"So how much do you need to get out of debt?" he asked as I stood in the group surrounding the courthouse. I held up my hand and spread my fingers. "Five? I need five grand to get my license back?" I said. He held up his hands like he was offering something as he stood at the big doors of the courthouse. "I'll give you five thousand for a night with your wife," he said with a cocksure look on his face. "One night. Five grand. No strings. Think about it," he said putting his hand in his pocket.
I pushed him back and doubled up my fist. "You shit head," I said. "Fuck off." He shrugged and held his hands up in a gesture to indicate surrender. "It's an easy way out," he said. "Just give it some thought," he added. My wife looked over at me and I swear I could see she was smiling. "You need some cash and I'm offering what you need," he said with a smirk. "You'll get her back."
"He's got a point there, Davey," my wife said, calling me by a name she knew I hated.
I looked at my wife and she nodded her head, grinned, and then shrugged, then she began to move toward Rodney, who had just offered to buy her for a night for the amount of money I desperately needed. "He'd be solving your problem," she said with a snarky grin.
"Don't be stubborn," Rodney said. "It sure enough solves your problem. Okay, you're pissed at me, go ahead and be hard headed, but you lose if you refuse. Take what I'm offering you and you get her back tomorrow morning," he said with his jaw set in defiance and a droll expression.
"Fuck off," I said with a snarl. "I don't need your fucking money, but I did and I knew it. "My wife is not to be bargained for."
"Give him the money," my wife said to Rodney, "and I'll go with you. Show us the money," she added with a smirk, "and then take your prize." He reached in his coat pocket and took out an envelope, then took out a wade of cash, counted out five thousand dollars, and held it out to her. Claire took the money and then handed it to me.
"Here," she said. "Go get your license back." Then she took Rodney's arm and began to walk away. "I'll see you in the morning," she said over her shoulder.
I watched him walk away with my wife and held the five thousand dollars in my hand. I looked down at it, then I looked at my wife getting into his truck.
"Go get your license," said someone from the crowd. "She's his for the night, mother fucker."
"That's one expensive piece of ass," someone else said from the group.