"Six, seven, eight, nine...."
I got to my feet. The bell rang before me and Magoon could get together again. I went to my corner. Suddenly behind my manager I saw Sally's worried face.
"You all right, honey?" she asked as I sat down. Someone squeezed a sponge of ice-cold water over my head. It made me shiver. Something was passed under my nose with a strong smell. I gagged.
"You rat," said the manager. "You want to get us all killed?"
"What the devil's eating you?" I asked. I was taking the punishment out there, not him.
"Ha, ha, ha," he said.
"No. Tell me."
"Tell you. You know damn well you was supposed to go into the tank, to take a dive in the very first round. We got paid for it. We're gonna get paid a different way now, boy."
"Are you all right?" Sally asked.