Double Play by Nikki Duvall Read Free Book Online Page B

kids looking for a better future. Ten
thousand dollars will put books in their hands and shoes on their feet. It’ll
send one of your shining stars to college. Tell me you won’t just go and talk
to John for them.”
    Halee
stormed off with a full tray of beers to a rowdy table of disappointed Cubs
fans. “What’s Tony doing here?” asked Rita in passing.
    “He
wants me to go see J.D.”
    “What
for?”
    “For
ten thousand dollars.”
    Rita
dropped her jaw. Halee strode back to the bar and snatched the check from
Tony’s outstretched hand.
    “Good
girl,” said Tony. He threw out a hundred dollar bill. “Get yourself a new dress
while you’re at it.”
    “I
didn’t say I’d seduce him, Tony. I said I’d talk to him.”
    “Honey,
when you two get together, it’s like a room full of fireworks. Prepare for
blastoff.”

~FIVE~
    Halee
made one more round through the apartment, spraying floral air freshener behind
her. It was probably just her imagination, but everything in this run down
studio apartment smelled like tequila and sex. She should have taken the Anne
Klein dress to the cleaners. The home inspector from social services was due
any minute. If word got out about her loose behavior with the infamous J.D.
Shaw, she could kiss this adoption goodbye.
    The
doorbell rang. Halee’s heart jumped into her throat. She straightened her
pressed blouse, painted on her best virgin smile, and opened the door.
    A
middle aged man in a tan knit suit tipped his fedora. “Buenos Dias, Senora. Es
Usted Halee McCarthy?”
    “Si,
Senor.”
    “Yo
soy Ricardo Sanchez, de Social Services, de Ciudad Chicago,” said the man. He
stared at her reddish blonde hair and green eyes with a puzzled expression.
    “Hablo
Ingles.”
    Ricardo
checked his papers with a furrowed brow. “You are Gringo?”
    “Si.
I mean, yes,” said Halee with a giggle. “My parents were Irish, actually.”
    Ricardo
bowed slightly. “My apologies, Senora.”
    “Senorita,”
Halee corrected.
    Ricardo
furrowed his brow. “Not married?”
    “No.”
    “Engaged
to be married?”
    “No.”
    He
paused. “But you want baby?”
    “Yes.
Please,” said Halee, stepping aside, “come in.”
    “No
husband, no baby,” said Ricardo as he entered the apartment. He removed his
fedora and looked for a place to set it down.
    “That’s
not true,” countered Halee, taking his hat and hanging it on a hook by the door.
“Single women adopt all the time.”
    “We’ll
see.” He looked around the shabby living room with a clear measure of
disapproval. “Fire extinguisher?”
    Halee
walked into the kitchen, reached down next to the old gas stove and held up a
giant red extinguisher as evidence.
    “Fire
escape?”
    “I’m
on the first floor,” said Halee.
    “Bathroom?”
    She
cocked her head toward a short hall leading toward the back of the apartment.
Ricardo walked in that direction. She heard the medicine cabinet door creak
open and shut, then the toilet flushed. Ricardo came out, checking off items on
his clipboard.
    "Where
is the bedroom?"
    "I
don't have one."
    Ricardo
adjusted his glasses. "And where would the baby sleep?"
    "I
have a pull out couch," said Halee, motioning to the sagging brown velour
model that took up most of the apartment's real estate.  "I figure I can
put a crib next to the sofa."
    "Santa
Maria," mumbled Ricardo. He looked her up and down with squinted eyes.
“You had a physical examination, yes?”
    “Yes.”
    “You’re
too skinny. You Gringo girls don’t eat.  How about your husband?”
    “No
husband,” Halee reminded him.
    “Tsssk.
How old?”
    “How
old am I?”
    Ricardo
nodded.
    “Twenty
four.”
    “Tsssk.”
He walked over to the refrigerator and pulled the door open, peering inside and
taking notes. “Catsup, milk. Nothing else?”
    “I
need to go shopping.”
    Ricardo
released a heavy sigh. “No husband, no food,” he murmured, marking his
checklist and shaking his head.
    “I
can get food.”
    “But
no