“I sure would.”
When she bounces upstairs to get it, Hodges asks if he can use the bathroom. Once in there, he unbuttons his shirt and looks at his throbbing left side. It seems a little swollen and feels a little hot to the touch, but he supposes both of those things could be his imagination. He flushes the toilet and takes two more of the white pills. Okay? he asks his throbbing side. Can you just shut up awhile and let me finish here?
Dinah has scrubbed off most of her stage makeup, and now it’s easy for Hodges to imagine her and the other three girls at nine or ten, going to their first concert and as excited as Mexican jumping beans in a microwave. She hands him the letter that came with the game.
At the top of the sheet is a rising sun, with the words SUNRISE SOLUTIONS bent over it in an arc, pretty much what you’d expect, only it doesn’t look like any corporate logo Hodges has ever seen. It’s strangely amateurish, as if the original was drawn by hand. It’s a form letter with the girl’s name plugged in to give it a more personal feel. Not that anybody’s apt to be fooled by that in this day and age, Hodges thinks, when even mass mailings from insurance companies and ambulance chasing lawyers come personalized.
Dear Dinah Scott!
Congratulations! We hope you will enjoy your -Zappit game console, which comes pre-loaded with 65 fun and challenging games. It is also WiFi equipped so you can visit your favorite Internet sites and download books as a member of the Sunrise Readers Circle! You are receiving this FREE GIFT to make up for the concert you missed, but of course we hope you will tell all your friends about your wonderful Zappit experience. And there’s more! Keep checking the Fishin’ Hole demo screen, and keep tapping those pink fish, because someday—you won’t know when until it happens!—you will tap them and they will turn into numbers! If the fish you tap add up to one of the numbers below, you will win a GREAT PRIZE! But the numbers will only be visible for a short time, so KEEP CHECKING! Add to the fun by staying in touch with others in “The Zappit Club” by going to zeetheend.com, where you can also claim your prize if you are one of the lucky ones! Thanks from all of us at Sunrise Solutions, and the whole Zappit team!
There was an unreadable signature, hardly more than a scribble. Below that:
Lucky numbers for Dinah Scott:
1034=$25 gift certificate at Deb
1781=$40 gift card at Atom Arcade
1946=$50 gift certificate at Carmike Cinemas
7459=Wave 50cc moped-scooter (Grand Prize)
“You actually believed this bullshit?” Carl Scott asks.
Although the question is delivered with a smile, Dinah tears up. “All right, I’m stupid, so shoot me.”
Carl hugs her, kisses her temple. “Know what? I would have swallowed it at your age, too.”
“Have you been checking the pink fish, Dinah?” Hodges asks.
“Yes, once or twice a day. That’s actually harder than the game, because the pink ones are fast. You have to concentrate.”
Of course you do, Hodges thinks. He likes this less and less. “But no numbers, huh?”
“Not so far.”
“Can I take that?” he asks, pointing to the Zappit. He thinks about telling her he’ll give it back later, but doesn’t. He doubts if he will. “And the letter?”
“On one condition,” she says.
Hodges, pain now subsiding, is able to smile. “Name it, kiddo.”
“Keep checking the pink fish, and if one of my numbers comes up, I get the prize.”
“It’s a deal,” Hodges says, thinking, Someone wants to give you a prize, Dinah, but I doubt very much if it’s a moped or a cinema gift certificate. He takes the Zappit and the letter, and stands up. “I want to thank you all very much for your time.”
“Welcome,” Carl says. “And when you figure out just what the hell this is all about, will you tell us?”
“You got it,” Hodges says. “One more question, Dinah, and if I sound stupid, remember that I’m pushing seventy.”
She smiles. “At school, Mr. Morton says the only stupid question—”
“Is the one you don’t ask, yeah. I’ve always felt that way myself, so here it comes. Everybody at North Side High knows about this, right? The free consoles, the number fish, and the prizes?”
“Not just our school, all the other ones, too. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Yik Yak . . . that’s how they work.”
“And if you were at the concert and you could prove it, you were eligible to get one of these.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What about Betsy DeWitt? Did she get one?”