Page 54 of A Scandal in Homeroom
“Sir, as you know, I’ve had a little bit different of an upbringing than Beth. I need to make money. This kind of operation isn’t new to me.”
He nodded. “Of course. You’ve got quite the entrepreneurial spirit.”
I hated how much I liked that compliment.
“It’s what I want to do,” I said, with my chin raised. “Run my own business. Something in the service industry, I think. I have a knack for knowing what people want before they want it.”
“Yes, I can see that you do. However, starting your own business isn’t easy. Or cheap. You’ll need investors.”
It made me nervous the way he said that. Like he was thinking about something in the near future. Something I was sure would benefit him and not me.
I laughed like I would if I was flirting. The trick with older men was to always give them what they expected. A flaky, albeit pretty teenager.
“Oh, Mr. Bennet, I’m not ready for investors. After all, I still have to finish high school. This is just a side gig to keep up with expenses.”
He laughed then, too. “Yes, yes. I guess I can’t help it. It’s the investor in me. Even if I’m retired.”
Was that even possible? Could someone retire from their own hedge fund?
“Enjoy your evening. May the cards be with you.”
He smiled, but I wasn’t getting the sense he was aStar Warsfan.
He left me on the landing then to head down into the basement and take a seat at one of the tables. I tried not to watch him. I didn’t want to see what happened at that table or speculate why someone might use this venue to dump money to Bennet.
It was not my business, despite him being Beth’s father. Her, I needed to watch out for. He was on his own. While I didn’t know much, what I’d told him earlier was true. This life, this seedy, under polite society life, wasn’t new to me. The one thing I knew about it was that you purposefully didn’t see or hear anything you didn’t need to know.
In hindsight, I could see it was stupid to have told Coyle what I’d witnessed.
Lesson learned.
There was another knock on the door. One hard knock, a beat, two quick knocks in succession. The game’s easy password lifted right out of the history lesson I’d learned related to Prohibition. Probably not what I was supposed to take away from that lesson, but whatevs.
I opened the door and let the next gamer in, walking him through the house rules before letting him go downstairs.
It surprised me how many were here tonight. After the football game was over, I’d immediately changed out of my uniform and headed here, only to find the room was already half filled. Clearly these people cared more about gambling than they did the Haddonfield Bulldogs.
No surprises about Fitz pulling out the win, though. He was like a thousand times better than anyone else on the field around him. I still couldn’t believe he was actually Beth’s boyfriend. That those two were now boyfriend and girlfriend, when for so long she’d gone on like she hated Fitz.
I probably should have known better. Janie obviously had.
Was I jealous Beth had a boyfriend before me?
That Janie had been asked out by a guy?
No. Because that would make me a shitty friend. It would also imply I wanted those things.
Immediately, an image of Locke formed in my mind, but I pushed it aside.
I didn’t have the mental energy for boyfriends and dates. It was too complicated. Hadn’t my one date with Locke proved that? No, I needed to be focused on what I could control. That was making money and staying under the cops’ radar.
Not that we really had to worry about the cops. For a few reasons.
One, they were probably counting down the time when they would be expected to break up the post-game party that was no doubt happening. My fellow classmates were probably all at The Woods. Drinking, partying, making out.
I wondered if Locke would go. Maybe look for me there. Or maybe he’d look for me, not find me and move on to some other girl.
Some other girl who didn’t have the kind of hang-ups I obviously did.
