy looked up and saw Indigo coming his way. He’d spent a little time with her when he told her his dealer said he could get roofies. She’d turned out to be an inch or two taller than Randy was, but she seemed like a lot of fun and he liked hanging out with her anyway. Now she wanted him to go with her to buy her roofies because she said she was afraid to do it alone. Randy wasn’t sure whether she might be kidding him. She seemed so bold it was hard to picture her being afraid of anything.
Indigo walked up and said, “You ready?”
“Yeah, this way,” he said, indicating the direction with a nod of his head. As they walked, he kept looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Despite her height, she had fine features and he wondered if she’d ever worked as a model. He knew that a lot of models were really tall. He felt glad he’d worn his boots because they made him nearly as tall as she was. Trying to make conversation, he said, “You don’t seem very uptight to me.”
“I’m not.” She frowned, “Why do you think I’m uptight?”
“Well, you claim you aren’t going to use the roofies to take advantage of me; you want them to relax. I’m just saying you look like you’re already relaxed.”
“Oh, well, sometimes yo
u just want to be more relaxed, you know?”
“Yeah,” Randy said, giving her a knowing grin.
“Besides,” she said, facing back down the path, “maybe I need to have some on hand for some future time when I’m not relaxed, right?”
Suddenly she slowed, “Hey, I heard something about the cops picking up some of the dope dealers around campus. You know anything about that? I don’t want to walk into a bust or something.”
Startled, Randy said, “No! I haven’t heard anything about that. Who told you?”
She shrugged, “I just overheard a couple of other kids talking about it. You think you would have heard if it was really going on?”
He frowned, “Yeah, I’ve got a lot of friends who… You know.”
“Oh, okay,” she said, not looking very relieved. “When we get there though, let’s stop and scope your guy out for a couple minutes. Make sure it doesn’t look like there are any narcs hanging around… or something. You know what to look for, right?”
“Sure,” he said, uncertainly.
When they arrived, as promised, Randy stopped when they could barely see the guy he usually bought from. The guy was hanging out on the bench where he usually did his business. There were very few people around, and no one that looked like they might be a narc, though Randy supposed that if they looked like a narc they wouldn’t be very good at their job. Indigo suddenly looked uncertain. Touching Randy’s arm, she said, “I’m scared. Can you buy one for me?”
Randy gave her a surprised look, “Really?”
She gave him a shy nod, which seemed surprising in a girl taller than he was. “Really.” She pulled out some cash she’d obviously folded up in her pocket for the buy and held it out. “I just want one. I want to be sure they’re as good as the ones I’ve had before.” When Randy didn’t move for a moment, she gave him a naïve look and said, “Please?”
With a small snort, Randy said, “Sure,” he winked at her, “but you owe me.”
Randy wasn’t the only one surprised by Indigo’s innocent behavior. Roni, invisibly standing just a few feet away, also felt confounded by her friend’s not-so-bold affect. Indigo’d asked Roni to follow along on this trip which was really just intended to determine whether the dealer’d been picked up by the police. Roni was supposedly following far enough back that she wouldn’t be noticed, though actually she’d just made herself invisible and then hung around close enough to listen in as well as watch.
Roni was supposed to be Indigo’s back up, ready to be called for help if anything happened, though Indigo hadn’t been very clear about exactly what Roni might be able to do if there was trouble. Roni hadn’t pointed out that if the cops were dirty, or afraid of the mob, Roni wouldn’t be able to call them for help. Worse, if they were clean, they probably wouldn’t be very helpful to a girl who was trying to buy roofies. Roni hadn’t argued, however; she wanted to see what was going on herself.
Roni followed Randy over to the dealer who sat on a secluded bench in the arboretum with a backpack beside him and a book open on his lap, apparently studying. Roni looked over his shoulder and saw he was actually reading a novel. Your better class of drug dealer, she thought.
Randy sat next to the guy and spoke quietly. Cash traded hands down low. Then the dealer reached into his backpack and pulled out an opaque baggie that bulged like it probably had marijuana in it. He handed the baggie to Randy and went back in his pack. After some sorting around inside of it, he came out with a little tiny baggie that looked like it might contain a single pill.
At first Roni was surprised that he had a single-bagged pill, then she thought, They probably don’t sell roofies in large quantities.
Roni followed Randy back over toward Indigo. As she approached, she saw Indigo glance back over her shoulder. She’s looking for me! I can’t appear right next to her! Roni headed off to her left where there were several fairly large trees.
Randy reached Indigo and slipped her the tiny baggie. Indigo looked around, then shrugged, and started to walk away with Randy, though Roni got the definite impression that Indigo felt deserted. Roni let herself become visible beside one of the trees and called out as if the meeting was coincidental, “Indigo, is that you?”
Indigo turned toward her suddenly and broke out a big smile, “Roni!” Turning back to Randy, she said, “Roni’s a friend of mine. She and I’ve got to catch up. Thanks a bunch for your help. I’ll probably be getting back to you.” She turned to Roni.
Roni didn’t miss the look of disappointment that crossed Randy’s face when Indigo walked away, but he did turn and continue on his way.
Indigo said, “Hey, I thought you lost me! I sure am glad to find out you were there all along.”
Roni winked, “I’m pretty good at hiding, right?”
“Yeah,” Indigo said, but then her expression turned serious. “Not only is this dealer still in business, but Randy says he knows quite a few other students who buy and he hasn’t heard anything about their dealers getting picked up by the cops.”
Roni said, “It might be that they’re just taking their time to set up a sting or something, but…”
Indigo filled in the silence, “Yeah, I’ve got a bad feeling about it too. Good thing you suggested reporting it anonymously. What’re we going to do now?”
For a moment, Roni considered pointing out that this whole thing was Indigo’s idea. But, Roni thought, if Indigo’s out of ideas, it’s a little unfair to leave it all on her lap when I do have ideas. She said, “Let me talk to some folks. I might have an idea.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
Roni shook her head. “I need to talk to this girl alone. See you later?” she said turning onto a path that went off at a right angle to the direction Indigo would take back to the dorms.
“Okay,” Indigo said, continuing on toward the dorms. “Call me if you need help, right?”
Roni gave her a nod and walked off on the side path. Once she was out of sight, Roni made herself invisible and headed back to where the dealer sat on his bench. She had no idea how long he sat there each day, but thinking it might be quite a while, she brought up her notes and sat down to study.
It wasn’t as long as Roni’d expected before the drug guy got up, put his book in his backpack, and started off down the path away from the University.
Roni got up and followed, worrying that she was just going to wind up following him back to his apartment—a complete dead-end for her. Nonetheless, she slipped her hand into her backpack and got out her lightweight balaclava. She put it on, then lightly-mirrored, wraparound sunglasses that obscured her blue eyes but still let her see in dim light. This afternoon she’d already been wearing a long sleeved black pullover, black jeans, and black running shoes; now she pulled on some nitrile gloves. She’d looked for some gloves that were in a plausible skin color—other than the color of her own very dark skin—but the closest she’d come up with was a burnt orange. She’d finally gone with black nitrile gloves as well, with some black leather gloves for when it got cold. She figured black would be better in the dark anyway. Videoing herself had shown her that the all black outfit had the benefit of being pretty featureless on camera. Besides, if someone was reviewing security camera records shot at night she’d be hard to see on the record as well as in person. Her skin wasn’t quite as dark as the clothing, but if her clothing pulled in a fashion that exposed some skin, spots of it weren’t very noticeable on video recordings either.
For a while she’d been thinking of wearing a mostly black wardrobe so she’d always be ready to go invisible, but then she’d realized that if someone went around campus searching for someone who wore black clothing like they’d seen in a video, she might become the object of their suspicions. So, she wore colorful tops, dark pants, and black shoes almost every day. At all times she kept the sunglasses, a black pullover, and the balaclava in a hidden compartment of her black backpack.
Roni followed the dealer several blocks off campus where the g
uy approached a car and used an electronic key to pop the trunk and throw in his backpack. She’d considered this possibility and didn’t have a way to follow him unless she rode in his car. So, she’d already planned to get in his back seat, something she hadn’t done invisibly before. She didn’t know why it wouldn’t work, but felt edgy to be doing it for the first time with a stranger and somewhat of a criminal rather than trying it out on Hax first like she’d done before. This guy didn’t seem like a dangerous type of criminal, so she’d been able to rationalize to herself that he represented a reasonable opportunity to try something new.
Worrying that he might only hit the unlock button on his key once, unlocking only the driver’s door, Roni willed him not to notice as she pulled the key out of his right hand while he was throwing the backpack in the trunk with his left. She quickly double pushed the unlock button, listening for the locks to click up as she willed him not to notice that as well. Then she put the key back in his hand as he turned to walk around to front of the car. This was the part of her plan that seemed like it just couldn’t work but when she bumped the keys into his hand, willing him to take them, his fingers closed around them without any evidence that he’d noticed they’d been gone and returned. As he walked around to get into the left front door, Roni walked around and got in through the right back door.
The dealer drove Roni several miles across town; her fretting the entire time that he was just going home. Working her way up the chain to the real mob people seemed like it was going to take a lot of trips, following first one guy multiple times until he met his connection, then following that guy until he met the next connection.
The Boy Who Couldn’t Miss Page 11