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)
"The colored racquets will take a week," Kevin said. "We don't have that long to waste. If Coach has a problem with the number he can take it up with me, but he should know how expensive I am by now. I will take you to the court tonight so you can warm up before tomorrow's practices."
Kevin handed over the team's p-card to pay and signed the receipt with a neat scrawl. The card and receipt went into his wallet to file with Wymack later. The practice racquet he handed to Neil. Knowing what it cost made it feel a hundred times heavier in Neil's hands. Kevin nodded at the cashier's cheerful farewell and steered Neil toward the stairs.
They found Aaron and Nicky on the ground floor. Andrew was smoking on the curb outside. Neil brought his racquet into the backseat of the car with him, not wanting such an expensive thing crammed into the trunk. Andrew had either forgotten their argument upstairs or had his attitude reset again by his medicine, because he knotted his fingers through the strings of Neil's new racquet and gave a curious tug. He said nothing, but he didn't have to. Nicky peppered Kevin with a dozen questions about the racquet as he drove them away from Exites. Neil thought it genuine curiosity at first, but the growing edge to Nicky's words was all nerves.
It wasn't far to Nicky's old house. The Hemmicks lived in a two-storey home in the suburbs of southern Columbia. Neil peered past Andrew out the window as Nicky parked at the curb. From the outside, the house looked perfect. The lawn was vibrant green and neatly trimmed, the cars in the driveway were new and clean, and the house was a pale blue with dark shutters. It looked like an ordinary middle-class home, which made the cousins' reactions all the more surreal. Not even Andrew had anything to say when Nicky killed the engine.
Nicky drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "Maybe this was a mistake."
"Oh, now he says it," Andrew said, and got out of the car. "Too late."
Neil put his racquet aside and got out, but Andrew reached past him and snagged the stick as soon as Neil was out of the way. Andrew gave it an experimental twirl, judging the weight of it, then propped it against his shoulder and started for the other cars.
Nicky got out of the car like it was on fire. "Andrew, what are you doing?"
"He's got a really shiny car for a minister," Andrew said. "I'm going to humble it."
Nicky ran after him and pulled the racquet from his hands. Andrew could have held onto it, but he was seemingly more amused by the terrified look on Nicky's face. He laughed at Nicky's obvious distress and made an exaggerated gesture for Nicky to lead the way. Nicky handed the racquet to Neil.
Neil and Kevin hung back as they crossed the yard. Aaron and Andrew waited on the walkway, standing side by side for the first time Neil could remember. Nicky stood silent and still on the porch for almost a full minute before ringing the doorbell. As soon as he did he retreated to the edge of the porch to wait. Andrew flashed Neil a grin over his shoulder, and Neil only shook his head in response.
Maria Hemmick answered the door. She was taller than Neil expected her to be, but he could see the resemblance between her and Nicky in an instant. Nicky jokingly blamed her when Neil first commented on how different Nicky looked from his cousins. Andrew and Aaron were pale and light-haired, whereas Nicky inherited his Mexican mother's darker complexion. He had his mother's eyes and the same curve to his mouth. Nicky had never smiled like this, though, so polite and small it was barely welcoming.
"Why did you ring the doorbell?" she asked in lieu of hello.
"This isn't my house anymore," Nicky reminded her.
She pursed her lips but didn't argue. She stepped aside, so they moved out of the cold into the much warmer front hall. Maria closed the door behind them and turned to face her guests. Neil and Kevin were now the closest ones to her. There was no recognition in her stare when she considered them, but she nodded a greeting at them.
"You must be Kevin and Neil," she said. "I'm Maria."
Kevin put on one of his public-friendly smiles and said, "It's nice to meet you."
She looked to the twins next, but her gaze slipped past Aaron entirely. She smiled at Andrew and said, "Aaron, it's been a long time."
"Aaron," Aaron answered.
Maria looked from Andrew's smile to Aaron's guarded expression and back again. "Oh, yes, of course," she said, but she sounded uncertain.
"Andrew's been on medication for almost three years now, Mom," Nicky said, with a hint of impatience.
Andrew cleared things up for her with the brightest, most unfriendly smile his drugs allowed him. "Hello, Maria. How very, very nice to see you again, I'm sure. Very interesting, you letting us back in your house and all. I thought you were going to file a restraining order against me. What happened, did you lose your nerve?"
"Andrew," Nicky pleaded through clenched teeth.
Maria's cheeks flushed. "You can leave your coats here." A narrow door to her right was a closet with a dozen-odd spare hangers. Maria watched them hang their coats up, then beckoned for them to follow. "Right this way."
"Can't you even tell your own nephews—" Nicky started, but the rest of the question was forgotten as they stepped into the kitchen and spotted Nicky's father.
Luther Hemmick was a tall, rake-thin man with a severe face. He didn't have much hair left but he kept a pepper beard trimmed short and neat. Even across the room Neil could see the tense set to his shoulders. Luther wasn't looking forward to this reunion anymore than Nicky was. Neil hoped that Luther was uncomfortable because he intended to relax old prejudices.
Maria went straight to the stove to check on dinner, making herself busy and abandoning the conversation as quickly as she could. Luther didn't look at her but took his time inspecting his guests. His expression didn't change as he considered Neil and Kevin, and he didn't linger long on them.