But Max didn’t want her mind distracted by anything. Not during a playoff game.
She ran down the hall to her mother.
“I just wanted to wish you luck,” Renny said when Max reached her. “Some of your aunties are here, too.”
“They are?”
“Yes. I also think they have money on the game, though.”
“Of course they do.”
“Anyway, given any more thought to my suggestion? About you and me . . . traveling together for a while?”
“Yeah.”
“Great. And?”
“No.”
Her mother blinked. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”
“I mean no. There’s no other meaning for ‘no.’ But let me know when you’re back in town. We’ll go to lunch.”
Max turned to walk away but her mother caught her arm and pulled her back around. “You have to give me some kind of explanation.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Give me one anyway.”
“You want an explanation? You had Devon’s money the whole time.”
“Is that really a big deal? I knew you could handle him.”
“Of course I could handle him. That’s not the point. You also put my sisters in danger. That’s definitely not okay. You also could have sent us some of the money.”
“For what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. To give our grandfather’s Pack some cash since they were the ones taking care of your kid. Or we could have given some to Charlie so she could have gone to college. At the very least you could have told me you had it. But you didn’t.”
“So you’re saying you want a cut now? Is that it?”
Max pointed at her mother. “And that’s why I’m not going. Appreciate the invite, though.”
“Max, you can’t just leave it at that.”
“I’m not leaving it at anything. I’m just not going. I do, however, have a game to play and the announcer’s about to call my name.” She kissed her mother on the cheek. “I do love you, though. Always will.” Then she returned to her teammates and waited for her name and number to be called.
* * *
The crowd began cheering and the announcer came on over the loudspeakers, introducing the two teams. Zé watched each player as she came out to cheers and love from the audience but, at least for the Butchers, Nelle was one of the true stars. Especially among the males of the audience. But no one on the team was truly slighted.
When Max ran out, her sisters jumped up on either side of Zé, cheering almost as loudly as the crowd around them.
Max and her five friends didn’t start the game, though. Instead, the teams began with more equally sized players.
The longer Zé watched the game, the more he became concerned about Max’s safety. These two teams didn’t play like the WNBA. Hell, they didn’t play like the NBA. He wasn’t talking about skill. Their skills were on par with those of any pro team. Maybe even better. But the brutality . . .
Bears hit cats, sending them flying down the court. Cats slashed bears, leaving blood on the court that “cleaners” came out to wipe up. There was blood on the uniforms. Scabbed-over wounds on the players.
He’d never seen anything quite like it. And if the woman he’d deigned to care for weren’t about to jump in, he’d have enjoyed it much more.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Max and her four teammates took the floor and Zé’s mouth dropped open. Because there Max stood, in front of a six-foot, seven-inch female who stared down at her with such withering contempt that he wanted nothing more than to go out there, scoop Max up, and make a run for it.
He had to give it to Max, though. She was putting in a lot of effort. Jumping around, moving her arms a lot. Trying to distract the other player. It didn’t work, but it was a nice attempt.
The player threw the ball way over Max’s head and the opposition easily caught it. But when that player turned to dribble down the court, Nelle stole the ball and went between the taller woman’s incredibly long legs. She passed it off to Mads, who immediately passed it to Tock. Tock tried to make the shot, but the other team was all over her, so she passed it to Streep who head-faked to her left before passing it to Max, who bounced it under another set of insanely long legs, allowing Nelle to catch it, spin, and take the shot. She made the basket without even breaking a sweat.
“Holy shit.”
He didn’t say that, though. That was Charlie. But he totally agreed with her.
* * *
Freddy tossed what few clothes he had in his bag and threw that into the trunk of the car he’d stolen two days ago.
“Come on, come on!” he yelled. Then remembered. She couldn’t hear him. “Fuck.”
He started back to the motel room when a fist slammed into his stomach. He doubled over and a strike to the back of the neck dropped him hard. His entire body went numb, nerves sending out confused messages to the rest of him. He wasn’t sure he could walk, much less fight.
Still, he tried to get up but a foot against his spine kept him pinned.
“Uncle Freddy. So good to meet you at long last.”
He recognized that Scottish accent but not the voice.
“I promised Uncle Will I’d bring you in and that’s what I’m going to do. Maybe those daughters of yours will care when you’re dead and skinned and staked to the front of their house.”
The only things his treacherous, unfeeling daughters would care about was that they would have to clean up the mess. He would have said that, too, but he couldn’t speak.
Christ, what had the bitch done to him?
His arms were pulled back and rope wrapped around his wrists. Then his legs, ankles tied to the wrists. Hogtied, he was dragged to another car, his body pulled and pushed into the trunk.
He landed on his back, so he could look up into his assailant’s face.
“Yeah. I found ya, didn’t I, Uncle? I never should have focused on you in the first place. But the girl. She’s been in contact with one of her brothers. I found her that way. Pretty disgusting, by the way, what you’re doing. She ain’t even eighteen. Even Uncle Will would never sink so low.” She leaned in. “I hope he lets me have some fun with you before he finishes ya off.” She took a bandana out of her back pocket and shoved it into his mouth. “Now you keep quiet . . . or I’ll start cuttin’ off important bits before we even get to Uncle Wills. Underst—” She stopped speaking and swung around, catching the hand about to shove a blade into her back.
“Hello, little girl,” his niece said. “You must be me Uncle Freddy’s dirty little secret.”
* * *
Charlie had never been so into a game before. She hated sports. Hated them! Always had. But watching not only her sister kick ass, but those weird friends of hers working together as a well-oiled machine was totally worth the price of admission.
Not only that, but who knew her sister was so damn good! She didn’t even get that many points. Of the five, the ones who earned the most points were Nelle and Tock, with Streep and Mads coming in second. Max got baskets but she seemed to really enjoy stealing the ball away from the other team and passing it off to her girls.
“I never thought she was a team player,” she admitted to Zé. “I was wrong.”