“He still seemed very touchy. Especially when I mentioned Hand.”
“Hand’s his benefactor,” K.J. said. She shoveled some salad into her mouth. A kid on a motor scooter zipped by on the street.
“Benefactor?” Tony asked. The crab cakes came with a rice pilaf, which he worked slowly and with little enthusiasm.
“Avis is local,” K.J. explained. “His father was a groundskeeper at the university for years. Hand knew the family pretty well, hired Avis to mow his lawn during summers. Even gave him a scholarship, a pretty generous one for a B-student and a backup wide receiver. So yeah, Avis is a little protective as far as Hand and the university are concerned.”
“Protective enough to…”
K.J. interrupted him by bursting into loud, obnoxious laughter. She snorted. Beer dripped down her chin.