'Yeah. Article awhile ago in the college paper about it. You see it?'
Dwayne shook his head. 'No, man. I never read that shit.'
We reached one of the campus dining rooms and went in. It was in a lovely Georgian brick building with a big, small-paned picture window that looked out onto the quadrangle. Inside was mostly white walls and quarry tile. Dwayne had four fried eggs, over easy, two orders of bacon, home fries, four pieces of white toast, two large orange juices, and two containers of milk. I had coffee. Regular, two sugars. I would have had decaf but I didn't want Dwayne to think I was a sissy. The dining room was nearly full, but Dwayne led me to a section marked Faculty Only where there were plenty of seats. We sat at a table for four and Dwayne spread his food out over most of it.
'So, man, what you want to talk about?'
'There's a rumor that some of the players on the Taft basketball team are getting paid off for shaving points,' I said. 'Can you tell me anything about that?'
'How come you talking to me, man?'
'Because I know that Dixie told his players not to talk with me and I figured maybe you'd be the only one with balls enough to do it anyway.'
'Dwayne Woodcock talk to whoever he fucking wants,' Dwayne said.
'What I figured,' I said. 'So what do you think?'
'Nobody throwing no games, man,' Dwayne said.
'I know. But are they keeping the score down so that someone can beat the point spread?'
Dwayne shook his head. 'No chance, man.'
'Would you know it if they were?'
'Shit man, I know everything going on out there. Dwayne Woodcock born playing this game, you know? Who say we dogging it?'
'Just a rumor, printed in the college paper.'
'Who start the rumor?'
'Some guy was kidding about it in front of his girlfriend, or so they say at the paper.'
'School paper?'
'Yeah, the Taft Collegian.'
'Shit, they don't matter.'
I shrugged.
'Who the girlfriend?' Dwayne said.
'They didn't know.'
'Who you talk to over that newspaper?'
'Kid named Barry Ames.' Dwayne could find out easily enough. I might as well earn points by telling him. I liked his interest.
Dwayne shook his head. 'Never heard of him.'
We were quiet for a moment while I drank a little coffee and Dwayne ate.
'So, maybe you wasting your time here. Broad probably didn't understand what the guy was joking about. Probably some kind of basketball joke and she don't get it.'
'Maybe,' I said.
'You keep hanging around, man, annoying us, everybody gonna get pissed off at you.'
I nodded. 'Happens a lot,' I said.
'You understand what I'm saying to you, man? Dwayne Woodcock don't blow smoke.'
'That's not what Smoke tells everybody,' I said.
Dwayne gave me the hard schoolyard stare. 'You fucking with me, man?'
'Yeah.'
'You fucking with Dwayne Woodcock, you fucking with the wrong man.'
'Who would be the right one?' I said. Dwayne had no food left. He surveyed the table to make sure he hadn't missed anything.
Then he stood up. Looking down at me, he said, 'You remember what I tell you, man. You keep snooping around, you going, to wish you hadn't.' Then he turned and stalked off.
I gave his back a grim look as he went. 'Oh yeah,' I said.
6
IN the spirit of experiment I checked out the coeds as I walked across campus and concluded that I was still able to respond to twenty-year-old women, but preferred them older. At the President's office I consulted with Ms. Merriman, the President's secretary. She, for instance, was older.
