Calmly, Decker answered, “Abe, I’m in a precarious position, doing what I’m doing for you.” Precarious wasn’t the word for it. He was doing a fatal balancing act, playing cop to get dope for the defense. Pete the Mole. It didn’t have a nice ring to it. He exhaled forcibly, then said, “The less you know, the better. Just have her call me, okay?”

“Whatever you say, Pete. And listen to me, don’t get yourself in the shithole for my sake—”

“Stuff it, Atwater.” Decker rubbed his shoulder. “You pack a mean wallop for a gimp.”

“Know what I want to do right now?” Abel said.

“What?”

“Go one-on-one with you.”

Decker burst into newfound laughter.

“I’m serious,” Abel said.

“Come on, Abe—”

“Dead serious.”

“Abe, we’re over forty, and it’s hot outside.”

“Since when did you become an old fart?”

“Since I met Rina and realized I wanted to stick around a long time.”

“I’ll play you easy.”

Neither one spoke for a moment.

“I’ll tie a hand behind my back,” Abel said. “One leg, one hand, can’t get much easier than that, Decker.”

“You really want to do this,” Decker said.

“You bet your sweet ass I do.”

“It’s a macho thing?”

“Something like that.”

“Okay.” Decker wiped off the seat of his pants. “Okay. We’ll drive down to MacGrady Park and rent a basketball. I don’t keep any around anymore. Just let me brush down the horse and tell Rina what’s going on.”

“You report to your honey,” Abel said. “I’ll take care of the horse.”

Decker nodded. As he walked to the house, he wondered what Rina was going to say to him. He found her peeling potatoes at the kitchen sink. She put down the peeler, wiped her hands on her apron, and gave him a disapproving shake of her head.

“Are you pissed at me?” he asked.

Rina said, “Peter, he’s a cripple, for godsake!”

“You don’t have to worry about Abel,” Decker said. “He can take care of himself.”

“You acted completely childish. Both of you. You were talking as if those things happened yesterday instead of what, twenty years ago?”

“About,” Decker said.

“Amazing.”

“It’s like this, Rina,” Decker said. “No matter how old you are, the minute you step into your parents’ home, you become their kid. And you play into it, too. Mom serves you, scolds you for putting your feet on the table. And no matter how independent you are, you sit there like a lump and take it all. That’s how it is with Abel and me. We met each other as adolescents, and we act adolescent together.”

She threw up her hands. “Is he gone?”

“No. He wants to play some basketball down at MacGrady Park—”

“You’re kidding!”

“He thinks we’re still twenty.”

“You told him no, didn’t you?” Rina said.