Read Online Choke: 2 (Pillage Trilogy (Pillogy)) by Obert Skye - Free Book Online Page B

few seconds and then turned and started down the gravel driveway. I felt bad all of a sudden, and my stomach hurt as a good bit of guilt settled over me. I know I’m not exactly the best kid. I’ve tried at times to at least be acceptable, but it doesn’t come easy for me. I’ve heard people talk. Some say that it’s my confusing upbringing, or that I’m a victim of my environment. But deep down I know it’s really just me. I keep hoping that I’ll grow up to be something respectable, but even I wouldn’t bet on that. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Kate or make her parents mad, but for some reason everything I did seemed to work toward that end. I kept telling myself that I was going to change, but at the end of the day I usually just made things stickier.
    “Not this time,” I said aloud to myself. “This time is going to be different.”
    I would have been more convincing if, while I was thinking about going straight, I hadn’t turned around, walked through the woods, and circled back around Kate’s house and over to the bushes behind her window. I had a palm filled with small rocks that I was planning to throw to get her attention.
    Like I said, don’t bet on me changing too quickly.
    I threw one of the small pebbles at Kate’s second-story window. It tinked off the glass and dropped back down onto the ground. I threw two more and they too fell down without a response. I was looking around, contemplating on throwing something bigger when I heard the window open. I glanced up and there she was. Kate was beautiful, some of her red hair was loose in front of her right eye and she had on a blue T-shirt that said “Irish” across the front. There was a smile on her face, but the smile was quickly replaced by a frown.
    “Beck,” she said in a hushed tone. “What are you doing here?”
    There were a million things I should have said to her, but I went with, “What does ‘box your ears’ mean?”
    “What?” she asked confused.
    “Your mom said your dad would box my ears.”
    “She’s just saying that,” Kate told me. “It means he’ll knock your block off.”
    “My block?”
    “Your head.”
    “Well, that’s not very nice.”
    “Beck, is that really why you came to my window?”
    “No,” I said, angry with myself for being unable to have a normal conversation. “I came to see if you’re okay.”
    “I’m fine,” she said, looking from side to side. “But I’m not supposed to talk to you.”
    “I know.”
    “You look pretty scratched up,” she said compassionately. “Are all those scratches from the balloon?”
    “No,” I answered, staring at my arms. The cuts the vicious flowers had given me had actually healed pretty well. Most of them were kind of hard to see now. “And for the record, I really did think it was a ball we were blowing up. These scratches are from a plant. But that’s not important. I found something.”
    “A plant?”
    “It’s a long story,” I waved. “But I found something.”
    “What?” she asked, sounding irritated. “You find a lot of things.”
    “This is different,” I said defensively. “I found a secret passage in the manor. And there was a man.”
    “A secret passage?”
    I nodded.
    “And you found a man?” she added.
    “Kinda. Actually I sort of ran into him. He . . .” I was sick of talking up to her window. “Can’t you come out?”
    Kate looked from side to side and then behind her. She focused her gaze back down toward me. “I do need to deliver eggs.”
    Kate’s family had two huge chicken coops and their chickens produced a lot of eggs. They sold them to locals and a couple of small farmers’ markets in Kingsplot. It was Kate’s job to deliver the eggs to those houses that were not too far from her home.
    “So, can you deliver eggs now?” I asked excitedly. “I know Millie ordered some.”
    “I’m not sure my dad has them ready.”
    “Well, as soon as you can, will you meet me behind my garage?”
    “It might