Loving the Rain Page 9

  ***

  Game number two was at Swartz Creek High School in a tiny gym that held only about 800 fans. It was the Dragons first home game and their best player, Robbie Dixon, was a preseason all-league pick, who was also a teammate of Tanner Thomas’s on their AAU team. There was a good crowd that included TV cameras from ABC Channel 12, and a live blog going out from M-Live, a local on-line newspaper. Clay Thomas was asked to keep the Kearsley scorebook because the regular scorekeeper was home with the flu, so he was seated at the scorer’s table at half-court between the two benches. Jack Harding found a seat in the uppermost corner of the bleachers in the balcony. He didn’t want anyone accusing him of any underhanded influence on the game. He was confident of winning his 4,000 dollar wager within the next 90 minutes or so.

  It appeared that Kearsley had the better team, but the score was close at half-time. Tanner Thomas sat about six minutes, but Lance Mankowski was playing adequately as his backup, and Kevin Harding had nine points at the half. Thomas made eight straight free throws in the second quarter and had 13 points. The score was 38-34 in favor of Kearsley. The score was looking good to Pete Piggott, but the concern was how to not lose the game and keep Tanner Thomas to six points or less. In the locker room, the Pigman announced that he wanted his team to slow the ball down. The strategy seemed odd, since Robbie Dixon was in foul trouble with three, and common sense would suggest that they speed up the game, making Dixon play defense as many possessions as possible in hopes of fouling him out. His 16 points were keeping the Dragons in the game.

  The pace of the game turned to a crawl in the second half. Piggott asked his players to slow the game down, and Swartz Creek went into a 2-3 zone to protect Dixon. The Hornets were playing right into the hands of the Dragon team. Three minutes elapsed before Tanner hit a jumper for the first points of the third quarter. The score was 40-34, a six point lead, and Thomas had 15 points, both numbers making Coach Piggott uncomfortable, so Thomas was pulled from the game. When Thomas came out, so did Dixon, and both players remained on the bench throughout the rest of the quarter. The score was 44-39 at the end of three.

  Dixon reentered the game to start the fourth, but with three fouls, he was no longer in serious foul trouble. Tanner Thomas remained on the bench. Tanner had determined that he was not going to interfere with Piggott’s decisions in this game, for better or for worse, but he was steaming when at the three minute mark of the final quarter, Swartz Creek took the lead, 51-50. Piggott called a time out. Clay Thomas found himself smack dab in the middle of a moral dilemma. He was certain by now that Tanner had decided to stay out of Piggott’s mind, but when Piggott looked to the scorer’s table and asked Clay how many time outs he had left, Clay said, “Two,” and he thought, “Put Tanner in right now!” Piggott immediately broke eye-contact with Mr. Thomas and told Tanner to check in the game.

  Tanner had an intensity that only the special ones have. He took the inbounds pass, dribbled to about six feet from the three-point line and let loose a shot that hung in the air nearly four seconds before settling perfectly into the bottom of the net. Thomas now had 18 points and Kearsley had the lead by two. Piggott sent Lance Mankowski to the scorer’s table to replace Tanner. Swartz Creek’s coach asked at the scorer’s table how many timeouts he had left, but Clay Thomas caught his eyes and very plainly thought, “Do not call a timeout.” He did not want the clock to stop so that Mankowski could get into the game. Without calling a time-out, the Dragons took their time and finally worked the ball into Robbie Dixon’s hands, but his shot banged off the back of the rim and into the hands of Sprout Monroe. Monroe fed Thomas, who pushed the ball the length of the floor, and double-pumped a left-handed lay-up between two defenders. It was good, plus Dixon committed his fourth foul. Tanner made the free throw, a Swartz Creek player called a time-out, and Lance Mankowski officially was checked into the game. Thomas had 21 points.

  Swartz Creek missed their field goal attempt once play resumed, and Monroe again got the rebound. A Dragon defender fouled immediately to stop the clock. Their five-point deficit turned to seven; and their seven-point deficit turned to eight with another made free throw after a Dragon turnover. Dixon lofted a three-pointer with seconds remaining and the missed shot landed in Kevin Harding’s hands. In an act of futility, Kevin was fouled with 2.6 seconds on the clock, and he calmly sank both free throws, giving the Hornets a ten-point victory. Kevin Harding had just cost his dad and his coach 2,000 dollars. Tanner Thomas had cost both men an additional 2,000 dollars. Kevin, Tanner, and Clay had no idea what was going on. Pete Piggott looked like he had seen a ghost. Jack Harding sat in the far corner of the bleachers way up in the balcony, trying to determine what he was going to do next.

  CHAPTER 14

  After the game, Coach Piggott never said a word to his team. He looked to his players like he was going to be sick, so everyone assumed that he simply wasn’t feeling well. Piggott knew better. He’d just lost himself 4,000 dollars, and worse yet, he’d lost it for Jack Harding as well. There was no way to explain what had just happened. Pete was mentally calculating how much money he had if he were to pick up and run while his knees were still able to function, and what was making him ill was the knowledge that he had nothing. He didn’t have enough to spend the night somewhere along his flight route. He was thinking of the .22 he’d been carrying around at work each night and wondering if he had the courage to use it. The team seemed conscious that something was wrong but not overly concerned about what it was, and Pete was relieved that they weren’t waiting for any pearls of wisdom. Wisdom and Piggott were not synonymous.

  ***

  Jack Harding’s phone rang while he was still sitting in the stands simmering. “Hey, Johnny P. You callin’ to gloat?”

  “Tell you what, Jack, it sure looked to me like that that coach of yours was doing his best to make sure I didn’t win that bet.”

  “Piggott’s best is never good enough,” Jack thought. “That Piggott’s got to be the dumbest coach I ever seen, Johnny. There’s no tellin’ why or what that man’s doin’. He actually thinks Tanner Thomas is better than my son.”

  “Your boy had himself a pretty darn good game tonight, Jack, but even a fool like Piggott can see that Thomas is the best player on that team. I hate to break that to ya, but it’s the truth.”

  “If he’d put Kevin at the point, you’d see how good he is.”

  “Seems like I saw him there last game and he didn’t do so hot. He’s not a bad player at the wing though. Had double figures tonight, but he didn’t have 21 like Thomas. Cha Ching!” Johnny couldn’t resist the temptation to be a bad sport.

  “I’m sick of that Clay Thomas gettin’ everything he wants.”

  “Don’t know what that has to do with anything, but I’ll tell you what. I’ll get back with ya before the next game and give you a chance to win your four grand back. Even if I lose, I’ll still get what ya owe me originally, and I’ve had a little fun with ya in the meantime.”

  “It’s a deal, Papalli. Talk to ya soon.” Jack ended the call and thought to himself, “Next time, I’ll make sure I win. I’ll remove Piggott from the picture if I have to, and then that idiot can’t mess things up.” As Jack pondered what to do, he began wondering how to eliminate Tanner from the picture instead. Getting his money back was a point of pride for Jack Harding, but hurting Clay Thomas was becoming his goal in life. How could he do both next time?

  ***

  Tanner Thomas couldn’t understand why he was spending so much time on the bench, and he wondered if his dad was right about Jack Harding having something to do with it. As he reviewed the game, however, he felt good about the fact that he hadn’t used his powers to interfere. They had won the game, and that was what mattered most. But as Tanner entered the house when he arrived home, it didn’t take more than one look at his father, sitting alone in the kitchen, to realize that his dad had done something to interfere.

  “At the end of the game, I made Piggott put you in, and I would
n’t let the other coach call a timeout. It got you only an extra minute or so of playing time, but you put the game away. I’m sorry I did it though.”

  “Forget about it, Dad.”

  Just then Jessie entered the kitchen. She started right in with Tanner. “I don’t know what’s wrong with that coach of yours, but he’s keeping you out of the games on purpose. What does he think he’s doing?”

  “I don’t know, Jess,” Clay remarked. “In my opinion, it has something to do with Jack Harding. I think Jack’s somehow responsible.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous! He wasn’t down there on the bench making decisions. As a matter-of-fact, I didn’t see him anywhere around tonight. It’s Piggott that must have something against you, Tanner.”

  “Pete told me that Jack was pressuring him. Remember? Piggott’s a weasel. He’d do whatever Jack told him to.”

  “Mr. Harding’s just a parent, just like you and me. It’s the coach that’s cheating our son. How could you accuse Jack Harding?” And Jessie walked away.

  Both Tanner and Clay watched her storm down the hall and into her bedroom. Clay shrugged his shoulders and let her go without another word.

  “TJ seems to think that her dad has something against you, not me, Dad. She says he gets mad every time he hears your name.”

  “Well, if that’s true, I don’t understand it. I’ve never had one problem, one conflict with Jack. I can’t see why he’d have anything against me. Now you, you are getting attention that he wants for Kevin. I can see what he might have against you. What I don’t see, if your mother is right, is what Coach Piggott would have against you.”

  ***

  Piggott tried to slither into work unnoticed that Friday night after the game. For a man built like a bowling ball, sneaking around was not an easy thing to accomplish. He might be able to hide behind one of the front-end loaders without his belly protruding, but sneaking around the office door to get his time card punched would be next to impossible, especially since a meeting with Jack and his brood of hoodlums was going on in the office. Pete fingered the pistol in his coat pocket, said a quick prayer to whatever god might be listening, and entered the office.

  “What are you doing here, Pete?” Jack asked, dark eyes glaring more darkly than usual.

  “Um, I was going to punch in and then do my job.”

  “You’re not too good at ‘doing your job,’ Coach. Thought maybe money would be a good incentive for you, but I guess not.” Piggott just kept his eyes on the floor and his hand on his gun grip. “Is there anything you are good at, Pete, besides being a fool, I mean.”

  After quite an unpleasant two or three seconds of silence, Pete Piggott finally looked up and said, “I’m not too bad at coaching basketball, Jack. And I especially think I’m not doing too bad a job of coachin’ your son.”

  “Get out, Pete. I’m giving you a one-week leave of absence. Paid leave. I got some business to do, and I don’t want you around for a while. Come back for work next Friday, and your check’ll be waiting.”

  Piggott turned and walked out. As far as he could figure, something he wasn’t known to do too often, there was nothing wrong with not having to work, getting paid, and not having to be around Jack Harding for a while. Piggott was already making plans for the strip clubs. “I wonder if Honey Suckle is back in town.”

  ***

  As soon as Piggott had exited, Jack and his goons went back to their meeting. Jack was making plans, real plans this time, to humiliate Clay Thomas, get his money back, and get his son, Kevin, the attention that he deserved. If Jack Harding was anything, he was resourceful. Give him a challenge, and he would use every resource possible to meet it, even if it meant breaking the law. With the possible exception of money, and occasionally his family, nothing was more important to Jack than his pride. Clay Thomas would be taken down a notch, and that meant that whatever was important to Clay was to become a target for Jack.

  CHAPTER 15

  Carlee Simpson was concerned. She had known Jessie Thomas for six years. They had become fast and best friends almost from the time Jessie, Clay, and Tanner had moved to Flint. In those six years, she had admired Jessie Thomas’s positive outlook on life and her spirit for living. Sure, she could be emotional at times, but it was part of the package that included a zest for living. Carlee had cheated one time on her husband about three years ago and had shared her mistake with Jessie, so Jessie felt comfortable sharing her experiences with Carlee. The stories about Tony, the resident at the clinic, seemed harmless, and nothing had come of it, but the stories about this newest man were disturbing to Carlee, mostly because Jessie was keeping secrets and getting serious and partly because Jessie had shared that she’d seen a hint of a bad temper lately. Carlee warned Jessie that assuredly, this man would be on his best behavior at this point in the relationship. If there were signs of temper now, there was almost certain to be a worse temper to be discovered.

  Carlee remembered some scary times with her father while she was growing up. Once in a fit of road rage, he had literally smashed a car on the expressway that supposedly had cut him off. The driver swerved off the road, through a ditch, and directly under a billboard that ironically said, “Buckle Up for Safety.” Another time, when her family was bumped from an airplane flight, her father put up such a fit that he was eventually handcuffed and placed in a holding cell. The family took the next flight while her father was detained. Carlee never heard what happened to her father, but she remembered how embarrassed her mother was. One morning, her father shoved her mother to the floor because of an argument that his egg yolks were overcooked. That same day, while her father was away at work, the whole family moved out of the house and into her grandparents’ home. When Carlee heard the word temper, it raised red flags that she was unwilling to ignore. She decided to call and ask for help, and the one person who came to her mind first was her cousin, a Mr. Pete Piggott, head security guard at Harding Metals.

  Carlee was the only family that Pete Piggott had. They weren’t close. Who would want to be close to Pete Piggott? But she had a soft spot for him because he was family and he seemed so helpless and hopeless most of the time. What appealed to her in this particular circumstance was that Pete had security background, and because he worked third-shift at Harding Metals, he would likely be available for a little sleuthing. She could hire him, knowing he needed money. He always needed money. Carlee called her cousin, Pete, and set up a meeting.

  ***

  “I need a favor.”

  Pete had just entered Carlee’s home. Angela and Heather were sitting on the couch, texting. Angela had the TV remote, and between texts, Heather was asking for it. Angela was somehow channel surfing, texting, and doing her homework. It was unlikely that she heard her sister with her IPod playing in her ears. Neither even looked up when their mother’s cousin entered the room.

  Mark had a cordless screwdriver in one hand and a roll of electrical tape in the other. He said, “Hey, Pete,” as he scooted down the stairs to either continue a project or make repairs on one of his inevitable disasters, one or the other.

  “Have a seat, Pete. It’s good to see you.”

  Piggott took off his jacket and grabbed a chair by the dining room table—he would never have felt comfortable sitting in the living room near Carlee’s girls. When he sat his short, fat frame in his chosen dining room chair, Carlee burst out laughing. Mark had just “repaired” the chair before heading to the basement for his next project. The chair legs had worn unevenly, so the chair wobbled and bumped from one leg to another whenever someone shifted weight in it. Mark’s goal was to shorten the other legs slightly to match the worn one. He measured and then cut, and then cut, and then cut. Now the chair that Pete Piggott was sitting in had to be nearly three inches shorter than the rest of the chairs, and the table nearly came to Piggott’s neck. At least it wasn’t wobbling.

  Carlee sat in a different chair and towered over her cousin as she attempted to make some small talk. Realizing that t
he girls shouldn’t be privy to her requested favor, she sent them to their rooms. A drilling sound was coming from the basement, so Carlee felt she only had a few minutes before the next emergency. She cut the small talk short, once the girls were gone, and got right to the point.

  “I need you to follow someone for me.”

  “Like detective work?”

  “Yeah, you’re a security man. Surely you know a little about staking someone out?”

  “Oh, yeah. Of course. It’s all part of the job description.” Pete Piggott had no idea about “staking someone out.”

  “Well, I have a friend who I think is in some trouble. I want you to follow her. Find out what she’s doing and who she’s doing it with. My guess is she’s messed up with someone who’s no good, and she doesn’t know it. Take some notes, some pictures; find out who she’s meeting and let me know. Do you think you can do that?”

  “I’m not workin’, so I got some time on my hands. Sure, I can do it, ’cept I don’t got a camera.”

  “You didn’t lose your job, did you?”

  “Nope. I’m on leave for a week. Still coachin’ the basketball team though, so I can’t give the job my full attention. Got a game on Tuesday. You should come. We’re pretty good.”

  “I’ve heard the team is supposed to be good.” She got up from her chair. “Just spend as much time as you can on this.” She got her digital camera and loaned it to her cousin. “Here’s the name and address. She works at the Burton Pediatric Clinic ’til five each weekday. Her lunch is at noon. See where she goes then, and see where she goes when she leaves work in the evenings, and watch her especially on the weekends.”