Read The Long Game for Free Online Page B

put up a hand to stop me.
    “Shay, I didn’t send for you
to get an apology. No one was hurt, and nothing was damaged. I know
you boys were letting off a little steam.” He flashed a patriarchal
smile. “ Gotlath noks yahr. And with four sons, I know that better than
anyone.”
    I was familiar with the saying, but I rarely
spoke the secret cant of the Travelers and had to search my memory
for its meaning. It came to me after a second.
    “Youth likes to wander,” I said back in
English. “I’m not entirely sure what you mean, sir.” This seemed
too easy. He wasn’t angry enough, and I wondered if Rosie had lied
for me or for herself.
    “I suppose that’d be my way of saying young
people will sometimes stray from their path, but it’s not the end
of the world.” He chuckled. “Youth likes to wander, Shay. Sometimes
it can lead to drinking a little too much at a party and picking a
fight. Sometimes it can lead to a small indiscretion behind a
trailer.”
    I sucked in a sharp breath. My mind raced
with all the explanations I’d made up during the restless period
between last night and this morning, but none of them seemed right
now.
    The old man barked with laughter. “You look
like a fresh-caught fish,” he said.
    “Sir, I’m not sure what—” I stopped. What did
he know? What had Rosie and Judd told him?
    “If you have something to
say, sublia —” Pop
used the cant word for boy. “—now’s the time to say it.”
    I felt like my stomach was full of stones. If
I were caught in a lie, it would only make things worse. “I know I
shouldn’t have left the pavilion with Rosie last night, sir,” I
said to my knees. “I guess I just got caught up in the celebration
and all. Prince had every right to try and whoop me for it, but I
swear it’ll never happen again.”
    To my surprise, Pop Sheedy laughed again, so
hard tears welled in the corner of his eyes.
    “Shay, are you so naïve as to believe I
didn’t notice the two of you sneaking off? We protect our children
in this clan, even when all they need protection from is their own
hormones.” He erupted into another round of rasping laughter,
slapping his palm onto his desk with a loud thwack. “Believe me
when I say, I wouldn’t have let either of you get into too much
trouble.”
    I shifted uncomfortably in the rigid chair,
wondering how closely he’d been watching. “So I’m not in trouble?”
I asked when Pop Sheedy had finally stopped guffawing at his own
cleverness.
    “You’re not in trouble, and that son of mine
was awfully sorry to hear it. But there’s one reason you haven’t
been dragged for this and one reason only.”
    I stiffened. Dragging was what I’d been most
afraid of—more than getting my ass kicked by all four Sheedy boys.
Dragging meant rumors, open hostility, and shunning. It would ruin
any chance I had of improving my position in the clan. It would
ruin my entire family. “What reason?”
    “The reason is this: I think you could be a
great asset. I’ve watched you since you were a tiny thing, and it’s
clear to me you’ve got…” He paused as if searching for the right
word, “…potential. Tomorrow, you’re getting an opportunity to prove
I’m right in keeping your little slip-up quiet. An arrangement was
made to sell a trailer to a fella down in Terrebonne Parish.”
    I frowned. “Don’t trailer sales usually take
a while to set up?”
    “Wedding plans weren’t the only thing
happening this week. We put an ad in the papers a few days ago
hoping a gull would bite while everyone was back home for the
celebration, and it looks like we had a bit of luck. You’ll be
headed down there first thing tomorrow morning with Jimmy Boy.”
    “Yes, sir,” I said. This was exactly the
opportunity I’d been waiting for. Jimmy Boy and I had run our fair
share of driveway paving scams and pigeon drops, but we’d never had
the means to get into trailer sales. My excitement threatened to
overwhelm me, but I tried to