I called Leo that night and told him about my two days of drama. He actually wanted to hear, and while I didn’t want to talk to anyone else about it, I found myself spilling my guts to him. I’m not sure why. Maybe because he was a best friend I could talk to in another world, or maybe the opposite. Maybe it was because this version of Leo didn’t even know me, so there was no history to make it awkward. In all worlds, Leo was a good listener—not just a pretend listener like a lot of people I know.

“I’ll be at your game on Friday,” he told me. “Even if I have to watch from the other side of the fence.”

“You won’t,” I assured him, although I couldn’t be sure. More reason to hit hard enough to get us all home.

I thought I had until Friday to prepare for whatever I might dive into next. I did not expect I’d be facing a Wednesday smackdown.

16

Expunged, Expelled, and Otherwise Obliterated

I had promised Hunter I would have the guts to stop selling, and I was true to my word. I hadn’t sold a single illegal substance for more than a week. Whenever a regular customer came in asking, I said it was no longer available, and gave them a complimentary bottle of vitamins instead. And I had made sure to be at the store last week, when Ralston came by with his usual deliveries of both legitimate and illegitimate goods, so I could refuse the illegal stuff.

“Sorry, man,” I told him. “I’m just selling standard supplements now.” And I gave him back all the drugs he had left the week before.

“No exit strategy?” he asked.

“You exit,” I told him. “That’s my strategy.”

He took the drugs and left without another word.

But this Wednesday he came back and had company. Two guys who looked like they had once played football but had graduated to a game that didn’t involve protective padding.

When it comes to professional intimidators, the stereotype holds. I’m not sure if that’s because it’s correct, or because the intimidators wear the stereotype like a uniform. Regardless, these bullies-for-hire were parodies of themselves. The first one had an unpleasant smirk to let me know he was going to enjoy this. The other one had a scar on his face and a unibrow. I didn’t know their names, and never will, so let’s just call them Thing One and Thing Two.

I wasn’t scared.