Another look among the three. Not suspicion exactly, but recalibration.
Mike had Big G's face and Big G's build and had come from the right direction, but something in the register was slightly off, and they were deciding whether to file that under exhaustion or something else.
The nearest one, the tallest of the three, said, "Does Gerald give you trouble?"
"Some," Mike said. "He always does."
"He always does," the taller one agreed, with the particular commiseration of someone who had been in adjacent conversations before. "Same story every time."
'Man's been on the same verse for three years."
"Same verse," Mike said. "He'll have it Wednesday."
"Wednesday." The taller one made a sound that was not quite a laugh. "He said that last Wednesday too."
"He said it this Wednesday as well," Mike said, trying to mimic how Big G talked. "This time there are consequences attached to it."
