Vampire High Sophomore Year - By Douglas Rees Page 0,37

crossed the bridge and pulled up in front of us. A city car. The twin snakes of New Sodom were painted on the door.

A pudgy guy with a pleasant face got out. He had a piece of paper in his hand.

“You the homesteaders?” he said.

“I am. We are,” I said, jerking my head toward Turk.

“This is for you, then,” the pudgy guy said, and slapped the paper into my hand.

“What is it?” Turk said.

At the top of the paper were the words NOTICE TO CLEAN PREMISES. Below was some legalese telling me that my property was an eyesore and a health hazard, which was true enough, and giving me thirty days to clean the property or lose my claim. Only the word thirty had been crossed out, and the word three written in above it.

“This is kind of an interesting old form,” the guy said. “I’ve never delivered one like it. You guys are the first homesteaders I ever cited.”

“You know,” Turk said, “this place doesn’t look too different from the other ones around here. Do they all get citations, too?”

“No.” The guy shrugged. “There’s nobody responsible for most of ’em. Nobody we can find. But you guys are here, and you’re responsible.”

“Did you cross out this number?” I asked, pointing to the three.

“Not me,” the guy said. “I just deliver ’em. Rain or shine, weekdays or Sundays.”

“But why is it crossed out at all?” I said.

“Everything happens faster these days,” the guy said. “Back when this form was printed, a month was probably like three days now.”

“We need an extension,” I said.

“Oh, you get that down at the department,” the guy said. “The thing is, it takes thirty days to process a request. And you’ve only got three, so—” He shrugged.

Vladimir growled.

The guy lost his grin and backed toward his car.

“Well, good luck,” he said, and drove off, bouncing over the potholes and looking back over his shoulder.

“I get the feeling somebody doesn’t like us,” Turk said.

“Nobody likes you,” I said.

“Big joke,” Turk said.

“He is right. Nobody likes you,” Gregor said, and his guys snickered.

Turk ignored them.

I looked down toward the trees at the river’s edge. Somebody was watching this place for sure. Somebody who had enough clout to get a guy from city hall to come out on Sunday with a carefully modified citation.

“There’s only one thing we can do,” I said. “We have got to get this place cleaned up. We need Dumpsters. Anybody know anything about getting Dumpsters?”

“They cost hundreds of dollars,” Turk said. “I rented one once for an art piece. Wiped out my budget.”

I looked at the piles of junk around us. Some of them stood higher than my head.

“We’re going to need at least ten big ones,” Turk said. “I could maybe afford six.”

“I can get the rest,” Gregor said.

“Like hell,” Turk said. “I don’t want to owe you anything.”

She turned to me. “Want to buy my car?”

“Not even if I had the money,” I said.

Gregor was looking at Turk like she’d slapped him, which she pretty much had. “You are a stupid, arrogant girl,” he said.

“I don’t take favors from anybody,” Turk said.

“It is not a favor,” Gregor said. “I want to keep my rooms here. That will be hard now that someone knows—that the city knows—”

“This is about those marks, isn’t it?” I said.

“Never mind,” Gregor said. “You want no favors, and I give you none. But I will buy your worthless car for whatever price is fair. And please do not think for one moment that I do this for you, stupid gadje cow.”

Turk looked down at the ground. “All right, damn it. Three thousand.”

“Done,” Gregor said. “You will have the money tomorrow. But can all this be cleaned so quickly?”

“It’ll have to be, or we lose this place,” I said. “Are you guys willing to skip school?”

This was like asking jenti if they wanted to go swimming at the beach. They just didn’t do it.

Gregor turned to Vladimir, Ilie, and Constantin. “We will get these Dumpsters, and you will all join me. We will forget school for that day.”

“Forget school?” Ilie said.

“All day?” Vladimir said.

“Like gadje?” Constantin said.

“Exactly like gadje,” Gregor said. “This is for Burgundy,” he added.

Then he walked over to them and put his hand straight out.

“Burgundy,” he repeated.

“Burgundy,” Ilie said, putting his hand on top of Gregor’s.

“Burgundy,” Constantin said, slapping his hand down on Ilie’s.

“Burgundy,” Vladimir said, and put his hand on top of the stack.

“Burgundy, Burgundy, Burgundy, Burgundy,” they chanted.

It sounded like they were trying