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” Thanks. I will be owing you like you owe Frank,” Eddie reminded Rodney where their conversation ended yesterday.“ No one but Frank and I have this information.”“ Then it will only be the three of us. You have my word. Even Tanya won’ t hear it from me.”“ What did you tell her about last night?”“ That you had an apartment close by with a comfortable couch. It was the truth. She told me to be a good house guest and don’ t put Rodney out.”“ She is a sweet lady. I may have given you some bad advice about Sam, unless, of course, Tanya is in on the action. But somehow I doubt she is going to go for that program,” Rodney said, as Eddie nodded to all the statements. Rodney began as a walk-on trying out for the New Orleans Saints, having family living close by willing to put him up for a while. Surely some tickets would find their way home.
After making it through round after round of cuts, his goal seemed attainable. Suiting up for the first pre-season game, he shined, making a couple of solitary tackles and sacking the quarterback twice. His hard play was noticed, earning him more playing time in the next game. Being carried off the field before the regular season started with a blown out right knee, in that second game, was how his football career ended. The doctors said he would never play again, which prompted him to prove them wrong. For the next year he worked at rebuilding the damaged knee. The first day of tryouts put enough strain on the almost ready joint to have it pop loud enough for everyone on the field to hear. Another year of rehab brought the knee to seventy-five percent. Not good enough for the NFL, but he didn’ t have a noticeable limp. The construction jobs allowed him the money to get drunk every night and tell his sad story. One particular night someone listens to his story and buys drinks. The guy offered to help him get rid of some of that pent up anger when Rodney stated he was mad enough to kill. The booze may have had something to do with the next question out of his mouth.“ How much we talking about?” The little weasel admitted he didn’ t know the going rate. Rodney explained it depended upon how high up the food chain the mark landed. As if he did this kind of thing all the time.
Eddie got the picture.“ Someone tried to hire you to kill Frank?”“ Did hire. I took twenty grand up front with twenty waiting for the job to be completed. I told you, I was in a bad place.” Rodney said, tapping the side of his shaved head and continued. Pictures, addresses and general information were provided. Rodney had followed Frank for a couple of days before seeing an opportunity. Grabbing Frank’ s arm and sticking a gun in his ribs did not get the intended reaction. Frank’ s calmness threw the big man, all he asked was,“ Who?” Not that it mattered since he would be dead shortly, Rodney told him he only knew the guy as,“ Dave”. Frank described Dave as a tall, skinny guy, with dark hair, who blinks a lot. Rodney confirmed the description.“ How much?” Rodney explained the details of the transaction because they had not reached the spot chosen for Frank’ s final resting place. It was at that time Rodney realized, tearing a man’ s head off on the gridiron and putting a bullet in someone were worlds apart.“ You knew?”“ You have been following me for two days. You are a little too big to be inconspicuous. The first time for this kind of thing is always the hardest. You don’ t have to do this.”“ What makes you think you are my lucky first?”“ Confidence, intuition and the fact that Davey has never gotten anything right in his entire, fuck everything up, life. What makes you think Davey is going to pay you the other twenty grand when the job is finished?”“ You don’ t know that.”“ I know how he does business. Why don’ t we go discuss this over a couple of drinks?”“ Not a good idea.”“ What proof will you have to provide, to show that I’ m dead?”“ He said the day you didn’ t show up for work was the day you were gone.”“ Then if it’ s worth twenty thousand dollars to kill me, pull the fucking trigger.”