“You can tell me all about the hockey game,” Harper said.
“You’re too well informed for my own good.”
BOBBIE: Good afternoon. It’s Bobbie on the ride home. They say God never hands me more than I can handle. I want to wrap up the week with your stories of surviving the tragedies in our lives. It’s Bobbie, speak to me.
“Where are they?” Tony asked. Jay and Tony stood, leaning on the round metal railing, looking down at the volleyball match. The floor of the gymnasium was two storeys below them. It looked like this game might end at any moment.
“This is huge,” Jay said. The fans in the stands sat in rows of red plastic chairs descending to the court below. Not one of the seats was empty. The crowd went silent when the server leapt and arched his back to pound the ball over the net.
“This is a big deal. That’s the point. We can make Rex look like a fool in front of thousands of fans,”
Tony said.
The opposition bumped the ball back over to the Dinos’ side of the court. One of the Dino players spiked the ball onto the floor. The ball bounced up into the stands. The crowd roared. The referee raised an index finger and pointed at the Dinos. “One more point, and this one’s over,” Tony said.
Jay looked around the court, “There are cameras everywhere.”
“When we put our masks on, we look like presidents. No one will know it’s us. Don’t worry,” Tony smiled. “The toboggan is over there behind the pillar. We’ll change as soon as-”
“Here they come,” Jay said.
Rex followed a young woman wearing a pale yellow dress reaching from her throat to her ankles. As she moved, the dress flowed behind. She held one of Rex’s hands. Jay was pretty sure the mascot was drooling.
“Hurry!” Tony moved back away from the railing.
They ducked behind the pillar. Presidential masks were pulled out of a backpack. Tear-away sweatpants and shirts were stuffed into the pack. Jay reached behind the pillar and pulled out a two-metre wooden toboggan they’d stashed earlier in the day. They moved in behind Rex.
Up ahead, a procession of young women turned heads as they crossed the open area on the upper level of the gymnasium. They moved toward the stairway leading down to the volleyball court. The women were dressed like the one wearing pale yellow. They were, however, wearing shades of orange and purple. Rosie was in the lead, wearing red. All of the women wore their black hair in single braids reaching down to the gentle curves at the small of their backs.
A whistle blew. The crowd roared. “Dinos win!”
the announcer said.
Rosie led the women to the top of the stairs then stepped down.
Jay and Tony trailed an oblivious Rex.
One by one, people turned to watch the procession of young women until everyone had their eyes on the ten who moved with uniform precision. Each step was preceded by a pause. The women appeared to move as one person. Jay had to force himself to take his eyes away from Rosie.
The crowd became completely silent.
Even the announcer was quiet as the women in the flowing dresses swept down toward the court.
Jay thought, Everyone thinks this is part of the show.
At court level, Rosie pushed triangular barriers aside and stepped out. Players, who’d gone to their benches, turned to watch. All around the court, cameras focussed on the procession.
The ten women broke into two groups of five facing one other. In one graceful motion, they raised their arms to point up the stairway to Rex who stood at the top.
The woman in yellow stepped away from Rex.
Tony and Jay grabbed either side of the toboggan and hit Rex behind the knees with the toboggan’s round-wooden nose. Rex fell backward onto the wood. Tony and Jay aimed Rex, then shoved him forward, and down the stairs.
“SHIT!” Rex’s toboggan skipped and clattered, gathering speed as it rushed to court level.
The crowd’s laughter started somewhere to Jay’s left and grew until it deafened him.
The toboggan carried Rex right to the bottom of the steps and slithered sideways across the polished wooden floor. The deceleration-when the toboggan hit the court-was terrific. Rex rolled sideways and ended up at Rosie’s feet. Jay watched as Rosie bent down to say something to Rex.
“Bitch!” Rex said.
It was as if this was the signal for the procession to scatter. The young women raced for exits on either side of the court.
“Let’s go!” Tony ran for the change room where they’d stashed spare clothing.
Jay looked down.
Rex had grabbed hold of Rosie’s arm and raised his fist.
Jay stopped, backtracked and, before he could think to run away, headed for the stairs. He rushed down, taking the steps two at a time.
Rex struck Rosie across the face.
“Hey!” a woman in the crowd said.
The rest of the crowd remained silent.
Jay’s knees buckled when he jumped off the last step and hit the court. He rolled. Back up on his feet, he headed for Rex. The mascot raised his fist to strike for a third time. Jay jumped, grabbed the raised arm, and pulled Rex sideways. Rosie fell free.
Rosie grabbed Jay’s arm to help him up. They ran along behind the the stands, into the hallway, and toward the skating oval. She pulled up her dress and ran next to him. Jay saw that she was wearing running shoes. He was having trouble keeping up with her. They shoved open a pair of metal doors. An underground hallway took a blind turn to the right.
Rosie looked back over her shoulder. “Hurry!
Security’s after us!”
“No sense being in a rush now,” a woman’s voice said. Two police officers turned the corner and faced the fugitives.
“Shit!” Rosie skidded, stopped, regained her balance, and found she’d stuck her nose between the breasts of one police officer.
“We’d like a word with the pair of you,” the male officer said.
Jay looked at Rosie. Rosie backed away from the female officer.
Rosie smiled. “Not a problem, officers.”
The male officer spoke into his radio, “Got them.”
“Lane? It’s Harper. We’ve got a line on Jay Krocker. It has to be now.”
Lane looked across the dinner table at Arthur and Matt. He sighed and spoke into the phone. “Where?”
Jay was in the room next to Rosie’s. They were in a couple of offices just beyond the courtyard next to the fitness centre. The female officer took her time getting Jay’s name and other particulars. She even managed to hunt him down a Hemi T-shirt to cover his naked torso. He was sitting alone at a round table, when two men stepped in. Right away, he recognized them as the two cops who had come to his psychology class.
“I’m Harper and this is Lane,” the larger of the two said.
Jay watched Lane, who was dressed in a shirt and sports jacket. Lane’s eyes were sizing him up. It seemed to Jay that Lane was more curious than anything else.
“We’re here to ask you some questions,” Lane said.
“What am I being charged with?” Jay was certain he was about to be kicked out of university. There goes the scholarship, he thought.
“We’re not here to charge you with anything.” Lane sat down next to Jay. The wheels on his chair squeaked. “We’re here on an entirely separate matter.”
Harper sat down on the other side of the table, effectively eliminating any hope of Jay’s escaping.
Man, here it comes, Jay thought. They’re gonna ask about the Toyota pickup.
“Are you related to Bobbie Reddie?” Lane asked.
Jay sat back. He thought, Of all the questions they could have asked, of all the questions I prepared for, not this one. “She’s my sister.”