Badger to the Bone (Honey Badger Chronicles #3) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,147
little loud and abrasive.”
* * *
They waited in the hallway, the two teams side by side; Max already bouncing on her toes. Ready to go. Ready to destroy the other team. But in a totally nonlethal way, of course.
Nelle was on her phone, taking selfies. Streep was doing yoga stretches to stay limber. Mads was staring down tigers on the opposite team. Tock was looking at her watch. It was the same thing every time, but Max never got bored by it. Only this time, both her sisters were in the crowd. Charlie hadn’t been to a game since Max was in high school. And once she’d found out Nelle had a limo driver to take the five of them to and from the games, she’d stopped coming altogether. It didn’t bother Max as much as it would have probably bothered others. Actually, it hadn’t bothered Max at all. Not when she knew her sister had a lot more important things to focus on. Like keeping them alive.
It was just nice that finally, after all these years, they could do this and enjoy it.
Mads tapped Max on the shoulder and pointed. Renny stood at the end of the hall, away from the entrance.
“Shit.”
“Tell her you’ll talk to her after the game.”
But Max didn’t want her mind distracted by anything. Not during a playoff game.
She ran down the hall to her mother.
“I just wanted to wish you luck,” Renny said when Max reached her. “Some of your aunties are here, too.”
“They are?”
“Yes. I also think they have money on the game, though.”
“Of course they do.”
“Anyway, given any more thought to my suggestion? About you and me . . . traveling together for a while?”
“Yeah.”
“Great. And?”
“No.”
Her mother blinked. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”
“I mean no. There’s no other meaning for ‘no.’ But let me know when you’re back in town. We’ll go to lunch.”
Max turned to walk away but her mother caught her arm and pulled her back around. “You have to give me some kind of explanation.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Give me one anyway.”
“You want an explanation? You had Devon’s money the whole time.”
“Is that really a big deal? I knew you could handle him.”
“Of course I could handle him. That’s not the point. You also put my sisters in danger. That’s definitely not okay. You also could have sent us some of the money.”
“For what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. To give our grandfather’s Pack some cash since they were the ones taking care of your kid. Or we could have given some to Charlie so she could have gone to college. At the very least you could have told me you had it. But you didn’t.”
“So you’re saying you want a cut now? Is that it?”
Max pointed at her mother. “And that’s why I’m not going. Appreciate the invite, though.”
“Max, you can’t just leave it at that.”
“I’m not leaving it at anything. I’m just not going. I do, however, have a game to play and the announcer’s about to call my name.” She kissed her mother on the cheek. “I do love you, though. Always will.” Then she returned to her teammates and waited for her name and number to be called.
* * *
The crowd began cheering and the announcer came on over the loudspeakers, introducing the two teams. Zé watched each player as she came out to cheers and love from the audience but, at least for the Butchers, Nelle was one of the true stars. Especially among the males of the audience. But no one on the team was truly slighted.
When Max ran out, her sisters jumped up on either side of Zé, cheering almost as loudly as the crowd around them.
Max and her five friends didn’t start the game, though. Instead, the teams began with more equally sized players.
The longer Zé watched the game, the more he became concerned about Max’s safety. These two teams didn’t play like the WNBA. Hell, they didn’t play like the NBA. He wasn’t talking about skill. Their skills were on par with those of any pro team. Maybe even better. But the brutality . . .
Bears hit cats, sending them flying down the court. Cats slashed bears, leaving blood on the court that “cleaners” came out to wipe up. There was blood on the uniforms. Scabbed-over wounds on the players.
He’d never seen anything quite like it. And if the woman he’d deigned to care for weren’t about to jump in, he’d have enjoyed it much more.