Read Online Red the First by C. D. Verhoff - Free Book Online Page B

what do you do when a
girl wants to kiss you?”
    Nate puckered his lips, making a
come-here motion with his fingers.”Plant it right here,
baby.”
    “ No,” Michael rolled his
eyes. “I mean if you’re a kid .”
    “ Back before I knew better,
I ran away,” Nate said.
    “ Now put it
together.”
    “ Ack.” A smile spread across
Nate’s face. “Run.”
    “ Ahh,” came from Blanche.
“Akron.”
    “ Good thinking, son.” Father
Bob said. “So explain the deal with the cops eating
breakfast.”
    “ Cops eat donuts for
breakfast. And donuts are shaped like O’s.”
    “ A little hello,” Professor
Linkletter said, waving the tips of her fingers on her right hand.
“As in…hi. What a clever young man you are.”
    “ I don’t get it.” Red
admitted.
    “ It’s wordplay for the state
of Ohio, Red,” Blanche explained. “Donut. Hi. Donut. Get
it?”
    “ Michael,” Elizabeth hugged
him close. “I’m so proud of you.”
    The crowd squeezed in around him to pat
his head and shake his hand. He looked mighty pleased with himself,
but his eyes went to Red’s as if his adopted father’s approval
mattered the most.
    “ Nobody’s going to figure
out Akron from that,” Red said, too preoccupied thinking about the
incident at Schlotz’s to notice the boy’s crestfallen expression.
Good grief, had he been attacked by an alien scout? As shocking as
the realization of the existence of aliens had been, it had never
crossed his mind that it might be the precursor to an entire
invasion.
    “ Don’t tell me any of you
are taking this talk about space aliens seriously,” Veronica said,
hands on hips. “Especially you, Red. As the mayor of Hewego, you
have a responsibility to keep this kind of nonsense in check. We
wouldn’t want panic tearing down what we’ve worked so hard to
build.”
    “ Lighten up,” Elizabeth
said. “Even if Hank’s a nutter, he’s a human being, and that makes
him family. If the plague has taught me anything, it’s that there’s
nothing more valuable than each other. Let him come.”
    “ Just so long as we agree
there are no space aliens,” Veronica said. “Our cozy little
community is off to a good start. I’d hate to see paranoia spread.
That kind of thing could ruin us.”
    Her words sobered up the party. She had
a point. And if he hadn’t seen what he had seen outside Schlotz’s,
Red might have made a similar speech. Now didn’t seem like the
right time to mention his encounter. His eyes darted to the
ceiling, wondering about who was up there. Were they listening and
perhaps watching? The thought left him cold.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 11
     
    On a hot day in August, Red and
Elizabeth sat in their kitchen eating tomato salad; the cucumbers
and celery had just come in and the combination was refreshing.
They were just chatting about random things from their pasts, with
no particular aim or goal. She talked about the time she hiked the
Grand Canyon with her parents, got bit by a snake, and had to be
airlifted to the nearest hospital. He brought up his four years in
the service and some of his more daring exploits. He mentioned that
he had learned some Arabic during his time in the Middle
East.
    “ I didn’t know you knew any
other languages. Say something,” she encouraged.
    “ You don’t know Arabic. I
could make up words and you wouldn’t know the
difference.”
    “ Humor me.”
    Red obliged and rattled off the first
thing that came to mind.
    “ You ordered a
cheeseburger,” she said.
    “ No—the exact phrase I
thought was: My camel for a cheeseburger with extra onions .
You got the general idea, but your interpretation is way off in the
details.”
    “ Don’t be a
stick-in-the-mud,” she said, her enthusiasm never waning. “I’m
branching out.”
    “ You mean my thoughts are no
longer enough for you?” Red complained as he sipped water. He
hadn’t been exactly happy the day Elizabeth admitted she had been
reading his thoughts since the day they