We get in the car, Roy in the driver's seat, Gator in the passengers and me in the back.
The ride there is silent, after a while we pull into a rodeo and hop out. We walk up to the bleachers and wait.
"Dad, c'mon, you're not paying this guy." Gator says.
"Fine. we're upside down. And maybe it's voodoo or whatever but.... Solve it with a bullet not.... Otherwise, what?" He explains.
"We trust this guy?" He asks.
"Here's your money, please lift the curse? I don't think so." He continues.
"We tried killing him. Now we're bailing water out of a sinking boat. Election's a week away and we're still balls deep on righting old wrongs with Nadine, our dicks in the breeze. We need to take luck out of the equation. Period. End of story." Roy tells him.
"Your dad's right Gator, this guy is bad news." I agree.
We look behind us and Munch is standing behind us, under the bleachers.
"Go on, search him, then wait in the car." Roy orders him.
Gator starts to leave and Roy tells me "follow him, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
I nod and follow Gator.
"So this is the one that broke your arm?" I mutter.
"My wrist." He mutters back.
The man standing before us is huge. Even taller than Roy. He's smoking a cigarette and he has a Joan of Arc like haircut. He's wearing a cozy jacket, I kind of want it actually, he's pretty stylish.
We walk up to him and Gator says "let me see your hands."
I stand behind Gator, my arms crossed, worried this will go sideways. Gator pats him down, knocking the cigarette out of his hand. I roll my eyes. He's just trying to make this as bad as possible for himself, isn't he?
"It's not a win." He says to Munch, getting in his face. "We're calling a draw.... So don't get cocky." He threatens.
He pushes Munch towards me and I nodded towards Roy a little apologetically.
"C'mon." I say to Gator and we walk back to the car. I get in the back but Gator doesn't get in.
"I've gotta do somethin' I'll be back." He says.
"Wait, Gator?" I ask.
He ignores me and keeps walking.
"If you're not back in 3 minutes, I'm coming after you!" I yell after him.
I sit anxiously in the car. If Gator does anything drastic, Roy will blame me. Roy's still inside, picking out a Bull. I look for Gator though the car window, but I can't see where he's gone.
"Son of a-!" I start to yell, but then I see Gator walking back to the car. He's fuming. He opens the car door, gets in and slams it.
"Where the hell were you?" I ask.
"I was taking a leak." He says, avoiding my eyes.
"Don't lie to me, Tillman." I say, sternly.
"You'll see later, okay? Just let me do what I need to do." He says.
"Gator I-" I begin to argue. But then Roy opens the door. I fall silent. Whatever Gator is up to, I have a feeling telling Roy will make it 100 times worse.
"You kids quarrelin'?" He asks us.
"No." I answer quickly. "We're fine."
"Alright, then." He says and we begin the quiet ride home.
