Manny had observed this kind of behavior in Booker before, but never to such an alarming degree. Stubby McGraw had smuggled in a week’s supply of Hombre Muchacho—at least, it would have lasted that long if they had adhered to the prescribed dosage. To make up for missed injections, Booker had insisted on exhausting the entire stash in under two hours. He had just forced Manny to inject the sixth and final dose into a blood stream already processing six cups of coffee and fourteen minipackets of Domino sugar.

Booker hit the floor and began doing push-ups, clapping his hands at the top of each repetition.

“Come on, bro, go easy,” Manny said. “I think you might have OD’d.”

“Are you spelling out your words again?”

“No, you dumb shit, I’m trying to tell you that you’ve overdosed. Bro, you gotta remember, this Hombe Muchacho shit is not your lab-tested, high-end Barry Bonds stuff. It’s Mexican. And except for tacos and hookers, nothing good ever came out of Mexico. You gotta remember, too, that El Toro Grande is not a highly reputed dealer when it comes to quality control. You can never be too sure what you’re getting from this guy.”

“Well, whatever it is, I feel locked, loaded, and ready to kick ass.” Booker came up off the floor and marched over to Elray. “Hey, Elray, hit me in the face.”

Elray shrugged, then punched him in the nose.

Booker smiled, his face euphoric. “Yeah, man! Sweet pain, baby. Sweet pain!”

Manny placed a hesitant hand on Booker’s shoulder. “Bro, what say you lie down for a while, sleep it off?”

“Fuck that!”

“But you’re scaring me.”

“Good. Means I’m right where I need to be. Let’s just hope Stubby got some Hombre Muchacho smuggled in to the rest of the guys, too.”

“God help us if he did.”

“No, Manny. God help the Jackrabbits. Considering what we got in store for ’em, they’re gonna need His ass. Now shut the hell up and let me rage. I got a game to win.”

CHAPTER 34

WHY won’t you just answer my question?”

“I’ll answer your question when you answer mine, Logan.”

“I already told you, Coach, they just showed up at my house this afternoon. I stepped outside to get some air, and there they were. Trust me, I was as surprised to see them as everyone else.”

“You think I’m stupid, Logan?”

“No, I think you’re scared to coach your team, and I want to know why. How could you turn your back on us now? I hand you back your team, all but gift wrapped, and then you just walked out on us.”

“How’d they do it, Logan?”

“How’d they do what?”