Daylatch closed the door behind Ari and Uncle Ellery.
\n\t\u201cSo why are you here?\u201d he said bluntly, even though Ari was sure he actually did know why.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhy are you calling my loan due?\u201d said Uncle Ellery. \u201cI have ten years left on it according to the contract we signed when the bank lent us the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d said Daylatch, in a voice that didn\u2019t sound sorry at all. \u201cWhat an inconvenience for you. It was a business decision. Pure and simple. As the new owner of DiRosa Savings and Loan, I feel I must eliminate any loans which I consider risky.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMy loan isn\u2019t risky,\u201d replied Uncle Ellery. \u201cI always pay on time, every month, and business is good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t There was a sound in Uncle Ellery\u2019s voice, and a look on his face that troubled Ari, and he didn\u2019t want to see Uncle Ellery afraid. So instead, he looked at the room. Wilton Daylatch\u2019s office. It was dominated by a tall, black desk where Daylatch perched on a stool, glaring down like a spindly vulture. There were pictures on the walls–most seemed old–and an unpleasant collection of mounted animal heads.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cBut a deli?\u201d said Daylatch shaking his head as if scolding a child. \u201cFood service is a highly risky proposition. Are you aware of the percentage of restaurants that fail in their first year? And now, without your brother\u2019s help…\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not a restaurant,\u201d said Uncle Ellery slowly, as if trying to keep his true feelings reined in. \u201cIt\u2019s a deli, we\u2019ve been open eight years, and we\u2019re doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAri noticed that with every word Uncle Ellery spoke his left fist was very discreetly pounding his right hand, and he suddenly realized what his Uncle was afraid of and it wasn\u2019t Wilton Daylatch. It was himself. He was afraid of what he might do to Wilton Daylatch and he was working very hard to keep his temper.<\/p>\n
\n\t It seemed that Daylatch noticed too.
\n\t\u201cStill a fighter Ellery? Still the tough guy, still the scrappy kid I taught at the academy, aren\u2019t you? You still like to work it out with your fists, don\u2019t you? And now, letting your impressive skills go completely to waste slicing lunch meat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t fight anymore Mr. Daylatch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOh…\u201d said Daylatch with frown. \u201cI miss how you used to have to call me \u2018sir.\u2019 You would have said \u2018I don\u2019t fight anymore Sir.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tUncle Ellery didn\u2019t blink. \u201cI don\u2019t fight anymore Daylatch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWell then,\u201d said Daylatch, as if he considered the conversation over. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have the money, I guess you\u2019ll lose your deli.\u201d He shook his head in a creepy attempt to look sympathetic and looked at Ari. \u201cBut at least when you\u2019re evicted there will be a home here for your nephew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m not living here,\u201d said Ari bluntly.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cPerhaps not,\u201d replied Daylatch. \u201cAnd perhaps that\u2019s up to your uncle. Which reminds me…there\u2019s someone I\u2019d like you to meet.\u201d Daylatch fingered the intercom box on his desk.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYes sir?\u201d said the toad lady.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHelga,\u201d said Daylatch. \u201cHas Dudge arrived?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHe\u2019s at the gate sir,\u201d said Helga.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhen he gets here,\u201d said Daylatch, \u201cbring him in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThen he turned to the Soffits. \u201cYou may have heard,\u201d said Daylatch, \u201cthat the Daylatch family has joined forces with Hunker Incorporated, manufacturers of Hunka-Vites vitamins. It\u2019s a perfect arrangement. They have a well-known product, and we have an ready-made workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cKids?\u201d said Uncle Ellery. \u201cYou\u2019re going to make kids work in a vitamin factory?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYou have a problem with that Ellery?\u201d snarled Daylatch. \u201cJust because you had it easy here. But my father, like your brother, alas, is gone…and now I\u2019m in charge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYour father?\u201d said Ari. \u201cDewey?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDewey?\u201d said Daylatch. \u201cDid you say Dewey?\u201d He laughed derisively and turned to the photographs on the wall behind him.
\n\t\u201cThat,\u201d he said pointing to a photo of a stern looking man with a gray beard, \u201cwas my father, Fitzroy Daylatch. He was headmaster when your uncle was a student.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAnd not such a bad guy,\u201d said Uncle Ellery glaring at Daylatch.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cSoft,\u201d replied Daylatch. \u201cEasy to manipulate. But not as soft as Dewey!\u201d He gestured dismissively at the most mangled of the photographs, near the corner of the room. Ari recognized the befuddled, bespectacled face immediately.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDewey Daylatch,\u201d said Wilton Daylatch. \u201cMy great-grandfather, and founder of this institution. Though how he managed to found anything is a profound mystery. They say he took that flea-bitten little mutt with him everywhere, because at least the dog could find its way home. They used to say Dewey couldn\u2019t find his way out of bed without a compass. He\u2019d stand in the middle of the room and say \u2018forty-five degrees northeast\u2019 before he could find his way to the toilet. Hid things for fun, and lost most of it. Crazy. Crazy old man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe door opened suddenly and Helga the stubby secretary waddled in importantly. \u201cMr. Hunker is here sir,\u201d she said, but she\u2019d barely finished speaking before someone else barged into the room behind her.<\/p>\n
\n\tAri could not help but stare. He\u2019d seen this man before. A huge man. Enormous. Uncle Ellery was tall, but this man towered over him. He looked like a bald gorilla. His ruddy red cheeks next to his short white-blond hair were the features that Ari recognized instantly.
\n\t\u201cYou\u2019re the guy in the Hunka-Vites tv ads,\u201d said Ari. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYes,\u201d said Daylatch. \u201cDudge is the son of my new business partner, Leonard Hunker, and he\u2019s well known as the kid who grew up on Hunka-Vites.\u201d Daylatch climbed off his perch, and stood by Dudge, looking utterly dwarfed. \u201cDudge, this young man is Ari Soffit. And over here is your opponent, his uncle, Ellery Soffit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHis Uncle?\u201d growled Dudge in a voice that sounded like a foghorn. \u201cThat\u2019s good. Don\u2019t wanna pound nobody\u2019s Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOpponent?\u201d said Uncle Ellery. \u201cWhat are you talking about Daylatch?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cJust a little thought I had,\u201d said Daylatch. \u201cA sporting way to resolve this nasty loan problem that could help you…or me, depending on which way things go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhat?\u201d Uncle Ellery demanded flatly.<\/p>\n
\n\tDaylatch climbed back onto his perch and smiled cleverly.
\n\t\u201cYou had quite a reputation back in your days at Daylatch Academy. And how well I remember the last punch you threw.\u201d At this his gaze narrowed and a scowl flitted briefly across his face before the oily smile returned. \u201cSurely you\u2019re not completely out of shape? What I\u2019m thinking of is a prize fight, of sorts, eh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat sounds like a really bad idea,\u201d said Ari, eyeing Dudge Hunker.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhat\u2019s the prize?\u201d asked Uncle Ellery.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIf you win, you\u2019re released from your loan. You\u2019ll owe me no money whatsoever. If Dudge wins, well…we won\u2019t dwell on that…let\u2019s just say my wife gets to open her baubles store next to the bank. Oh, and I keep the admission proceeds regardless, for organizing the event.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhy would anyone pay to see this?\u201d asked Uncle Ellery.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhy?\u201d asked Daylatch. \u201cWhy not? Who wouldn\u2019t pay to see the local deli man versus the Hunka-Vites Body? Helga, would you pay to see that kind of fight?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHelga snorted, and looked at Uncle Ellery appraisingly.
\n\t\u201cPay? To see him,\u201d (she pointed at Dudge Hunker,) \u201cpulverize you?\u201d (she pointed at Uncle Ellery.) \u201cHe\u2019ll mash your potatoes! He\u2019ll scramble your eggs! Yeah, I\u2019d pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDaylatch,\u201d said Uncle Ellery. \u201cI regret every time that I ever called you \u2018sir\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNo need to decide right away,\u201d said Daylatch as if he hadn\u2019t heard Uncle Ellery\u2019s comment. He climbed down from his stool and opened the door with a dismissive gesture. \u201cThink it through, let me know. After all, your loan isn\u2019t due for another month. Maybe you\u2019ll think of another way to come up with the money by then, but I doubt it.\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\tDaylatch held the door as Ari followed Uncle Ellery. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAnd don\u2019t worry!\u201d said Daylatch. \u201cIf worse comes to worse, I\u2019m sure we can see that your nephew gets your old bunk…and there may even be an opening in the Fight Club!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tUncle Ellery stopped abruptly.
\n\t\u201cAri,\u201d he said pointing to the glass room, \u201cplease wait for me out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAri looked uncertainly at Uncle Ellery, then shrugged and left the office. He didn\u2019t know what Uncle Ellery had to say to Daylatch, but he supposed it was something like \u201cleave my nephew out of this,\u201d and he didn\u2019t feel like listening to that anyway.
\n\t\u201cOne-hundred and eighty degrees south,\u201d Ari said, thinking about Dewey and his compass as he turned himself toward the exit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Daylatch closed the door behind Ari and Uncle Ellery. \u201cSo why are you here?\u201d he said bluntly, even though Ari was sure he actually did know why. \u201cWhy are you calling my loan due?\u201d said Uncle Ellery. \u201cI have ten years left on it according to the contract we signed when the bank lent us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=150"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions\/316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}