“It’s great,” I said.

“Arch here taking care of you?”

“Yes, sir.”

He slipped his hand into the pocket of his suit pants. I heard the sound of jangling keys.

“Hey there, son,” Jim said. “Good day at school?”

“Yeah,” Jamie said. “I guess.”

“Great. Say, kids, I’m meeting a few fellows downtown to go over a deal. Your mother wants to order in tonight. Would you mind calling the club, Vanessa? Ask Carl to run it over.”

“Okay, Daddy,” she said.

He turned and strode across the lawn. The moment his father disappeared through the French doors on the other side of the rose garden, Jamie went back into the pool house and emerged holding a beer. Vanessa let out a long, low sigh.

“It’s just a beer,” Jamie said.

Vanessa closed her book. “I’m going inside to call the grill,” she said. “Arch, are you and Charlie staying for dinner?”

“Do you mind?” Arch asked.

“Not at all. Charlie, what would you like?”

“They have good cheeseburgers,” Arch said.

“That sounds good,” I said.

“Order some seasoned fries,” Jamie said.

She slipped her T-shirt back over her head and started off toward the house.

“I’ll be back in a few,” Arch said.

He toweled himself off and jogged after Vanessa. Jamie went back into the pool house. I walked in after him.

“They’ll be a while,” he said. “You want a beer?”

He held the can out toward me.

“Okay,” I said.

I sat down on the couch next to him. Jamie turned on the television.

“So, Arch and Vanessa,” I said. “Are they—”

“What?” Jamie said. “Boyfriend and girlfriend? Not yet. Arch just recently got interested, now that it looks like Vanessa’s going to turn out hot. I mean, we’re practically related. Technically it’s not incest, I guess, but it’s pretty close.”

“Well, we are in Tennessee,” I said.

Jamie let out a harsh, barking laugh.

“So what’s your deal?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You know. Your deal. Where are you from, what do you do, what brought you here to my humble abode? You’re clearly not a ringer.”

“What’s a ringer?” I asked.

“You know. A ringer,” he said. “A stud athlete meant to bring glory to the empire.”

The fact that most of my nonwhite classmates were talented athletes had not escaped my attention. I remembered what Terrence had said about his cousin.

“So what’s your special talent?” he asked. “All the scholarship kids are good at something.”

“How do you know I’m on scholarship?” I asked.

“Come on,” he said. “Where’d you get your shoes? Payless?”

My face flushed hot. I took a big gulp from the beer.

“I’m just curious,” Jamie said. “Are you a mathlete? A violinist? Did you build a nuclear reactor in your closet? You must be bringing something to the table.”

“What do you bring to the table?” I asked.