Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
"It wasn't me, it was the one-armed man!" Andrew yelled from out of sight.
"Get out here!" Wymack yelled back as the door swung closed. Andrew appeared a couple seconds later, already changed into his uniform. Wymack pointed the phone at him and said, "The police are on the phone for you. You'd better come clean with me before I get the unabridged version from them."
"It wasn't me. Ask my doppelganger?"
Wymack scowled at him, turned the microphone back on, and put the phone at his ear. "What seems to be the problem, Officer… Higgins, you said?"
"Oh," Andrew said, startled. "No, Coach."
Wymack waved at him to be quiet, but Andrew grabbed Wymack's wrist and wrenched the phone out of his grasp. Wymack caught his jersey before Andrew could run off. Andrew didn't try to wiggle free but stared at the phone in his hand like he'd never seen such technology before.
"Don't make him wait all day," Wymack said.
Andrew turned, not enough to break loose but enough he could see his brother. Aaron had stopped mid-stretch to stare at him. Andrew threw his hands up in an exaggerated shrug and finally put the phone at his ear.
"Pig Higgins, is that you?" Andrew asked. "Oh, it is. Yes, I'm surprised. Did you forget I don't like surprises? What? No, don't stall. You wouldn't hunt me down after all this time just to chat, so what do you want?" Andrew went quiet for a few seconds to listen, then said, "No," and hung up.
The phone started ringing again almost immediately. The Foxes were staring openly now, their stretches forgotten. Wymack didn't order them back to business, so Matt sat on one of the benches to watch this odd scene unfold. Andrew yanked at his jersey until Wymack let go, then put space between them as fast as he could. He leaned against the wall, clapped his free hand over his ear, and answered the phone.
"What? No, I didn't hang up on you. I wouldn't do that. I—no. Shut up."
Andrew hung up again, but Higgins was persistent enough to call a third time. Andrew let it ring five times before answering with an explosive sigh.
"Talk to me," Andrew said, and waited as Higgins explained himself all over again.
Higgins went on for a good two minutes. Whatever he was saying couldn't be good; the conversation was visibly cutting through Andrew's drug-induced mania. Andrew's smile was long gone, and he started tapping his foot halfway through Higgins' story. He looked away from Aaron as the last of his cheer bleached out of his expression and pointed his gaze at the ceiling instead.
"Go back," Andrew finally said. "Who complained? Oh, Pig, don't give me the runaround. I know where you work, you see. I know who you work with. That means there's a child in her house. She isn't supposed—what? No. Don't ask me that. I said don't. Leave me alone. Hey," Andrew said, a little louder like he was trying to drown the officer's arguments out. "Call me again and I'll kill you."
He hung up. This time the phone stayed silent. Andrew waited to make sure Higgins got the hint, then put one hand over his eyes and started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Nicky asked as he rejoined them. "What did I miss?"
"Oh, nothing," Andrew said. "No worries."
Wymack looked from Andrew to Aaron and back again. "Now what have you done?"
Andrew spread his fingers and peered between them at Wymack. "What makes you think this is my fault?"
"I hope that's a rhetorical question," Wymack said, not at all fooled by Andrew's innocent act. "Why is the Oakland PD calling you?"
"The pig and I go way back," Andrew said. "He just wanted to catch up."
"You lie to my face one more time and we're going to have a problem."
"It was mostly the truth." Andrew dropped his hand and tossed the phone across the room. It hit the ground so hard the back popped off. The handset slid one direction and the battery went the other. "He worked with the Oakland PAL program. Thought he could save at-risk kids by teaching them sports after school. Kind of like you, yes? Idealistic to the core."
"You left Oakland three years ago."
"Yes, yes, I'm so flattered he remembers me, or something." Andrew waved one hand in a lazy 'what can you do' gesture and started for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Wymack put an arm into his path. "Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving." Andrew pointed past Wymack in the direction of the exit. "Didn't I say I'll see you tomorrow? Maybe I mumbled."
"We've got practice," Dan said. "We have a game on Friday."
"You have Joan of Exy over there. Make do without me."
"Cut the shit, Andrew," Wymack said. "What is really going on here?"
Andrew put a hand to his forehead dramatically. "I think I'm coming down with something. Cough, cough. Best I leave before I infect your team. There's so few of them left. You can't stand to lose anyone else."
Impatience pulled Kevin's mouth into a hard line. "Knock it off. You can't leave."
There was a heartbeat of silence, and then Andrew turned around with a wide, wicked smile on his lips. "I can't, Kevin? I'll show you what I can't do. Try and put me on your court today and I'll take myself off it permanently. Fuck your practice, your line-up, and your stupid fucking game."
"That's enough. We don't have time for your tantrums."
Andrew twisted and punched the wall hard enough to split the skin along his knuckles. Kevin took a quick step forward, hand out like he could stop Andrew from landing a second blow, but Wymack was closer. He caught Andrew's arm and hauled him away from the wall. Andrew didn't look away from Kevin to acknowledge the interference. Only when Kevin finally stepped back did Andrew try to pull free of Wymack's grip.
"Cough, cough, Coach," Andrew said. "I'm leaving now."
"Coach, let him go," Aaron said. "Please."
Wymack flicked a frustrated look between them, but Aaron was staring at his feet and Andrew's smile explained nothing. Finally Wymack dropped his hand and said, "You and I are going to have a very long talk later, Andrew."