Free Everything on the Line by Bob Mitchell

that, for Ira Spade, are his version of I love you .
    “Listen, I’ve told you a zillion times, this is something any self-respecting predator dreams of, an opponent with a weakness, remember? A shark smells blood. A lion goes for the wounded. And Bellezza’s weakness is he can’t friggin’ hear ! So we can smell the blood, but what do we do about it?”
    Jack Spade shrugs.
    “Well, I’ll tell you first of all what we’re not gonna do. In Barcelona, you heard how that Frenchie sap Corbière got soft on him after he had him down. That’s what’s been wrong with his opponents. They get soft in the belly, all weepy and teary-eyed, and they go, ‘Oh, how sad. I feel so terrible for this poor kid.’ And before they know it, they’re dead meat, 6-0, 6-1, 6-0. And so he tried to disguise his shots, but how long did that brilliant ploy last? Nope, this kid Bellezza is too goddam good and too goddam smart for that one, and he figured it out.”
    Jack gives his father that goofy confused doggie look.
    “No, we have to be better and smarter if we’re gonna jump on his weakness, his Achilles ear. We gotta do it by… visual disruption and distraction .”
    Jack is now a Doberman who has just heard a prowler.
    “For starters,” Ira continues, “Odi did some research, and he discovered that the most distracting visual thing your opponent can be looking at is your racquet strings. So I had Odi do some more research, and he found out that the most distracting strings are multicolored. So for the French Open, I’m having all your racquets strung with the colors of the rainbow!”
    Ira makes the thumbs-up sign. The Doberman does, too.
    “And I also had Odi consult an optical designer, who has made you a really rad, funky pair of sunglasses that you’re gonna wear when you play this guy. They are constructed in such a way that they reflect glints of light right in the eyes of the person looking at ’em,” Ira says, eyeing his son diabolically.
    Fido gets his drift.
    “Plus, Nike is designing for you an all-black outfit that you’ll be debuting at the French. So let’s see how smart you are: Why black ?”
    Rover thinks it over but, clueless, shrugs again.
    “Well, I’ll tell you why. Black is powerful. Black is intimidating. Black is a color our old friend Charlie Darwin would have approved of for a tennis survivor. Because if you wear black, you have a leg up. You are telling your opponent that you are strong, you are b-b-b-bad to the bone . That it is you who will survive in the jungle. It’s like those animals I always tell you about that appear bigger than they are. The frog that blows up its throat. The grouse that puffs up its chest. The iguana that raises its dewlap. The Jack Spade dressed all in black, get it? Plus, black absorbs the heat and makes you more uncomfortable, and that’s how we like it! It’s gonna toughen you up even more, especially when it’s beastly hot and humid like it is now.”
    Jack has nearly recovered his breath from the workout and would kill for a cold shower, but he can feel the next tidal wave of his father’s rant approaching.
    “Now, do you know the meaning of the word sinister ?”
    Jack thinks he does but declines to have the floor.
    “Well, I’ll tell you. In Latin, it means left .”
    Ira waits for a reaction from his son, but to no avail.
    “Left, as in lefty ?”
    Nada.
    “You see, lefties have always been and always will be seen as sinister characters, as devious and to be feared. As opposed to righties, who, from the Latin word dexter , are dexterous and to be trusted. Now, on the tennis court, it’s far better to be feared and sinister because it gives you the upper hand. And since, as I’ve always told you, tennis is a game where what separates the great from the good is the mental aspect of it, the strength of mind, you’re looking for any psychological advantage you can gain over your opponent, however you can get it, even if it’s the simple fact that