bedroom and watched her getting dressed. Or, if she'd insisted on playing the game all the way, bedded her, then started asking questions.
But it was a tradition he didn't yet belong to. And though the picture of himself bouncing away on top of Mary Oto was not altogether displeasing, the picture of the door opening and Zak finding them at it was.
'How did you get on?' Zak asked when he joined her in the sitting room.
'Spoke to Eddie. Nothing,' he said.
'Didn't imagine there would be. And Mary?'
It came out casual but he thought he detected a something. It wasn't surprising. Mary, angry and resentful that her own sporting career had been nipped in the knee, must be Number One Internal Suspect.
He said, 'Bumped into her on the landing but it didn't seem a good time to talk.'
There might never be a good time,' said Zak, frowning. 'Mary's a pretty private person.'
Joe imagined those brown bombs slipping out of their cradles and thought, Yeah, private like a B-29 over Tokyo.
Out of the window he could see Starbright still looming by the gate.
He said, 'How long's Jones been with you?'
'Starbright? Just since I came home a couple of weeks back. Douglas fixed it. I thought it was over the top at first,
me having a minder. I mean, in the States, I'm just another college jock, but when I got off the plane and saw the cameramen and reporters, I was glad when Douglas came out to meet me and said he'd fixed for me to be taken care of.'
'That's the sort of thing agents do? Thought they just made money.'
'Maybe he thinks of it as protecting his investment,' said Zak.
'Been with him long?'
'Week short of three years,' said Zak.
Joe noted the precision but couldn't think of any reason why it should be noteworthy.
'He specializes in sporting personalities, I hear.'
'That's what he's into. Couple of snooker players, a jockey, a golfer, all on the way up like me.'
'You ain't on the way, you're up there already,' said Joe gallantly. 'Seems to me it's Mr. Endor who's on his way up.'
'Well, thank you kindly,' she smiled. 'But I've got to start winning the big ones, know what I mean? An agent can't sell a wannabe.'
'He got you Bloo-Joo, didn't he?'
Bloo-Joo was the brand name of a bottled blueberry juice which claimed to be additive free and full of natural vitamins. According to the ads it was the last thing Zak drank before a race and the first after, the implication being that it helped her energy level to peak.
That's right.' She smiled reminiscently. 'One of the first things Doug did. He saw me drinking the stuff and asked if he could have a taste. His exact words were, 'Jesus! You mean you drink this stuff and don't get paid for it? We'll have to see about that.' Then he waited till I won a couple of races and set up a meeting.'
'You mean when you say you'd drink it even if you didn't get paid, it's true?'
'Joe, I don't tell lies,' she said seriously. 'And the one thing I can't stand in other people is when they're not straight with me. I give my trust and I stay loyal. But once I find I'm being messed around, that's it. Doug's done good by me so far and when he said I needed a minder, I didn't argue. And as usual he was right.'
'You think so?' said Joe, a little piqued at feeling lectured at by someone who was still only a kid. 'From what I've seen, looks like pretty easy money to me. I mean, they ain't exactly camping on your lawn.'
'No, and you know who that's down to? Starbright. When I first got back they were crawling all over the place, trying to get candid snaps, offering bagfuls of money for stories about my sex life on campus. It took Starbright two days to raise that siege. I don't know how he did it, but I reckon I might have headed back Stateside if he hadn't been around. Though the way things are working, maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad idea.'
'Maybe,' said Joe. 'Get the impression your ma doesn't much like him.'
'You've noticed? Thing is, Mum's a bit of a racial bigot,' said Zak.
'Your mother?' said Joe indignantly. 'She seems like a lovely lady.'
Zak burst out laughing.
'Joe, you should travel more. You'd soon find the world is full of nice guys and lovely ladies who would torch their can seats if they thought your black ass had sat there. Works both ways. But in fairness to Mum, it's only Welshmen she thinks should be forcibly repatriated. One nearly got Dad fired from his job a few years back. That set up the prejudice. When Starbright first appeared, she tried to be nice to him. But when he refused to sit and eat with us, she took offence. I tried telling her it was because he was vegetarian, but she wouldn't wear it.'
'Starbright vegetarian?' said Joe incredulously. 'You can't look like that without eating whole bullocks!'
'You should see his lip curl if you offer him a smoky bacon crisp,' said Zak.
'No, thanks. So he doesn't come into the house much?'
'Just when he brings me home. He likes to make sure no one's lurking.'
