Page 101 of Just One More Thing
Jake catches it cleanly. Of course he does. He drops it in the bucket and tosses one back to me.
It slaps into my hands and immediately attempts to spiritually return to the Atlantic. I shriek.
“Grip it!” someone yells. I don’t know who that was, but we are now enemies.
Somewhere in the chaos, Wayne has replaced Ryan with my grandmother. One minute Ryan is there. The next Granny rolls forward on her scooter like she’s responding to a distress beacon.
Wayne launches a fish at her with zero warning.
Granny, visor backward, perched on her scooter, catches it one-handed.
Perfectly.
Wayne immediately launches another one. She catches that too.
“THROW ONE TO ME!” Wayne screams.
Granny does. It sails directly over Wayne’s head and lands squarely in the lap of a woman peacefully minding her own business in a folding chair.
The crowd gasps.
Mrs. Kravitz slowly raises her scoring paddle.
“Two points for artistic interpretation,” she announces.
Granny secures the final fish, reverses her scooter with the precision of someone who parallel parks on purpose, and launches it into the bucket.
They win. By a lot. Wayne throws both arms into the air like confetti cannons should fire.
Granny circles one finger overhead. Three silver haired women immediately appear beside her.
Cash changes hands.
Jake groans. “Oh no.”
“What is happening?” I whisper.
“Dog Days gambling ring,” Bethany says, as she walks up beside me. “Second year running.”
Granny pulls a small spiral notebook from inside her shirt.
She’s taking bets.
At a dog fundraiser.
Wayne approaches cautiously. “Maddy. I’d like to place a wager.”
“You still owe me eighty dollars.”
He squints. “For what.”
“Gin rummy. Last night. Eleven thirty. Kicked your ass.”
He turns toward Jake in disbelief. “She hustled me.”
Granny scribbles in her notebook. “No bets until you pay your debts.”
Wayne looks at Jake hopefully. “No,” Jake says.
