Read Online The Heavens Rise by Christopher Rice - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Christopher Rice
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thing I know to be true, one hundred percent. Nothing in life is under our control except how we treat people. Nothing.”
It didn’t look like she’d knocked the wind out of him, but those big, bloodshot eyes of his had wandered to some point just behind her, and she realized he had the look of someone reading off a script. And when he spoke again, she was startled to stillness by how devoid of emotion his voice was.
“Junior year we had a transfer student come to Cannon named Suzy Laborde. Her parents didn’t have two pennies to rub together, but Suzy was a killer math student so she got a scholarship and she worked her ass off to stay there. She was from outside Thibodaux, sothat was about a two-hour drive each way. Her mom would have to drop her off near school at six in the morning so she could get back to Houma in time for her first job. So Suzy would have to wander the neighborhood for a couple hours, maybe hang out at gas stations ’cause those were the only places open that time of day. Sometimes Mom and I would see her on the way in and we’d give her a ride. But most people just ignored her.
“She didn’t care that barely anyone would give her the time of day. She didn’t care that she couldn’t afford the nice clothes the other girls wore. She didn’t ask to be invited to anyone’s parties and she sure as hell didn’t expect to be Homecoming Queen. And I don’t think she gave two shits when Marshall Ferriot started spreading rumors that he’d seen a roach crawl out of her shirt during assembly.
“Then she made a mistake, see. We were all in American History class and the teacher had put Marshall on the spot. I can’t even remember what the question was but Marshall didn’t know the answer and the teacher was letting him hang himself. And then Suzy jumped in and corrected him. And she was right. And I remember thinking, Oh shit, Suzy. Now he’s really going to come for you. ”
A sudden spike of emotion caused the kid to suck in a deep breath. Marissa watched, silently, as he gritted his teeth in an attempt to get his composure back.
“Cannon has this big courtyard in the middle of school. And there’s a giant oak tree right in the center with these benches all around it. Suzy and one of the art teachers built this birdhouse for the doves that used to nest in the tree. It was like her thing. She was out there every morning and every afternoon, feeding the birds. Making sure the house was still in one piece.
“One morning, when everyone was in the courtyard before first period, Suzy went to check on the birdhouse and she saw someone had nailed a piece of wood over the opening. And there was a smell coming from inside it, a bad smell. So bad, nobody was sitting near the tree thatday. So she ran and got some maintenance staff and they pulled the board off . . . and I just remember her screaming. Screaming so loud everyone in school could hear. See, there was a security light in the tree right over the birdhouse and whoever had nailed the birdhouse shut had replaced the bulb in it with a heat lamp. The doves had cooked to death overnight.”
“And you think Marshall did it?” Marissa asked.
“I know he did it.”
“How?”
“Because I went to every hardware store in Orleans and Jefferson Parish before I found the clerk who sold him the bulb. And I took what I found to Suzy and I told her we had to go to the upper-school principal. And she begged me not to because if her parents found out that anyone that crazy was threatening her at Cannon, they’d pull her out in a heartbeat. Because they were tired of driving her two hours every day, tired of her needing to be too good to wait tables like her mother. And that’s the only reason Marshall got away with it.”
“Because Suzy asked you not to do anything,” Marissa said.
“All I’m saying, Miss Hopewell, is that maybe you should let yourself off the hook if you were unkind to Marshall Ferriot. Also, they say most coma
It didn’t look like she’d knocked the wind out of him, but those big, bloodshot eyes of his had wandered to some point just behind her, and she realized he had the look of someone reading off a script. And when he spoke again, she was startled to stillness by how devoid of emotion his voice was.
“Junior year we had a transfer student come to Cannon named Suzy Laborde. Her parents didn’t have two pennies to rub together, but Suzy was a killer math student so she got a scholarship and she worked her ass off to stay there. She was from outside Thibodaux, sothat was about a two-hour drive each way. Her mom would have to drop her off near school at six in the morning so she could get back to Houma in time for her first job. So Suzy would have to wander the neighborhood for a couple hours, maybe hang out at gas stations ’cause those were the only places open that time of day. Sometimes Mom and I would see her on the way in and we’d give her a ride. But most people just ignored her.
“She didn’t care that barely anyone would give her the time of day. She didn’t care that she couldn’t afford the nice clothes the other girls wore. She didn’t ask to be invited to anyone’s parties and she sure as hell didn’t expect to be Homecoming Queen. And I don’t think she gave two shits when Marshall Ferriot started spreading rumors that he’d seen a roach crawl out of her shirt during assembly.
“Then she made a mistake, see. We were all in American History class and the teacher had put Marshall on the spot. I can’t even remember what the question was but Marshall didn’t know the answer and the teacher was letting him hang himself. And then Suzy jumped in and corrected him. And she was right. And I remember thinking, Oh shit, Suzy. Now he’s really going to come for you. ”
A sudden spike of emotion caused the kid to suck in a deep breath. Marissa watched, silently, as he gritted his teeth in an attempt to get his composure back.
“Cannon has this big courtyard in the middle of school. And there’s a giant oak tree right in the center with these benches all around it. Suzy and one of the art teachers built this birdhouse for the doves that used to nest in the tree. It was like her thing. She was out there every morning and every afternoon, feeding the birds. Making sure the house was still in one piece.
“One morning, when everyone was in the courtyard before first period, Suzy went to check on the birdhouse and she saw someone had nailed a piece of wood over the opening. And there was a smell coming from inside it, a bad smell. So bad, nobody was sitting near the tree thatday. So she ran and got some maintenance staff and they pulled the board off . . . and I just remember her screaming. Screaming so loud everyone in school could hear. See, there was a security light in the tree right over the birdhouse and whoever had nailed the birdhouse shut had replaced the bulb in it with a heat lamp. The doves had cooked to death overnight.”
“And you think Marshall did it?” Marissa asked.
“I know he did it.”
“How?”
“Because I went to every hardware store in Orleans and Jefferson Parish before I found the clerk who sold him the bulb. And I took what I found to Suzy and I told her we had to go to the upper-school principal. And she begged me not to because if her parents found out that anyone that crazy was threatening her at Cannon, they’d pull her out in a heartbeat. Because they were tired of driving her two hours every day, tired of her needing to be too good to wait tables like her mother. And that’s the only reason Marshall got away with it.”
“Because Suzy asked you not to do anything,” Marissa said.
“All I’m saying, Miss Hopewell, is that maybe you should let yourself off the hook if you were unkind to Marshall Ferriot. Also, they say most coma
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