“You will find that I am a fair man, Mr. Harrison. You win, you walk away a rich man. You lose, you will pay the price, believe me.”
Harrison looked at Adam bundled in his carriage, but Adam’s attention was focused on the money. The stacks of money looked like heavy green bricks. Harrison took the one Adam was playing with and riffled the corners of the bills — they were all hundreds. The numbers danced in awkward animation as he thumbed through the stack, and then thumbed through it again. He lifted the stack and smelled it. He pressed it against his cheek. It felt scratchy and cool.
“I think we have a player, boys,” whispered the fat man. “Please give him room.”
Eight times. Harrison picked up the Frisbee and hefted it. Eight times. The Frisbee weighed 140 grams. It felt like a 14-pound brick. Eight times. Only eight. Eight is nothing. He pantomimed some throws with it, practicing his wrist flick. Eight. He looked at Lex, and Lex was eager. He was very eager. He was ready.
Eight times.
The wind swirled around Harrison, and it felt vigorous.
Eight times.
Eight.
Eight-eight-eight-eight-eight.
“Are you ready, Mr. Harrison?”
“I don’t see that I have much choice, do I?”
“You always have a choice, Mr. Harrison. That’s what makes life exciting, would you not agree?”
Harrison turned his back on the fat man and shook the Frisbee overhead again to re-ignite Lex, but it was hardly necessary. The dog had been standing at attention and staring at the Frisbee in Harrison’s hand with a single-minded focus, waiting for him to renew the game.
Harrison threw it, and the dog left tufts of grass flying behind him as he bounded after it. The Frisbee sailed well past the trash can, and for a second Harrison thought he may have thrown it too far. It seemed to hang in the air for a long time, until Lex arched up gracefully like a swordfish from the sea, bringing the Frisbee back down with a satisfying crunch.
Suddenly it felt to Harrison like eight was an eternity away.
“That’s one, Mr. Harrison,” said the fat man, who chuckled his throaty rumble again, shaking his entire body.
Without hesitating, without giving himself a chance to back out, Harrison took the Frisbee from Lex and threw it again. As soon as he released it, the wind gusted and blew the Frisbee so high that it careened in a vertical plunge toward the playground. The Frisbee fell like an arrow, gaining speed. For a moment Harrison forgot about the dog. The Frisbee was now a knife, plummeting toward Adam’s tiny heart.
Lex caught it again, smoothly, with fluid grace. He returned quietly with the Frisbee, and placed it in Harrison’s hand.
“That’s two. Excellent, Mr. Harrison. Would you like to up the wager?”
“No! I’ve got nothing left to bet. And stop that counting, would you? This is hard enough as it is.”
Amazingly, this brought no rebuke from the fat man or his assistants, and Harrison felt his confidence return. He cocked back to throw the Frisbee again, this time waiting for the wind to die down a little before releasing. As Harrison swung the Frisbee forward, Adam called out, “Dog-gee! Daddy — Daddy — Dog-geeeee!”
The Frisbee wobbled as soon as Harrison released it. Lex had already run out past it, unaware that Harrison had botched the throw. The Frisbee headed straight toward the trash can, barely three feet in the air, and Lex wasn’t going to see it.
“Lex! Oh, Jesus! LEX!”
Instantly, the dog slammed on the brakes, turned his head back, and miraculously reversed his momentum to charge toward the trash can. The Frisbee barely cleared the top of it, and Lex caught it low, with his chin brushing the grass.
“That’s three.”
“I quit, you son of a bitch. Give me my six thousand now and I’ll take my chances. I’ve got until the end of the day to get the rest anyway, don’t I?”
The fat man looked over at his two assistants and smiled. FishHook and Mr. Corillian walked forward, their hands in their coat pockets. The fat man turned his attention back to Harrison.
“You do have a point, Mr. Harrison, but I am disappointed in you. I thought you had more steel in you. But as I told you, I am a fair man. I will even give you a five-minute head start before my associates begin looking for you again, for I do not believe you will accumulate the rest of the money so quickly.”
“Just give me the money.”
“Ah, yes. The money.”
The fat man reached into the carriage and withdrew one of the stacks of cash. He tossed it to Harrison.
“Please be so kind as to count out sixty of those bills for me. I would hate for my count to be off.”
Harrison bobbled the stack like a hot potato, managing to unloop the rubber band. The crisp bills poured into his hands like a newly-opened deck of cards, cascading over his fingers. He counted out ten bills, then twenty, and lost count. The stack was so thick he could barely enclose it with one hand. Again he counted out ten, then twenty, and then he put those in his mouth. As he breathed through his nose, he inhaled the splendid perfume of green wagered and won. He counted out ten more bills, but the stack in his hand seemed boundless, like it would keep coming, as if it multiplied in his hands the more he handled it.
As he counted the fourth thousand the money seemed almost to talk to him. I could be all yours, it said, so much of me you could take a bath in hundred dollar bills tonight. You’ll be a winner tonight. On top. I know you will. You’ll win, and you’ll beat everyone. You’re almost there.
Harrison clenched the cool bills in his hand and knelt down to talk to his son.
“Adam, listen to me. I’m not going to lose. I can’t. Lex never misses. You’ve seen him. We’re going to win, Adam, just watch Daddy. In just five minutes we will be rich, I guarantee it. I feel it. I know it. This is the big payoff, Son, the one we’ve been waiting for.”
Feeling confident and justified, Harrison threw the bills back into the carriage, picked up the Frisbee, and threw. It climbed and lifted with another gust of wind, and the dog hustled after it. Lex jumped, and Harrison’s stomach lurched as he heard the crocodile click! of hard teeth snapping on empty air.
No!
Lex had only bounced the Frisbee further in the air, to his left. He stayed with it, and after cutting at a right angle, he caught the Frisbee and kept it from hitting the ground.
“Spectacular, Mr. Harrison! Your animal is simply amazing.” After a pause, the fat man added with a sly grin, “That’s four.”
When Lex returned, it was with shaky hands that Harrison took the Frisbee from him. The fifth throw sailed straight and solid, unaffected by the wind, and Lex caught it easily. The sixth angled a bit, but Lex understood the idiosyncrasies of the Frisbee, and recognized the physical forces affecting it. He compensated marvelously. The fat man continued to count out loud.
Harrison noticed the dog’s tongue lolling from the side of his mouth, sticking out from under the Frisbee. “Lex, lie down,” he said. The dog immediately dropped to the ground, apparently grateful for the break. It was getting colder, however, and Harrison was anxious to have all of this finished. Only two more catches. Two more catches and they were home free.
Fish-Hook walked over to Lex and knelt.
“Get away from him,” Harrison snarled. “I only need two more catches.”
“Take it easy, Sport. I just might help you out and buy this mutt off a you when you lose. He would look good on film, yes, I believe he would. Quite a virile specimen. I just happen to operate a side venture in the video industry.” Fish-Hook turned to Harrison and flashed a rotted grin. “Special orders, you might say.”