“What?”
“CMARM, then SN, like two things.”
“What language was it in?”
“One of the chicas was from the Republic of Georgia. Said it was Georgian. That was lucky, too. Because she said it was one of the world’s unique alphabets.”
“Luck is always good,” I said. “What do the letters mean?”
“Holmes, we just got the translation, not the meaning. She didn’t have any idea.”
“Yeah, well thanks. Say, when are you going to bring my phone?” More snickering.
Atticus said, “Oh, in about five seconds.” They opened the door and came inside. Everyone was grinning. Atticus put the phone on my desk.
I said, “What kind of bill am I going to have this month?”
“Oh, not much.”
“Really?”
“Well, maybe a little more. Consider it our translation fee.”
I sighed, “Okay.”
“Catch you later,” Oscar said and they left, laughing as they closed the door.
I picked up my phone and examined it. No scratches, no dents. I saw it was off, so I pushed the power button. Hondo walked in and saw what I was doing. He stopped behind me to look over my shoulder. When the screen saver came on, I was looking at an image of Atticus and his cronies mooning me.
Hondo said, “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Ha-ha.”
“What did they come up with for the translation?”
“CMARM and S,N.”
Hondo thought for a moment, then said, “Come on.”
“But I haven’t had coffee yet, or even food.”
“I’ll get you something on the way.”
“A breakfast steak?”
“Ha-ha.”
Marcus came up as we stepped out the door and I locked it behind us.
“Where to?” He said.
As we walked to the GTO, I said, “Hondo’s taking us for a breakfast steak and egg and waffle meal.”
“But I already ate.”
“Hey, you’re running with the big dogs now, you gotta keep up.”
Hondo said, “Relax Marcus, only one of us is going to be disappointed this morning.” He glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes and grinned as he jingled the keys to the GTO, “After all, I’m driving.”