"I'll have mac-and-cheese instead," Daniel said.
"Instead of the mashed potatoes?" Diane asked.
"Instead of the green beans," Daniel said.
"And for you to drink?" she asked, talking to Billy.
"Water," he said.
Diane walked off, glancing at our table but not stopping to talk to us.
"I appreciate you meeting me here tonight, Billy," Marvin said.
"Look, I'm just trying to get Matty's money back. Daniel told me that's what we were doing here. It's nice meeting you and everything, but I wasn't coming for dinner."
"How much do we owe Matty?" Marvin asked.
"Two hundred," Billy said.
"What about the ring?" Marvin asked.
"What ring?" Billy asked.
"The one you took off of Kenny's finger."
"You mean the one he threatened to dent my forehead with?" Billy asked. "I'm keeping it. Matty expects me to collect, and that's what I'm going to do. If I can't get King Hardware over here to cough-up what he owes, I'll give Matty the ring."
"Nobody's trying to get out of paying what they owe," Marvin said.
"I already told him that," Daniel said.
"Listen, I didn't go in there planning on taking your friend's jewelry, but he came to me talking big, saying he was about to bury his fist in my face and other reckless stuff like that. You have to learn you can't go around talking like that."
"Kenny's got at least fifty pounds on you," Marvin said. "And he's an athletic enough guy."
"Yeah, but he was slow. He tried to throw a punch at me, and then he was just standing there with his hands down. It was basically a sucker punch with how slow that guy was. He deserved it, too. I was just trying to talk to Daniel, and they came in, trying to kill me. I had to get ten stitches. And not at a hospital, either. They got done in Matty's kitchen by a guy called Crazy Ray. As far as I'm concerned, after the night I had last night, somebody owes me that ring."
Chapter 5
The men sitting by us at the diner had what seemed like a private conversation, but they had it in such a casual way that it seemed as though they had nothing to hide. I had already told Abigail some of what I heard out of the window the day before, so she knew a little about what was going on. I was thankful she seemed as keen on listening to what they were saying as I was.
She and I continued our meaningless conversation while the guys talked just to make it seem like we weren't listening to them. We did that for a few minutes before our dinner came. We were quiet as we began to eat our food. Now it was easier to listen without feeling bad about it.
"I mentioned Kenny being a big guy because Nathaniel King said you knocked him out with a straight jab," Marvin said.
"I just punched the guy in the jaw," Billy said. "He wanted to talk like he was about to kill me, and then he came at me swinging, so I figured he needed to take a little nap."
"Nathaniel King also said you squared up with him. He said you looked like you were in a boxing stance. Do you box?"
"I fight," Billy said. "I assume that's the same thing."
"It is, and it's not," Marvin said. "Has anybody ever showed you how to stand, how to swing, how to block… those types of things?"
"You know what showed me how to stand and swing and block? Getting knocked out. Getting beat up. That's what taught me how to be faster and better. So, to answer your question, yes, people did show me how. They were fighting against me and not for me, but I learned, either way."
"What about Matty?" Marvin asked.
"What about him?" Billy returned.
"Does he fight for you?"
"He doesn't fight against me," Billy said.
"What's your relationship to him?"
"What's that mean?"
"Do you just work for him, or do you know him personally?" Marvin asked.
"I don't owe you an explanation about my relationship with Matty. I work for him, and that's all you need to know. Daniel gives me the money he owes, and I give it to Matty."
"I'm going to cover the two hundred for Daniel." Marvin said. "I brought that with me today. He'll pay me back for that later. I'll also need Kenny's ring back. I'll give you fifty for it, and that's the best you're gonna get. I'm not trying to get Sheriff Nelson involved, but I'd like to see that Kenny gets it back."
"I'll take fifty for it," Billy said. He looked at Daniel. "But you need to tell your boys to calm down. I was just over there trying to talk to you."
"I know," Daniel said. "I didn't know Randall was going to do that with the bottle."
"Do you have the ring on you?" Marvin asked, keeping them on track.
"It's in my pocket."
"All right," Marvin said. "You give me the ring, I'll give you two-fifty, and as far as I'm concerned, we never talk about any of this again."
"Sounds good to me," Billy said.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring, letting it fall gently on the table in the space between them. I heard it clang—the low sound of heavy metal hitting the wood and linoleum.
With the way our table was sitting catty-corner, the boys were positioned in front of me and to my right. I wasn't staring straight at them, but I could see their movements in my periphery, and I knew what was going on. Marvin took a wad of cash out of his front pocket and set it down on the table, exchanging it for the ring. Billy reached out and took the cash.
"That was easy enough," Billy said. "We could have skipped the fight yesterday and the meatloaf."
"Why would we want to do that?" Marvin asked. "The meatloaf, I mean. A man's got to eat, after all." Billy looked around impatiently as if wondering how long their food would take.
"She's on her way over here with the food," Marvin assured him. "And while we eat, I'll tell you the real reason I brought you here."
Diane walked up before anyone could speak. She gave them their plates.
"Wow," I said to my sister, almost silently but with excited eyes. I got away with talking about the guys because everyone at their table was preoccupied with their order arriving.
"I know," she said. "We don't have anything this good in Starks."
I had to work to hold in a laugh at her statement. I took a bite of food. It tasted good, but I was thinking of other things and didn't really care what I was eating.
Marvin thanked Diane and told her everything looked delicious. He gave her a few seconds to walk off before he said, "Listen, I fight same as you do, Billy. For some of us, it's in our blood. The good Lord made some of us warriors, and that's just the way of things. You even said that you already consider yourself a fighter."
I ate bites of my dinner, listening to Marvin's every word.
"Are you trying to get me to fight in a boxing match?"
"No. Not yet at least. I just wanted to see if I could wrap your hands and get you to hit a few pads for me, that's all. I wanted to check out that straight jab Nathaniel was talking about."