The Quick Fix (10 page)

“You're right. You don't. But at this moment, I may be the most important person in your life,” I said. “And
you do not want to break the nose of the most important person in your life.”

“Explain. Two seconds.”

“I'm not the only person who knows it's a box. Vinny Biggs and the Thompsons know it, too. Even worse, they know what's inside. And they want it … and they're willing to put anyone and everyone in the Outs until they get their hands on it. And when I say ‘anyone and everyone,' that includes the captain of the basketball team.”

He stood there thinking about it, still ready to chuck the ball at my face if the conversation called for it. He could do some damage, too. “I'm supposed to take the word of some shady kid who's stalking me?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said. “I'm more shifty than shady. You can ask anyone. As for the stalking part, as I said, Melissa hired me to do it.”

“How do I know you weren't the one who put Melissa—”

The door behind him opened. He turned with the basketball still cocked, as if the play was now at second base instead of first. Vinny's two guards, the ones who “retrieved” me yesterday at lunch, walked in. Vinny was behind them, flanked by a couple more of his “employees.”
Robbie “Mouse” Mariano was one of them. A short, skinny kid with glasses, Robbie was Vinnie's numbers guy. He went to the high school three times a week to take math classes because he had completed the requirements for middle school when he was in the third grade.

The other kid with Vinny was Jenny Finnegan.

A few feet into the gym, both guards stopped. Vinny, Robbie, and Jenny walked between them. A few feet more, Robbie and Jenny stopped. Vinny kept coming until there was only a foot or so of empty space between him and Will.

“Nice choreography,” I said. “Looks like you guys have been practicing.”

Vinny ignored me. Jenny gave me a sneer, large enough that she could get her point across but small enough that Vinny couldn't see it. Will's arm was still in the same throwing position, but it had drooped a little.

“William,” Vinny said, “I would like to talk to Matthew.”

Will turned and gave me a triumphant smile, as if all of his suspicions about me were right, and this just proved it. I shrugged. Now wasn't the time to try to change his mind.

“Why don't you go practice your free throws at the other end of the court,” Vinny added. It wasn't a question.

Will paused, as if he wasn't used to taking orders from someone who didn't have a whistle around his neck. I wondered for a moment if he was going to give Vinny a speech about how this was his court, but then the ball fell out of his hand and bounced on the floor. He turned that bounce into a lazy dribble and started walking to the other end of the court.

Vinny came over to me. The rest of his entourage stayed put. “Matthew, I told you that you would be available to me at some point today. We have arrived at some point.”

“I see you brought some trusted employees with you,” I said. “Oh, and Jenny. Hey, Jenny! How's your sister, Nicole? She forgive you for what you did to her yet?”

She took a step toward me; her sneer got a little bigger. “If she was as good as everybody thought she was, she wouldn't be in the Outs, now, would she?” Jenny said in a sweet, mocking voice. “Hope you're ready to join her, Matty.”

“Jennifer,” Vinny said without turning around.

Jenny looked at him, considered her options, then
backed up to her original position. She shot me a dirty look, but there was no force behind it.

I smiled. “You yank a good leash, Vinny. ‘Sit, Jenny. Stay.'”

Jenny's sneer turned into a snarl.

“Matthew,” Vinny said. “Don't overstep your bounds.”

I stopped. Now wasn't the time to push my luck. “All right. So what are you going to start with this time?” I asked. “Money or force? Bribe or threat? Choices, choices, choices …”

“Matthew, you seem to be under the impression that you and I are at the same point that we were a couple of weeks ago.”

“Yeah, well, when someone has a hired goon knock me around, it kind of sticks in my memory.”

“I am past that, even if you are not. Besides, we have more pressing matters to discuss.”

“I didn't know we were meeting right now,” I said. “I don't have the box on me.”

“Keep it,” he said. “Seems like
my
blackmailer is a step ahead of yours.”

Before I could say anything, Vinny turned his head and nodded at Robbie, who reached into the backpack
he was holding and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He walked over and handed it to Vinny, who then turned and handed it to me. I unfolded the paper. There was a message, written in all capital letters, stylized so that it would be impossible to tell who sent it just from the handwriting. It said, “Last Year vs. Lincoln, 1/17, you and a friend were chatting before the game. Didn't know you were also posing for a picture, did you? I have the photo and I'm just so torn. What to do … what to do …” Then, written on the bottom: “Wednesday. Locker 416. $256 and 4 boxes of candy, or I start asking other people for advice.”

“Two hundred and fifty-six dollars?” I said. “Odd amount. Are you going to pay it?”

“At the moment, I don't have a choice,” Vinny said.

“They're not going to stop once you pay them—you know that, don't you? They'll just ask for more.”

“I realize that, yes,” he said. “Your concern for my finances is touching, Matthew.”

“It's not your finances I'm concerned about, Vincent. You don't think I believe you're here to ask my advice, do you?”

Vinny smiled. “No.”

I looked over Vinny's shoulder at Robbie; he was holding a duffel bag.

“For me? You shouldn't have,” I said. “I mean that. You really shouldn't have.”

Vinny smiled again. “Now, I know doing a drop wasn't part of our original agreement.” He pulled a roll of fives out of his pocket and held it out to me but not too far. He wanted me to reach for it. I didn't.

“So why do I deserve to have money thrown at me for such mundane tasks?” I asked.

“You're honest, Matthew. And you're a professional.”

“If I'm supposed to be flattered by this, you'll have to compliment me on my eyes first,” I said. “How do I know that bag isn't full of stolen exams, and Katie Kondo and her monitors aren't waiting at my locker, ready to slap me in the face with a suspension notice?”

Vinny snapped his fingers, then held his hand open. Robbie gave him the duffel bag. Vinny handed the bag to me, then nodded. I unzipped the bag. There were four boxes of candy and two stacks of five-dollar bills, each held together with a rubber band; one of the stacks had a single dollar bill folded and tucked under the band.

I zipped the bag closed and handed it back to Vinny. He handed it back to Robbie.

“What if I say no?” I asked.

“Well, then, you'd force me to convince you, Matthew.”

“Threat?” I asked.

“Let's just say that I'm not the only person with something at stake.” His gaze drifted from my face to over my right shoulder. I turned my head. Will was standing there, watching us. He looked angry and defiant but also fearful.

I turned back to Vinny, an expression of disbelief on my face. “What was in that box?” I asked.

“I tell you mine if you tell me yours,” Vinny said.

I didn't say anything.

“No?” he said. “I didn't think so. All you need to remember is that the basketball team—more specifically, one particular basketball player—is very important to this school. There's no telling what would happen to this place if faith in that player was somehow betrayed. The word ‘riot' comes to mind. People would get hurt. Some more than others.” Vinny's eyes shifted back over to Will. I didn't need to look this time.

“That's not on me,” I said.

“It is now,” Vinny said.

“You can find some other kid to do it.”

“I could … and maybe the kid I find figures I didn't pay him enough to do the job,” Vinny said. “Or maybe he's got a sweet tooth and gets a little hungry, and maybe the duffel bag gets a little lighter before he drops it off.”

“Nobody would be stupid enough to mess with you.”

“Never underestimate the stupidity of others, Matthew.”

“And if I'm still not convinced?” I asked.

Vinny sighed. “Well, then, you'll have to talk to Jacob and Harold.”

I looked over at the two hulking guards. They smiled at me. One of them waved.

“I want what I want, Matthew … and what I want is for you to do the drop. What condition you are in when you say yes is up to you.”

Jenny looked at me, as if daring me to say no, just so she could watch me get roughed up.

“Is this the original?” I asked, holding up the blackmail note.

Vinny nodded.

“Any way I can get a copy?”

Robbie handed Vinny another piece of paper, and he held it out to me. I glanced at both before handing him back the original. I folded up the copy and slipped it into my pocket.

“I'll think about it,” I said.

“The drop is tomorrow afternoon. I'll expect an answer first thing tomorrow morning,” Vinny said. He looked at me for an extra beat, to let me know that he meant it, and then he turned and walked out. Robbie followed close behind him, but Jenny lingered for a moment.

“You should live up to your principles, Matty-boy, and just say no,” she said in a mocking tone. “I want to see Jacob and Harold here knock you around a little. Or a lot.”

Jacob and Harold didn't look like they liked Jenny speaking for them, but they kept quiet.

“Hey, Jenny, how long do you think before Vinny realizes that he should've stuck with your sister?” I asked. She clenched her jaw, and the tendons in her neck stood at attention. “What am I saying?” I continued. “He probably already does, because the only thing you appear to be good at is overplaying your hand.”

She took a step toward me, her left hand moving behind her toward her waistband, reaching for the squirt gun I assumed was there. “You want to see what else I'm good at, Matty-boy?” she hissed.

I looked over at Jacob, who was looking at Harold, who was already taking a hesitant step toward Jenny. She outranked him, but he had orders from a higher power.

Just as her hand was about to wrap around her squirter, Vinny called out from the hallway. “Jennifer. Time to leave.”

Her hand stopped. She took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. She knew if she popped me now, she might as well squirt herself, too. Kids who don't follow Vinny's orders end up in the Outs, no matter what their “rank.” She knew this, but she was still taking a moment to mull it over.

“Hey, lapdog, your master's calling,” I said, not able to keep myself from pouring more gas on the fire.

Her hand made a small movement toward her waistband but then stopped again. Harold had taken another step toward her, this one more sure. She turned to him. “Where do you think you're going, you clumsy idiot?” she snarled. He shrugged and smiled. If she was
lashing out at him, then she was done with me. As if to prove it, she turned and stomped toward the door.

Jacob shot me a look that managed to be both amused and threatening.

“What can I say?” I said. “I couldn't help myself.”

“Next time try,” Jacob said, “or the only person who will be able to help you will be the nurse.”

The two bruisers each gave me a surprisingly dainty little wave, then walked out.

I turned to see Will's reaction to all of this, but he was already gone.

hallways were full of kids, as they always were in between classes. No Will in sight, but it was easy to figure out where he'd been: he'd left a trail of disappointed people.

“You think he's okay?” one girl asked her friend.

“I wonder what's wrong with him?” another girl said to no one in particular.