“So he keeps to himself a bit.”
“Um, yeah. A little, I guess. Acts like he doesn’t have the time of day for anyone else then wonders why they ain’t got it for him. Truth is, if Sara didn’t like him so much, he wouldn’t be coming near my place this Saturday. Dunno what she sees in the guy.”
Dent gathered up his papers, smiling from ear to ear. “Thank you for your help, son.”
Grendel furrowed his brow, getting up the same time that Dent did, more than a little confused. “Wait, I thought you were going to ask me what I knew about the murderer?”
“I just did,” he said under his breath, heading toward the door.
Grendel’s mouth went slack, then turned up into a grin.
“Well, this is just... neat,” he cackled, turning toward the door himself.
“Son of a bitch!” Xander screamed as Mike’s character laid another triple punch combo into his. “Even in a damn wheelchair he manages to beat me!”
Xander had chosen the Granite Gladiator, a gray behemoth wearing armor that made him look like Russell Crowe, thinking his brute strength would more than make up for his own inexperience with the game. He was wrong, as per usual. Against the strength and speed of Mike’s character, the Stone Spider, the Gladiator was all but helpless. Mike did a half swivel with the joystick and pressed ‘punch’ three times in succession to initiate the ‘Ultimate Spider’ move, where the Spider just zipped around the screen, hitting the Gladiator about a hundred times as he went. The Granite Gladiator went down for the second time and the gold letters “Stone Spider Wins” appeared on the screen. The digital spider creature made the remark that the loser would ‘Make a good sidekick.’ With Xander’s defeat the game went into one player mode and Mike fought the computer’s character, randomly chosen as Obsidian. The scrawny little black statue came to life and leaped into the playing field, sprouting four sparkling claws at the end of each wrist as he did so.
“Dammit. I can’t beat this guy,” Mike muttered as Obsidian started off with something called a ‘Hazard-O’ attack, swirling his claws all around the screen in great gaping circles.
Xander wandered over to where the girls had been sitting, cursing all the way.
“Hi guy,” Cathy said to him, “Get bored of the game?”
“Naw. Just bored of losing the game. But I think it cheered Mike up.”
“Good.” She leaned over and gave her friend a little kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“Whatever. If you need me, I’ll be playing pinball,” he said, motioning to where that game stood. “It’s easier to take losing against a small metal ball. Mike’s victory dance is even more demeaning when he’s in that damn chair.”
She giggled, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
“Kay,” she said cheerfully, watching him as he made his way over to the pinball machine, digging change out of his pocket along the way.
With Xander gone, the girls could resume their talk. Cathy turned back to Sara, a concerned look upon her face.
“What do you think that investigator guy meant when he accused Xander of being in a gang?” Sara asked out of the blue, as she was known to do every now and again.
“I don’t know. Maybe he thinks it’s him because you and him were the only two people who knew that Mike and I were on that road.”
A look of panic flashed across Sara’s face, and her voice had a little more edge in it. “Hey, what makes you so special? Why would he think that you were actually targeted, instead of just a random victim like Jamie?”
“I don’t know,” Cathy said, just taking a sip of her soda. “But you damn well better hope someone figures it out. I don’t know how Mike got away from that guy, but he was absolutely brutal.”
“Argh!” Mike said, slamming his hands against the machine. Even Cathy noticed. The computer-controlled Obsidian had just finished him off with a move called ‘Insanity Rage’, and Stone Spider went spinning into the air before landing on his back with a thump. Mike wheeled himself over to where Xander stood searching his pockets for change after losing another quarter to the pinball game.
“That one’s impossible, man,” he said to his friend, motioning toward the air hockey tables. “Let’s try our hand at a real sport.”
Xander grabbed the handles on the wheelchair and put him in place at one end.
“Two paddles?” Xander asked, picking them both up and displaying them to his friend.
“Of course. But I’ll use one. I figure with the wheelchair, and the one paddle, that’ll mean I won’t totally kick your ass.”
“Hardy har,” he said, throwing Mike his second paddle and putting a dollar into the side of the machine. It slowly buzzed to life.
“So, you are still going over to Grendel’s... right?” Sara asked, almost out of boredom. “I mean, it is the social event of the season.” She did a mock British accent when she said that, but it sounded more like Australian.
Cathy laughed at the horrifically bad impression, then brushed a strand of her long black hair back behind her ear. “I want to,” she said, but there was that implied ‘but’ at the end of it, one that was left hanging there open-ended for Sara to pick up and follow on.
“So, why won’t you? And don’t give me any of that ‘Mike thinks Gren wants me’ crap either.”
“I dunno,” Cathy mulled, fiddling her straw up and down in her drink. “Don’t you think it’s possible? I mean, he does come off a little...”
“He doesn’t,” Sara assured her, placing one hand on her friend’s knee to emphasize the sentiment. “Take it from someone who dated him. If he liked you, you’d know it.”
“Really?” Cathy frowned,
