* * *
Tucker quickened his pace, determined to get as far away from Trent Nord as possible. ‘Damn that little idiot,’ he grumbled to himself. ‘Why did he have to be in town today and why the hell is Rex here? Ubb it!’
He reached an electronics store and, checking first that nobody he knew was in there, stepped inside. He breathed easy; satisfied he was well out of Rex’s way. He’d really wanted to play some games for a bit, but it looked like he’d have to be satisfied with just looking at what was available in the shop.
He checked his watch. He had an hour before he had to meet up with Rod at the stadium. They had picked him up as they said - Rod and three of his pals. They had made fun of him all the way into town and left him on his own, saying they were going to a bar for a while. Tucker didn’t really mind that as it meant he could avoid their heckling for a bit. He began to wonder though, whether it was really worth the hassle, going to the game with them. They’d probably taunt him throughout the entire thing.
He began to browse through some of the game titles on the shelves, wishing he had a games machine at home that he could play some of them on. However, his mother refused to have them in the house, insisting that all Tucker would be doing was sitting in front of the TV set playing them all the time.
‘You don’t need to be sitting in front of that TV set all day!’
Yet it was fine for her to do just that, watching daytime TV all day and never going out to work, making her son work instead. He sighed. Even if he did have a gaming machine, he’d never have time to play it for simply that reason. He was either at school or at the pub working.
‘Tucker, what are you doing here?’ The uncomfortably familiar male voice came from behind him and he spun around to see Rex, Vanessa and an unknown man peering at him.
Dread filled his body. He scanned the store to make sure Trent wasn’t anywhere nearby and relaxed a little when he saw he wasn’t. ‘Err... Hi. I... I’ve got the day off.’
‘Oh yeah?’ Rex smiled. ‘Let me guess. You’ve been called on to play for the Bulls, filling in for Jack Ronalds who had to pull out due to illness.’
‘Oh... yeah, right. That’s right.’ It seemed to Tucker to be a reasonable excuse and if Rex already suggested it, it would surely mean it was a valid reason. ‘How did you know?’
Rex smirked. A playful gleam appeared in Vanessa’s eyes, but the man behind her just stared blankly at him.
Vanessa spoke in her usually angelic manner ‘Tucker, how come you never told any of us you were playing for the Taranaki team?’
‘Well, you know, I don’t like to blow my own trumpet...’
‘But that’s just it, you do. In fact, you normally do so much trumpet blowing it sounds like a crazed herd of elephants is on the rampage.’
Rex smirked. ‘Ok, now that we’re done with the fantasy, what’s the real reason you’re here? To see the game?’
Tucker’s heart sank, realising now they were only toying with him. ‘Yeah. Rod Williams invited me.’
Rex’s left eyebrow rose. ‘Rod Williams?’
‘Yeah, I work with him.’ He couldn’t help but embellish the truth a little, ‘In fact I supervise him at the pub.’
‘Oh right...’ Vanessa said. ‘You’re the head bartender there, right? You do the old juggling of bottles and glasses and serving up of cocktails, right?’
‘That’s right.’ Tucker beamed.
‘And then you wake up and realise you’re actually only in the kitchen scrubbing glasses.’
‘Yeah... I mean NO! I do serve drinks, honestly!’
‘Anything you say, Tucker.’ Rex chuckled. ‘But really, Rod invited you? Are you kidding with us?’
‘Oh no, Tucker would never kid,’ Vanessa said with her gorgeous smile still on her face. ‘You’ve got to remember that when someone lives in a delusion, they really do believe everything they say.’
‘But he did,’ Tucker said. ‘I’m meeting up with him soon.’
Rex eyed him silently for a few seconds and finally spoke, ‘Ok, Tucker. Well you enjoy the game. Don’t go putting a curse on the Bulls by your mere presence now, will you?’
‘Would I do that?’
‘Not intentionally.’