Kelly didn't ask, but had to assume the reason Chloe didn't walk out, she was looking for a big payday when the old man died.

"His favorite entertainment," Chloe said, "he loves cheerleaders, live ones, with all the cute moves? I've got routines worked out."

"We stand in front of him," Kelly said, "and do cheers?"

"We stand in front of the TV set, on each side of the screen while he's watching a University of Michigan football game, a video. He must have a hundred of them, but only games U of M won. Tonight he wants to watch the '98 Rose Bowl, Michigan and Washington State. He pauses the game while we cheer. I've got little pleated skirts we wear. Tony's idea was to get real Michigan cheerleaders, so he sent Montez to Ann Arbor, see if he could talk a couple of girls into doing it and get paid, like once a week."

"Who's Montez?"

"I told you about him-"

"The houseman?"

"That's Lloyd. They're both black. Montez is Tony's number one, he takes him places, gets things for him."

"Like what?"

"Like me, off my Web page. So Montez tried to get a couple of real cheerleaders to come to the house. He's a cool guy, but could be a pimp in a business suit and the cheerleaders turned him down. He offered to buy their skirts, got turned down again and had a couple made to my size. With pleats, maize and blue. In fact one of the cheers I made up is, 'Go maize, go blue, we're the chicks who'll go down on you.' Tony likes the cheers spiced up. 'We're Big Ten and we are flirty.' Do a double clap, twice. 'When we go down, we go down and dirty.'"

"Yea, team," Kelly said. "You have sweaters with little megaphones on them?"

"It works better topless."

"Uh-unh, not me. Get somebody else."

"I've tried. The one girl I know who loves to do it's out of town this week. I'm hoping," Chloe said, "Tony gets tired of cheerleaders, or one of these nights he gets excited-you know, his old ticker finally quits and he goes out with a big grin."