[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Jen said she d send us pictures.Cal heard the wistfulness.You and Mom should take another trip out there.Maybe, maybe in a month or two.We re heading to Baltimore on Sunday to see Marly and herbrood.I saw your great-gran today.She told me she had a nice chat with that writer who s in town.Gran talked with Quinn?In the library.She liked the girl.Likes the idea of this book, too.And how about you?Jim shook his head, contemplated as Sara drew off Cokes for a couple of teenagers taking a breakfrom the arcade.I don t know what I think, Cal, that s the plain truth.I ask myself what good s it goingto do to have somebody and an outsider at that write all this down so people can read about it.I tellmyself that what happened before won t happen againDad.I know that s not true, or most likely not true.For a moment Jim just listened to the voices from the boys at the other end of the counter, the waythey joked and poked at each other.He knew those boys, he thought.He knew their parents.If lifeworked as it ought to work, he d know their wives and kids one day.Hadn t he joked and poked at his own friends here once upon a time, over fountain Cokes andfries? Hadn t his own children run tame through this place? Now his girls were married and gone, withfamilies of their own.And his boy was a man, sitting with worry in his eyes over problems too big to beunderstood.You have to prepare for it to happen again, Jim continued.But for most of us, it all hazes up, itjust hazes up so you can barely remember what did happen.Not you, I know.It s clear for you, and Iwish that wasn t so.I guess if you believe this writer can help find the answers, I m behind you on that.I don t know what I believe.I haven t worked it out yet.You will.Well.I m going to go check on Cy.Some of the evening rollers ll be coming in beforefile://C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\Rar$EX03.813\Nora.3/3/2008BloodBrothers Page 85 of 257long, wanting a bite before they suit up.He pushed away from the counter, took a long look around.He heard the echoes of his boyhood,and the shouts of his children.He saw his son, gangly with youth, sitting at the counter with the twoboys Jim knew were the same as brothers to him.We ve got a good place here, Cal.It s worth working for.Worth fighting to hold it steady.Jim gave Cal a pat on the shoulder, then strolled away.Not just the center, Cal thought.His father had meant the town.And Cal was afraid that holding itsteady this time was going to be one hell of a battle.He went straight home where most of the snow had melted off the shrubs and stones.Part of himhad wanted to hunt Quinn down, pump out of her what she and his great-grandmother had talked about.Better to wait, he thought as he jingled his keys, better to wait then ease it out of her the next day.Whenthey went to the Pagan Stone.He glanced toward the woods where trees and shadows held pockets and rivers of snow, where heknew the path would be muddy from the melt.Was it in there now, gathering itself? Had it somehow found a way to strike outside the Seven?Maybe, maybe, but not tonight.He didn t feel it tonight.And he always did.Still, he couldn t deny he felt less exposed when he was inside the house, after he d put on lights topush away the gloom.He went through to the back door, opened it, and gave a whistle.Lump took his time as Lump was wont to do.But the dog eased his way out of the doghouse andeven stirred up the energy for a couple of tail wags before he moseyed across the backyard to the bottomof the deck stairs.He gave a doggie sigh before clumping up the short flight.Then he leaned his whole body againstCal.And that, Cal thought, was love.That was welcome home, how ya doing, in Lump s world.He crouched down to stroke and ruffle the fur, to scratch between the floppy ears while Lumpgazed at him soulfully.How s it going? Get all your work done? What do you say we have a beer?They went inside together.Cal filled the dog bowl from the bin of chow while Lump sat politely,though Cal assumed a large portion of his dog s manners was sheer laziness.When the bowl was set infront of him, Lump ate slowly, and with absolute focus on the task at hand.Cal pulled a beer out of the fridge and popped the top.Leaning back on the counter he took thatfirst long swallow that signaled the end of the workday.Got some serious shit on my mind, Lump.Don t know what to do about it, think about it.Should Ihave found a way to stop Quinn from coming here? Not sure that would ve worked since she seems tofile://C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\Rar$EX03.813\Nora.3/3/2008BloodBrothers Page 86 of 257go where the hell she wants, but I could ve played it different.Laughed it off, or pushed it higher,so the whole thing came off as bogus.Played it straight, so far, and I don t know where that s going tolead.He heard the front door open, then Fox shouted, Yo! Fox came in carrying a bucket of chickenand a large white takeout bag.Got tub-o-cluck, got fries.Want beer.After dumping the food on the table, Fox pulled out a beer.Your summons was pretty abrupt, son.I might ve had a hot date tonight.You haven t had a hot date in two months.I m storing it up.After the first swig, Fox shrugged off his coat, tossed it over a chair.What sthe deal?Tell you while we eat.As he d been too brainwashed by his mother to fall back on the single-man s friend of paper plates,Cal set out two of stoneware in dull blue.They sat down to fried chicken and potatoes with Lump asthe only thing that lured the dog from food was more food caging fries by leaning against Cal s kneeor Fox s.He told Fox everything, from the wall of fire, through Quinn s dream, and up to the conversationshe d had with his great-grandmother.Seeing an awful lot of the fucker for February, Fox mused.That s never happened before.Didyou dream last night?Yeah.Me, too.Mine was a replay of the first time, the first summer.Only we didn t get to the school intime, and it wasn t just Miss Lister inside.It was everybody.He scrubbed a hand over his face beforetaking a long pull of beer.Everybody in town, my family, yours, all inside.Trapped, beating on thewindows, screaming, their faces at the windows while the place burned.He offered Lump another fry,and his eyes were as dark and soulful as the dog s.Didn t happen that way, thank Christ.But it felt likeit did.You know how that goes.Yeah.Cal let out a breath.Yeah, I know how that goes.Mine was from that same summer, andwe were all riding our bikes through town the way we did.Buildings were burned out, windows broken,cars wrecked and smoking.Bodies everywhere.It didn t happen that way, Fox repeated.We re not ten anymore, and we re not going to let ithappen that way.I ve been asking myself how long we can do this, Fox.How long can we hold it back as much aswe do? This time, the next.Three more times? How many more times are we going to watch people weknow, people we see most every day turn? Go crazy, go mean.Hurt each other, hurt themselves?As long as it takes.file://C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\Rar$EX03 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]