Page 53 of Rock Bottom Girl
I was a hell of a lot more afraid of her than the overgrown jackass in front of me.
“I’ll get to you in a minute, dumbass,” Vince roared at the kid.
I felt a little bad for him. I mean, he didn’t choose to have Vince as an authority figure. “Coach Vince, I’m going to suggest that you back up out of my face and leave school property until you can control your temper.” The asshole wasn’t even on the faculty here. He was a sales guy for a cabinet factory out of Lancaster.
“I’ll leave when I’m good and ready.”
That fat finger was in my face again.
“What are you laughing at, Haruko?” Vince demanded. “Didn’t my country bomb the crap out of yours a few years back?”
“Is there a problem here?” a voice snapped.
The cavalry had arrived. Jake and Floyd worked their way through the crowd to stand next to me. Angela and Morgan stepped to the side.
“I was just explaining to Cicero here that if she had anything to do with that prank yesterday, she’d be hearing from my lawyer.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t your lawyer who did it?” Jake offered.
“Yeah, I heard that you didn’t pay him after you lost that suit against your next-door neighbor and their hedgerow,” Floyd added.
“Guy’s got a lot of enemies,” Haruko said from her classroom doorway. She scratched at the corner of her eye with her middle finger.
Vince glared at her before turning his attention back to me and stabbing his finger in my face.
“Careful there,” Jake said, his voice low and controlled.
“I know you did this!” Vince hissed.
“Like I said. I had an away game yesterday,” I reminded him.
“What about the night before?” Vince demanded.
“She was with me,” Jake said.
“Ooooooh!” The gathered studentsreallyliked that.
“Is that so?” Vince snarled.
“Are you calling me a liar?” Jake asked calmly. He sounded amused, almost bored. He was way scarier than the tantrum-throwing Vince. I liked it.
“If either of you think you can mess with me or my team again, you’ll be hearing from my lawyer!” With a parting growl, the man turned and stormed out, knocking Milton out of his way.
“Well, that was fun,” Floyd said, watching him go.
“All right everyone. Show’s over. Get to class,” Jake said, herding students toward classrooms and hallways.
“Marley Cicero!”
Jesus, what was with people sneaking up on me?
Amie Jo stormed down the hall under a full head of steam. “Did I hear Coach Vince accuse you of doing this to my poor sweet boy?” she demanded, yanking Milton’s head down so I could see the pink cast better.
“Oh, shit. You’re on your own,” Floyd hissed and turned tail into the gym.
“Coward,” I called after him.
“We were at an away game yesterday, Mrs. Hostetter,” Morgan E. reminded her. “We weren’t even here.”
