think they got in the bags?” whispered Data.
Nobody answered. But I think we all had an idea.
Jake, Francis, and Mama came right back out again and got in the car and drove off.
The wind started to blow, that old October wind, and I got this warm sort of flush all over, the way I feel when they give
me a shot for asthma in the emergency room,kind of excited but real, real calm. “Hey,” I said, “the place is ours.”
They all looked at me. I felt… I don't know, magic somehow.
Chunk looked scared and sick. “Our parents are gonna be worried, guys. C'mon, let's go home.”
“What home?” I snapped at him. I didn't like snapping at Chunk, but it just came out. “In a couple more hours it's not gonna
be
home anymore.” And then it all spun around my mind, all at once—the crazy old lady with the taste for tongues, and the thing
in the basement, and the bags that probably had bodies in them, and how brave I wasn't, and the car with the bullet holes
in it that might've been chased by the cops earlier that day, so maybe that meant there was a reward for these guys, mean-lookin'
Jake and fruity Francis, and how even if everything went wrong, these guys weren't gonna kill five kids, and how there was
absolutely without doubt a major treasure in there somewhere, and it was ours if we could follow the map, and how the eviction
tomorrow was sad but in a funny way real free, like there was nothin' to lose anymore, and everything before this moment was
ancient history, and only this ancient map was real. It was a map of right now, and I was magic in this Halloween wind, I
knew I was. I was in some kind of groove, like when you know you made the basket the second the ball leaves your fingers,
like I was hearing this music no one else could hear, like it was a perfect chord, and not only that, but I'd heard it before.
You know what I mean?
So I tried to explain it to the guys. “C'mon, guys. This is
our time
. Our
last time
.” That's the only way I could explain it.
I pulled the map from my pocket and tried to read it. It was too dark, though. “Anybody got a match?” I said.
A small flame appeared. Then a second. We looked up. There, holding two matches, were Andy and Stef.
Andy's eyes sparkled in the match light, they were so clear. But her hand was shaking, and it was obvious right away that
she didn't much like being in a cemetery. “Hi, Brand,” she said.
Brand smiled and let go of me.
Stef sat next to Mouth. “Whatcha doin' in the graveyard?” She winked at him. “Diggin' up new girlfriends?”
“Don't knock it,” he cracked. “Stiffs are a lot warmer than you.”
I knew we were gonna do it then. Stef and Mouth would egg each other on, and besides, Mouth would think of how he could mouth
off about it at school on Monday. And Brand would want to impress Andy and show her how cool he was and tougher than jerky
Troy Perky. And Chunk would want to make up stories about it for years, and he'd never live it down if we all did it and he
didn't, and we had wilder stories than his, and ours were true. And Data would never have another chance like this to really
do something like 007. And I
told
you all
my
reasons. And if all the rest of us were gonna have this adventure, I was damn sure Andy wasn't gonna just sit here in this
creepy old graveyard all by herself. So, all of a sudden right then, I just knew we were gonna do it. So I lit another match
and studied the map.
Brand looked kind of puzzled at Andy. “What're you doin' here?”
“We followed you. We drove around with Troy for a while, but he was being a real spas-ass—you know, tilting the rearview mirror
so he could look down my shirt.” She shrugged, real cool. “So I elbowed his lip.”
Brand smiled like he liked that answer. I didn't pay much attention to them after that, though—I was toointerested in figuring out exactly where we were on the map. And where we were going.
“Okay,” I said,
Nobody answered. But I think we all had an idea.
Jake, Francis, and Mama came right back out again and got in the car and drove off.
The wind started to blow, that old October wind, and I got this warm sort of flush all over, the way I feel when they give
me a shot for asthma in the emergency room,kind of excited but real, real calm. “Hey,” I said, “the place is ours.”
They all looked at me. I felt… I don't know, magic somehow.
Chunk looked scared and sick. “Our parents are gonna be worried, guys. C'mon, let's go home.”
“What home?” I snapped at him. I didn't like snapping at Chunk, but it just came out. “In a couple more hours it's not gonna
be
home anymore.” And then it all spun around my mind, all at once—the crazy old lady with the taste for tongues, and the thing
in the basement, and the bags that probably had bodies in them, and how brave I wasn't, and the car with the bullet holes
in it that might've been chased by the cops earlier that day, so maybe that meant there was a reward for these guys, mean-lookin'
Jake and fruity Francis, and how even if everything went wrong, these guys weren't gonna kill five kids, and how there was
absolutely without doubt a major treasure in there somewhere, and it was ours if we could follow the map, and how the eviction
tomorrow was sad but in a funny way real free, like there was nothin' to lose anymore, and everything before this moment was
ancient history, and only this ancient map was real. It was a map of right now, and I was magic in this Halloween wind, I
knew I was. I was in some kind of groove, like when you know you made the basket the second the ball leaves your fingers,
like I was hearing this music no one else could hear, like it was a perfect chord, and not only that, but I'd heard it before.
You know what I mean?
So I tried to explain it to the guys. “C'mon, guys. This is
our time
. Our
last time
.” That's the only way I could explain it.
I pulled the map from my pocket and tried to read it. It was too dark, though. “Anybody got a match?” I said.
A small flame appeared. Then a second. We looked up. There, holding two matches, were Andy and Stef.
Andy's eyes sparkled in the match light, they were so clear. But her hand was shaking, and it was obvious right away that
she didn't much like being in a cemetery. “Hi, Brand,” she said.
Brand smiled and let go of me.
Stef sat next to Mouth. “Whatcha doin' in the graveyard?” She winked at him. “Diggin' up new girlfriends?”
“Don't knock it,” he cracked. “Stiffs are a lot warmer than you.”
I knew we were gonna do it then. Stef and Mouth would egg each other on, and besides, Mouth would think of how he could mouth
off about it at school on Monday. And Brand would want to impress Andy and show her how cool he was and tougher than jerky
Troy Perky. And Chunk would want to make up stories about it for years, and he'd never live it down if we all did it and he
didn't, and we had wilder stories than his, and ours were true. And Data would never have another chance like this to really
do something like 007. And I
told
you all
my
reasons. And if all the rest of us were gonna have this adventure, I was damn sure Andy wasn't gonna just sit here in this
creepy old graveyard all by herself. So, all of a sudden right then, I just knew we were gonna do it. So I lit another match
and studied the map.
Brand looked kind of puzzled at Andy. “What're you doin' here?”
“We followed you. We drove around with Troy for a while, but he was being a real spas-ass—you know, tilting the rearview mirror
so he could look down my shirt.” She shrugged, real cool. “So I elbowed his lip.”
Brand smiled like he liked that answer. I didn't pay much attention to them after that, though—I was toointerested in figuring out exactly where we were on the map. And where we were going.
“Okay,” I said,
Similar Books
