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Welcome to the Game

Craig Henderson
Chapters (57)
  1. Welcome to the Game
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraphs
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. Six months later . . .
  56. Acknowledgments
  57. Back Cover

Welcome to the Game

WELCOME TO THE

GAME

Title Page

WELCOME TO THE

GAME

A NOVEL

CRAIG

HENDERSON

Atlantic Monthly Press

New York

Copyright

Copyright © 2022 by Craig Henderson

Jacket design and artwork by Henry Sene Yee

Map for reference © Shutterstock

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Scanning, uploading, and electronic distribution of this book or the facilitation of such without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. Any member of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or anthology, should send inquiries to Grove Atlantic, 154 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011 or [email protected].

Published simultaneously in Canada

Printed in the United States of America

First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition: November 2022

This book is set in 11.5-pt. Scala Pro by Alpha Design & Composition of Pittsfield, NH.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available for this title.

ISBN 978-0-8021-5970-0

eISBN 978-0-8021-5971-7

Atlantic Monthly Press

an imprint of Grove Atlantic

154 West 14th Street

New York, NY 10011

Distributed by Publishers Group West

groveatlantic.com

Dedication

For Craig E.

The best of friends, left for dead in Florida.

Epigraphs

Fast, fast, FAST! Last night I cut the light off in my bedroom, hit the switch, was in the bed before the room was dark.

—Muhammad Ali

The Roman historian Arrian wrote of a mountaintop city in what is now southern Turkey. Termessos was the only city that Alexander the Great could not capture. Mysteriously and suddenly abandoned thousands of years ago, the place was almost forgotten.

1

1

Spencer

Spencer winced as his potential buyer made a rough shift. He tried to think of something else to say about the car. He had a feeling the guy wasn’t for real but hadn’t figured out what his deal was. Did he want a more unusual choice of car, or was he just flirting so he could tell the guys at work he tried all options before doing what everyone did these days: go German or prancing pony.

Spencer watched him in his expensively distressed jeans and tightly fitted T-shirt, wondering how long girlfriends had to wait before learning the meaning of the Chinese character tattoos adorning his forearms. He fancied himself a real Detroiter but said he lived downtown in Riverfront Towers, and that was luxury living for the hipsters moving in.

“So, what brought you to America?” the guy asked. The question had long been irksome.

“My wife’s from Detroit, born and raised.” He couldn’t resist dropping the insinuation.