Nish walked back towards the hotel as if the air was filled with falling ticker tape, not snow. Travis had rarely seen his puffed-up pal so full of himself.
“I’m gonna be on ‘Letterman’! I’m gonna be on ‘Letterman’!”
Not we’re going to be on ‘Letterman’! Not Sam and I are going to be on ‘Letterman’! I’m gonna be on ‘Letterman’! If I hear that one more time, thought Travis, I’m – I’m gonna hurl!
They passed Lexington on their way to the little hotel. They were tired, and Mr. Dillinger and Muck had suggested they get back and rest up for the evening game. The two men saw them back to within sight of the hotel and then turned in the other direction. Muck wanted to see the New York Public Library, which might have struck the Owls as a bit odd if it had been anyone but Muck. But they knew him only too well; he’d rather read a book than go to a movie, rather visit an old Civil War battleground than go to DisneyWorld.
Nish and Travis and several of the boys were lagging behind the rest when a strange sound cut through the falling snow.
“Pssssst!”
Travis wasn’t sure it was a voice at first. But then it came again, sharp and fast: “Psssst – Nish!”
They were just passing by a small alley, so narrow a car couldn’t get through. There was a large, dark figure looming there, covered from head to toe in heavy winter clothing.
It was Big!
“Yo! Big!” shouted Nish as if he’d just bumped into a long-lost friend. “Whazzup?”
The New York accent was back.
Big waved them into the shadowed alleyway. “You still want them watches ’n’ things?” he asked.
“Sure do, man,” said Nish. “Right, boys?”
Andy, Fahd, and Wilson all agreed. They pressed closer as Big opened up his “treasure chest.”
Travis couldn’t help himself. It seemed as if the watches and sunglasses had a magnetic quality. They were pulling him into the alleyway.
This time there were no police passing by. Travis supposed they were all tied up with traffic problems. Big didn’t seem at all worried as he showed his fake Rolexes and sunglasses.
Andy, Wilson, Fahd, Jesse, and Derek all bought stuff. Even Travis found his hand reaching for his wallet as he rolled a fancy-looking Swiss Army watch around in the palm of his hand.
“I’m gonna be on ‘Letterman,’” Nish told Big.
Big blinked. He clearly didn’t believe it. A man who dealt in fooling people wasn’t going to be easily fooled himself. “How so, man?”
Nish grinned from ear to ear. “They filmed me skating up at Rockefeller Center.”
“True?”
“True – and I’ll be on again, too, right after I moon ’em all New Year’s Eve.”
Big, who’d been taking money from the other boys, turned with a perplexed look on his face. “You what?”
“We got a plan,” Nish went on. “Fahd here, and Data, he’s back at the hotel, they got it all figured out how we can bump the live broadcast and get my bare butt on the big TV screen over on Times Square.”
Travis wished Nish would just shut up. This was a stupid thing to imagine, let alone tell a total stranger.
But Big was interested. For the first time, he smiled, flashing a gold tooth. Travis did a double take. He hadn’t seen a gold tooth since Sweden, when the Russian mob had kidnapped him and several other peewee hockey players.
He wondered for a moment if Big’s gold tooth was a knockoff, too – maybe made of plastic and painted gold.
“Tell me more,” said Big.
“Fahd and Data are computer geniuses,” said Nish. “We got a video camera and we got a system all figured out where we can bump off the regular programming and get me on for a minute – it’s gonna get me in da Guinness Book of World Records, Big.”
“I’m sure it will,” said Big. “If it doesn’t get you busted.”
“Not a chance,” said Nish. “We got it all figured out – they won’t even know what happened until it’s too late.”
Travis couldn’t help himself. He poked Nish in the ribs. Nish turned slightly and swatted at Travis as if he were a pesky mosquito.
The boys had all the fake watches and sunglasses they could afford. Big rolled up his loot and closed the half-empty briefcase. Travis wondered how much of a killing he’d made. What were the ten-dollar watches really worth? Five? Two?
“See you around, eh, Big?” Nish said as they departed.
“You bet, Nish,” said Big with another flash of his gold tooth. “I’ll watch for you on ‘Letterman.’ ”