My Partner In Crime

Chapter 9

(Okay, I landed in Georgia a few nights ago, so I'm back on my regular writing schedule. I also have a story about church camp that I'll tell in the final author's note.)

In a matter of twenty minutes, the sun finished setting and the house and yard grew bustling with people. Some were playing the game and some weren't. Dodge and I stayed out of the crowds for the most part.

"I'm going to go get some drinks." He said, awaiting my approval before tracking the buffet table down. While he was gone, I leaned against the wall and observed the crowds.

"Hey," I heard a voice next to me. I turned, and to my surprise, it was Ray. "We didn't finished our brawl."

"Yes, we did." I retorted.

"Let me rephrase." By now, he was standing next to me casually. "I didn't finish our brawl."

"It's over, Ray." I said, already tired of his being there. I definitely wasn't an introvert, but he just brought out my social battery.

"Where's Dodge?" He asked, popping gum in his mouth.

"Getting drinks. Why?" I knew why, but I didn't have anything else to say.

"I have a couple things I'd like to say to him." Ray shrugged.

"Yeah, Ray, whatever you have to say, you can say to the both of us." I shook my head. Ray dropped his blue eyes down to my hand.

"Wow, Clem, your hand is gnarly." He commented. "Does my face really look that bad?"

"Before or after I hit you?" I asked sarcastically, scanning the crowd for Dodge. I saw him on his way back and made eye-contact with him. 

"Ouch." He said, grinning.

"Go find Heather or something." I said, looking away from him.

"Smooth, Clem." Ray said. And finally, Dodge returned.

"Do you need something?" Dodge asked, two drinks in hand. Ray scoffed and took his leave.

"I think he's afraid you're going to win." I said to him.

"There's no need to be afraid." He said, handing me a cup. "I am gonna win."

"I like your confidence." I said, glancing at him. He was observing the crowd and eyeing the players, as though he was attempting to figure out how to beat them. "I can tell you about most of them."

"You can?" He looked at me. I nodded and he pulled me away to the parking lot. We both then sat on the hood of his car, which was on the outer bit of the lot. 

"So, Natalie wants the money so that she can move to Los Angeles and be an actress." I said to him. "She's that chick with black hair. And Heather is afraid of everything. I don't know why she joined. Ray's brother won when he played, so he's going to be hard to beat." (I don't remember the names of any of the other players)

"He's not going to be hard to beat." Dodge said with a shake of his head.

"You don't think so?"

"I don't. Because you need confidence to play. If Ray was confident, he wouldn't have needed to use that laser."

"But he needed to be confident enough to use his laser." I said pointedly.

"If a perfect balance." Dodge smiled. "Confident enough to sabotage the game, yet unsure enough about the outcome."

"Unsure is a good word for it." I said. 

"Yeah." He nodded. 

"What's your motivation?" I asked, turning to him. 

He thought for a second, almost spoke once, then tried again. "I could use the money."

"We all could." I nodded. The two of us were both laying against the windshield and looking up at the sky. 

"Everyone has fears." Dodge said. "Everyone is set off by something. Even fearless people have their own, secret things."

"Where are you going with this?"

"You grew up with these people, right?"

"Yeah?"

"What is Natalie afraid of?" Dodge asked.

"She's afraid of losing her relationships with, like, her friends and everything." I said after a moment of consideration. This was smart; by discussing their weaknesses, we can come up with ways to bring the other players down and win the game.

"What about Heather?"

"I think I once heard her say that she hates rats." I said slowly. "And she has a little sister, Lily."

"We're not involving Lily." Dodge said.

"Of course not." I shook my head. "I don't know anything about Ray. But, if I'm right, he's going to try something stupid to get distract the other players. I bet he'll date Heather or Natalie."

"Maybe." Dodge shrugged. We were silent for another short while before we heard a commotion and went to see what was going on. We discovered people crowded around a brick wall, which was streaked with red spray paint. Dodge and I shouldered our way through the crowd to see better. He touched the paint and his hand came back with red on it. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"We're going to some old guy's house." I told him quietly. "This guy hates visitors."