I finished half the sandwich and felt full, but I ate a chip just to keep busy. Phyllis was still working at her sandwich. She reminded me of a bear I’d seen on a nature show-it was tearing into a picnic, hunched over, holding a balled-up pizza in its claws and ducking its head to tear off bites.
I looked over at Tiffany just to have something more pleasant to look at. She stared at me with a creepy insect expression. I got the impression that she was imagining herself having great fun with me, but not in a way I’d especially enjoy.
“So,” Phyllis said, then swallowed a lump of dough and meat. “Why did you meet with Able Katz at the toy offices?”
“I thought the whole town knew that by now.”
“I want to hear it from you.”
“My boss owns a factory in Africa that could handle some of the manufacturing work.”
“Outsourcing.”
“Sure. I hope you’re not
She slapped her hand down on the table. “This isn’t a game!”
“And it’s his company, not yours. Maybe he started it as a charity, but I don’t think he’s going to keep doing that forever. His margins are too thin-“
“His company is a success. It’s turning a profit, because of our work.”
I didn’t disagree, and I noticed that she had thrown herself in with the old ladies who were sewing Eagle Rider outfits. “And his ideas. Hard work he can get anywhere.”
“He turned you down, didn’t he?”
“Able Katz turned us down, on standing orders from Charles. He also agreed to meet with us again. The door’s not shut. They’re turning a profit now, but everything is boom and bust, just like you said. What happens when they hit a bust period? According to Able, they’re overdue. And if they don’t sign with us, it’ll be someone in Malaysia or the Philippines. In fact, there’s a prison in China-“
“Prisoners!” She slammed her hand down on the table, making the plates jump.
I ate another chip while she fumed. I had no idea if anything I’d said made sense. It was a jumble of news stories I’d heard mortared together with bullshit. It seemed to be having the desired effect, though.
I leaned closer to her. “That’s not the end of it.” I waited a moment for her mind to clear. When I had her full attention again, I continued. “You know what Emmett Dubois is.” I paused again, making sure that she kept up with me. “Well, near as I can figure, Charles Hammer is something worse.”
“What is this? What bullshit is this?”
I was losing her, but I had to risk it. “How do you think he’s been so successful? Even Able Katz doesn’t understand it. You remember when I said every business has a boom and bust? Katz knows that Hammer Bay Toys should have had a bust by now. Even a little one. But they haven’t.”
“Where is this going?”
“The guy is making his success happen
Bobby was looking at me like I was old fish. I couldn’t read the look in Tiffany’s eyes at all. Phyllis was squinting suspiciously at me again. “What price is this supposed to be?”
I sat back in my chair. “Where are the kids? Where are the kids in your town? The school yards are empty. The parks, too.”
Bobby turned to Phyllis. “This dude is out of his mind.”
I watched Phyllis’s face. “Imagine what they’d say if you told them about the Dubois brothers.”
Phyllis kept staring at me. “Are you saying he’s made everyone sterile or something?”
“Worse. I’m saying the kids were here, but now they’re gone and no one can remember them. How many girls do you have who have kids? It seems like it should be a pretty common thing for working girls to have a couple of kids. How many do?”
“We look after our girls here,” she said. Her jaw was thrust forward, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge what I was saying, but her eyes looked troubled.
“What about your boys? How many of them are married with kids?”
“There’s Ty, and Thomas, and, uh, Richard.”
“That’s it? Ty, Thomas, and Richard? Three guys out of how many? And how many of those men drive station wagons or minivans-cars no guy would own if he wasn’t a father? Your future is almost gone, and you don’t even realize it.”
Tiffany turned toward Phyllis. “I don’t like what he’s saying.” She stood and circled the table toward me. I tensed, putting both feet on the floor.
Bobby slipped his hand into his pocket. I stayed put.
Tiffany bent over me and patted my face. Her hands were soft but clumsy. She smelled like baby powder. “You must have been having a bad dream or something.” She tilted my face up and looked into my eyes. She had the stare of a praying mantis. After a few seconds, she saw what she wanted to see and went back to her chair.
“Do you see those men behind you?” Phyllis asked. I turned and looked at them. “Any one of them,” she continued, “would put a bullet in your head if I asked them to.” Behind me, Bobby coughed. “We could drop your body in the rain forest. No one would find you. No one’s found any of them.”
