Page 7 of Worst in Show

My hands are shaking. That’s right. Take your broad shoulders and get lost.

I turn to Harvey, who’s watching me, displeased.

“What was that?” he asks.

“What was what?”

“I don’t normally know you to be rude. What brought that on?”

“He was insulting Cap.”

“I hardly think he meant it that way.”

I don’t like it when Pop scrutinizes me like this. Like he’s trying to find my soul. “Well…” I fling a hand in the direction of Canine King. “Doesn’t it bother you that he’s opening one of those here? We’re not exactly rolling in cash.”

“So, it’s about money?” Harvey blinks slowly. It’s his I’ve-taught-you-better look.

I examine the cracks between the floorboards. “I just think it’s a dick move.”

“Ha! Is that the official terminology?”

A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. “Should be.”

He puts an arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. “Come now. We’ll be fine. We’ve always been fine. Canine King has nothing on Happy Paws. We’ve been here forever; you said so yourself. If you think about it, he’s the one who is the underdog, no pun intended.”

“If you say so.”

“That’s the spirit. Now let’s not mind Leo Salinger and what he’s doing anymore. We have inventory and cleaning to do. And you were going to check your internet thingamajig for more work.”

He’s right. We do have enough going on without adding a stuck-up pretty boy to the list. After a fortifying breath, I open the browser on the old computer that sits on the counter and navigate to the Flockify server to check for responses to my post.

Welcome to Living History Illinois beams at me in bright blocky letters on the landing page. The column on the left lists the sub-channels—General Forum, Mobsters, Sports of Yore, Historical Foods, Illinois in the News, and, because the server apparently started as a project at another Chicago-land high school, several “class of” channels where former students can keep in touch with their dispersed friends. A Memes channel and a Quizzes channel have also been added since last I was here. The channels I most often frequent are Period Dress, Famous People, and Historical Reenactments, though. That’s where the potential money is.

There are no responses to my original post in the Period Dress channel, so I head to Famous People where I repost it to create a wider net. Cross my fingers, hope to die.

I’m about to close out of it when the message before mine stops me. It’s from yesterday and posted by that same guy who tried to moderate me before.

AlCaponesGhost25 Wednesday 10:22 PM

What’s the legal term for when Al Capone goes camping?

I let out an amused huff and lean closer. “Aren’t we a contradiction?” I mumble.

“Something interesting?” Harvey asks.

“Someone posted a riddle.” Curiosity piqued, I click on the avatar (a picture of the Colosseum in Rome) but there’s not much information to be gleaned. He is indeed a moderator and also a verified user. His location status is set to “international,” whatever that means.

Harvey chuckles. “Ah, your kryptonite.”

Mine and my grandma’s. When she was alive, we had whole text threads with riddles going back and forth. She was a master.

“Do you know it?” Harvey asks.

I tap my fingertips against the tabletop. “Give me a minute and I will.” The rusted gears in my brain churn into motion. Al Capone, camping, mob, crime, campfire, sleeping bag… Hmm… Got it!

SingerQueen Thursday 12:37 PM

Easy—Criminal intent.

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