Weekend - By Christopher Pike Page 0,57

aim an inch to the right. "I doubt a blob of red and grey would go with this room's bright yellow, don't you, Kerry?"

She shook her head, her eyes bursting. It was a miracle, Shani thought, that none of them had fainted. A demon had possessed Michael.

"Your throat's dry, I understand," he said. "Park, would you please get Kerry a glass of water from the bathroom? That's a good man."

Kerry accepted the water gratefully, swallowing it in big gulps. Finished, she put the glass down carefully, staring at Michael, a muscle twitching in her neck. But it was Robin who asked the question.

"Did you do it, Kerry?"

Kerry nodded weakly. "I did, yes."

Tears swelled in Robin's eyes. "Do you hate me, too?"

Kerry's voice was hoarse, barely audible. "No, I love you, Robin. But I hate your sister. I hate her more than I can say." She began to cough, the spasm lasting a full minute. They waited and, finally, Kerry answered the mystery.

"My car wouldn't start. It really wouldn't. I wanted Sol to give me a ride home. He said he would. I wanted to talk to him. But Lena wouldn't let him. He even told her to shut up, but she still got her way.

She always gets her way. So I just sat down. I didn't know what to do. Sometimes when I get mad like that, I can't think."

"I had to go to the bathroom, and when Bert was done, I went to go. But Lena got there when I did, and she said she would only be a minute. You see, it happened again. She was always going first."

"I followed Bert into the kitchen. We didn't really talk, and then he left, and I was alone. I was just standing there, doing nothing in particular. I was angry, sure, but I wasn't thinking of doing anything bad.

Then I noticed a bottle inside the cupboard beneath the sink with the wordpoison on it. I picked it up and, it was weird, all of a sudden I didn't feel mad any more. I felt kind of excited. The lid came off. The smell was awful. There was an empty beer mug on the counter, and I just sort of kind of poured some of the bottle in it. For a second, I guess I did think about Lena. But I wasn't hating her at that moment. I wasn't thinking of hurting her. I wasn't really thinking at all. I set the bottle down behind the beer keg.

Then Sol walked in."

Kerry closed her eyes. When she spoke next, her voice was firm, clearer than it had been in a long time.

"I had the glass with the poison in it in my hand. He'd caught me. But he was drunk, and couldn't see straight. But I still had to be quick because the stuff smelled so strong. The keg was right there, so I filled the glass full of beer. I just wanted to get rid of the smell. Sol didn't notice. He picked up some chips and searched around for dip. While he was doing that, I put the insecticide bottle in the ice box. I had to put it somewhere. I wiped it off and hid it behind a milk carton. I guess I must have left the poisoned beer on the counter. When I looked back, Sol had picked it up."

"Lena came into the kitchen. Sol started stumbling all over the place. She took the beer and helped him into the living room. I didn't know what to do! I couldn't say, 'Hey, I put poison in that glass. You shouldn't drink it.' I couldn't, that would have been the end of me at school. As it was, I was barely hanging on. All I could do was follow them. I followed the glass closely. Lena had it, and when Sol sat beside Robin, she gave it back to him. And he gave it to Robin. And... she drank it."

Kerry wasn't crying, but Lena and Robin were. Kerry opened her eyes, staring down at her hands, probably wondering how they could have done such a thing. "I was never sick that night," she said. "I made up the cramp routine to get Shani worried about Robin. And that's all of it. I did it, but I didn't mean to. It was... an accident."

Beyond the shattered window, the wind had quietened and the rain had stopped. Except for the snake outside the door, all was silent. Michael took his box