“Neither of you look dead.”
“For which we’re grateful,” Lee snapped back. “We’re here for the Thomas order.”
The A24 hunched over suspiciously. “You got proof of that?”
The Captain held up a fistful of greasy bills. The A24 smiled greedily.
Diego stepped warily around the twenty small coffins on the long wooden dolly just inside the right of the large warehouse. Rows of finished and unfinished coffins covered the musty floor. A few A24s busied themselves unpacking plastic wrapping while another on a lift shouted warnings about scuff marks.
“Are these ours?” Diego whispered to Lee.
“Well they ain’t mine,” their robot grumbled from ten feet away; some said they could hear a fart in Nevada. They just creeped Diego out and he stepped away. “Where you going? We ain’t loading them.”
Lee gave the A24 a dirty look and they wheeled the dolly to the van. It took about fifteen minutes of silent sweat. Diego waited in the front seat, looking in the rear as if expecting someone to sit up in the coffins, until Lee paid and they drove toward Eastchester.
The Captain finally broke the silence. “No one’s in there.”
Diego looked again. “I know. “They’re just so small.”
“Don’t question…”
“I’m not. I was just with some kids.”
Lee gave him a meaningful look. “Whose?”
Diego hesitated. “I shouldn’t say.”
“But you’re busting to.”
He smiled sheepishly. The Captain was his friend. Zelda’s baby wasn’t a total secret, though he wouldn’t think his sisters would be happy. Or Mama. Can’t you find a girl like you, they’d ask, as if he hadn’t asked himself that. Older, sometimes not so nice, not exactly the slimmest body and now she got a child that might not be his. Fourteen percent not his. Well he’d made bizarre decisions before and his life wasn’t so bad.
Like riding in a van with little coffins at five in the morning.
“It’s not something I’d talk about with just anyone.”
“We trust Grandma. The rest of the world, it’s up to us,” Lee said.
Diego detected a slight hurt in his voice. The Captain’s been the best boss he ever had. Didn’t know shit about boats and he trained him, believed in him despite his many fuck-ups. Lee was mature, had to be way over forty. Near Zelda’s age. Wonder if she really was thirty-seven or maybe older. Her breasts sure seem young.
“Either tell me or don’t light up with grins like that.”
“Sorry.” Diego wiped his mouth to force away the memory of Zelda’s nipples. “I got a girlfriend.”
“So I guessed. The one from Saul’s Salmon?”
Diego nodded. “She’s a little older.”
“You wouldn’t open a bottle of Rhode Island red wine unless it’s been aged.”
The Captain’s wisdom amazed him sometimes. “I love her.”
“Does she love you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then that’s all that counts. Was it her kids?”
“Oh no.” Diego paused. “She’s kind of pregnant.”
Lee gave him another long look. “Yours?”
“Not sure.”
The Captain shook his head. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I wasn’t too happy, either. My odds are…” he hesitated. “Either me or two other guys.”
“She’s been sleeping with two others?” Lee exploded.
Good thing he hadn’t mentioned the fourteen percent. “But I love her.”
Lee sighed wearily. “And you went to the Parents House with her.”
“Yes, sir.” Diego fished the small box out of his pants.
“That a ring, son?”
Diego nodded. “With a diamond.”
Lee shook his head at the faith of the young and stupid. Where would the human race be without them?
• • • •
PUPPY NEARLY CLOSED the door on Kenuda, figuring he was only bringing awful news this early: the stadium burnt down, baseball was banned again, Annette wants him back. He stepped aside with a bleary wave and Elias entered in time to see Ty and Mickey’s naked bodies exchanging places in the bathroom.
Puppy hurried into the kitchen, kicking empty beer bottles under the sink and making coffee. The Commissioner forced down a couple sips, studying Ty and Mick wrapping towels around their tubby butts as if the Bronx Zoo had been moved into Puppy’s apartment. The players disappeared into the bedroom; Puppy held his breath, hoping Mooshie really had left already.
He waited a couple beats for screams about naked ghost bits. “Dara’s at the recording studio.”
Kenuda’s eyes gleamed, making Puppy uncomfortable. “Dara’s Dreams. Love the title of her new album. Gems, pure gems, like her. You’re very lucky.”
“So are you.”
“For?”
“Annette.”
“Yes, yes.” Kenuda decided against any more coffee. Puppy brought him the last of the Callison’s Original Peppermint Cookies, which he inspected carefully before attempting a small bite. He shuddered. “You’re wondering what brings me here.”
“I’m figuring something terrible.”
“You have a gloomy mindset, Nedick.”
“Based purely on experience.”
“You can look at life either way. I prefer the optimistic. Rest assured, all goes well. Attendance is booming, not what we get for real sports, but not bad considering.”
Mick and Ty passed by on their way back into the bathroom.
“How do they hit with those guts?” Elias asked.
“A famous player, Babe Ruth, once explained that he didn’t hit home runs with his stomach.”
Elias spent a moment pondering the physiques of baseball players. He shuddered again. “I’m very pleased. First Cousin Cheng is very pleased. He was a well-known player himself.”
“I know, sir.”
“The exhibits your young DV friend suggested are very popular. But are they achieving the objective?”
“Which is?”
“Getting siblings to understand what happened.”
“I think it’s pretty clear. If kind of grim. Attendance has dropped since the exhibits were installed, except for when I pitch,” he paused to make sure that sank in. “Chanting the names of the 10/12 dead by the hot dog concession puts a damper on things.”
“We still need that, otherwise there’s no point.”
Puppy frowned. “I feel like we’re walking in a circle, Third Cousin.”
Kenuda coughed slightly. “There’s been some disquiet in the country since the Story.”
“How so?”
He hesitated. “There’ve been demonstrations, minor, peaceful, but a few arrests. Some actually not so peaceful. Orange wigs have been left at baseball stadiums.”
“There are no ballparks left.”
“At the rubble. Fenway Park, Wrigley Field.” Elias consulted a list. “Braves Field, Forbes Stadium, Phillies Field.”
“The Miners are still around?”
“No,
