Part 28 (1/2)

”What's that?”

”We can't pay you.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. ”That's gonna be a problem, Belinda. The little dwarf likes money. He tends not to work without it.”

”I mean, we can't pay you up front,” she clarified. ”Everything we got, Moe took. You find him and the money, we'll pay you whatever we owe you.”

I knew Victor was going to have a coronary over that.

”I'll talk to Victor and see what I can do,” I said, standing.

She pushed her girth up off the bleachers, wobbled for a minute, then steadied herself. She wiped a ma.s.sive hand across her wet brow.

”Well, I hope you can do something, Deuce,” she said, a sour expression settling on her face. ”Because that money? That's all we got. It doesn't come back, soccer don't come back.”

”Really?”

”We are totally fee driven. Nothing in reserve. So unless you wanna foot the bill for uniforms and trophies and field s.p.a.ce and insurance and who the heck knows what else, we need that money.”

I glanced over at the remaining girls. Carly had detached herself from Julianne and was now playing some b.a.s.t.a.r.dized version of tag. Her team wasn't very good at soccer, but that didn't stop me from espousing the virtues of team sports at a young age. They weren't winning games, but I believed they were getting something out of playing.

”Why would he take the money, Belinda?” I asked.

”I got no idea,” she said, shaking her head. ”I really don't, Deuce. But we gotta have the money back. Now him?” She waved a hand in the air. ”I couldn't care less whether that weasel comes back.”

”Weasel?”

Her eyes narrowed. ”You don't know him all that well, do you?”

I shrugged. I knew him from around town and from soccer meetings. A little pompous, but other than that, I didn't think much at all about him.

”No,” I admitted. ”I guess not.”

”Weasel,” she said. ”Pure weasel.”

”Why's that?”

”Because that's the way the good Lord made him,” she said, frowning. ”Or Satan. Whichever.”

”So you aren't surprised he took the money, then?” I asked.

”I'm a little surprised,” she said. ”Because I didn't think even he'd pull something like this. But you know what's more surprising?”

I looked past her. Julianne now had Carly in her arms and was waving at me. I was ready to go home and be objectified.

”Uh, no. What's more surprising?”

She hiked up her ill-fitting shorts and looked me dead in the eye.

”That no one's killed that weasel yet.”

3.

”You're kidding, right?” I asked as I loaded the soccer gear into the back of the minivan. Julianne and Carly were already settled in their seats. ”Why would anyone want to kill Huber?”

”I'm just sayin',” Belinda said in between huffs and puffs, ”he's not the most liked fella around Rose Petal.”

”A lotta people aren't the most liked, Belinda. That doesn't mean they have a hit out on them.”

She shaded her eyes from the sun, a drop of sweat hanging from the tip of her nose. ”Lotsa reasons. A biggie?” She leaned closer to me, and I tried not to shrink away. ”He cheats at poker.”

”What?”

”Poker. He cheats.”

I closed the back of the minivan. ”What are you talking about?”

”Don't you play in one of them games? Where all you daddies get together and pretend to be manly and play poker?”

I did, in fact. Last Friday of every month. A tight group of friends, we rotated homes and played until the wee hours of the morning, drinking beer, making fun of one another, and taking each other's money. It was less about the poker and more about the need to do some serious male bonding. Kind of like the kids and their soccer, but with more cursing and beer.

”Well, he used to play in a regular game,” Belinda said, ”but they found out he was cheating. Kicked his b.u.t.t out.”

”If it was anything like my game, you're expected to cheat.”

She shook her head. ”No. This was different. They played for stakes bigger than your daughter's lunch money.” She nodded, as if confirming to herself what she was saying was true. ”Ask around. You'll find out.”

I knew that was true. Rose Petal wasn't big, and nearly everyone knew something about someone else's business. It was a fishbowl of sorts. And I had to admit as she was telling me this, I was surprised that I hadn't heard some version of Huber's cheating already.

”I'll get back to you, Belinda,” I said, pulling the keys out of my pocket. ”No promises, though. I have to talk to Victor first.”

”I'll sit on him,” she said.

”Huh?”

”I'll sit on that little man if that's what it takes to get him to agree,” she said.

”I'll pa.s.s that along.”

Belinda waddled away across the now empty parking lot, as everyone else had packed up and gone home. I slid into the driver's seat, shoved the key into the ignition, and fired up the air-conditioning.

”She is a large woman,” Julianne said.

”And then some.”