Vampire High Sophomore Year - By Douglas Rees Page 0,38

to get served in a wine bar.

Turk held out her car keys.

“Want to take a test-drive?” she said.

“That will not be necessary,” Gregor said. “I plan to resell your vehicle as soon as I own it.”

Turk turned away and headed toward her car.

I followed.

“I’ll call as soon as I’ve got the Dumpsters lined up,” I said to Gregor.

“We will be ready,” he said.

As we drove back over the bridge, I said, “Just in case you’re wondering, I have no idea what that Burgundy stuff was about.”

Turk didn’t answer. She didn’t talk all the way home. I think she was saying good-bye to her car.

16

One thing I did when we got home. I showed my dad the notice.

“Hm,” he said when he’d read it. “Looks like you’re being set up, all right. You might want to get a lawyer.”

“Dad, get a grip,” I said. “You’re a lawyer, remember?”

“Somebody important really wants you out of there,” Dad said like he hadn’t heard me. “Funny how everything in life eventually comes down to real estate. It’s the damnedest thing.”

He gave me back the notice.

“So?” I said.

“So, Leach, Swindol and Twist do a lot of business with the town government,” he said. “We’re not in a good position to take this case.”

“Then how about loaning us ten thousand dollars for some Dumpsters?” I said.

“I’ll be in my den,” Dad said, and turned away from me.

“Thanks a lot, Uncle Jack,” Turk said to Dad’s back.

If Dad noticed the dirty looks he was getting from me, Turk, and Mom at dinner, he didn’t show it. And he disappeared back into his den as soon as we were done.

Turk went up to her attic and paced back and forth. We could hear her feet stamping up and down the length of the house.

I looked up the numbers of all the Dumpster places in New Sodom and left messages for them to call me the next day. When I was done, I had a message.

Justin had called.

“Need to talk to you,” he said when I called back.

“Talk,” I said.

“Been thinking about that thing you’re doing out in Crossfield,” he said. “How’s that going?”

“Getting done,” I said. “But we’ve run into trouble.”

And I told him about the Dumpsters.

“But we’ve still got a shot,” I said. “Turk’s selling her car to Gregor, and with that money we should be able to afford enough of them to get the job done on time.”

I made it sound as good as I could. Who knew? Maybe he was calling because he’d decided to help.

That was not the reason.

“Mm-hm,” he said when I was done. “Listen, Cody. I’ve got something to tell you. If you go ahead with this thing, if you turn that old mill into your arts center or anything else, I just don’t see how I can go on being friends with you.”

“What?” I said. I was sure we had a bad connection.

“I mean it, Cody,” Justin said. “You know what that place was.”

I didn’t say anything for a long time. Then I said, “Yeah. But I also know what it could be.”

“No good,” Justin said. “It needs to be let alone.”

Again, I waited before I spoke.

“How’s that going to help?” I finally said.

“Nothing’s going to help,” Justin said. “That’s just the way it is.”

“Justin, this isn’t about forgetting what happened out there,” I said. “It’s about going forward. Together.”

I was dizzy. The idea of losing Justin was so far out there it didn’t seem real. But I knew I hadn’t convinced him.

“Cody. One last time. Please quit,” Justin said.

“I can’t,” I blurted out. “Mercy Warrener wouldn’t like it.”

“Huh?” Justin said. “Mercy Warrener, my ancestor?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I said. “She wanted a place where everybody in New Sodom could come together and do things. She didn’t call it an arts center. But that was her dream.”

“How do you know that?” he asked.

I wanted to tell him. I wanted to get him interested in Mercy Warrener and bring him over to my side. I wanted to tell him about the journal. But a soft voice in my head whispered, Don’t.

“I can’t tell you, exactly,” I said.

Now it was Justin who was silent.

“There’s an old story in the family about her,” he said finally. “She used to say things about how much fun it could be … if things were like you say.”

“Score,” I thought. Jenti take their ancestors very seriously.

“But she sure couldn’t have meant to do it in Crossfield,” Justin finally said.

“No,” I said. “Crossfield’s just where it’s happening.”

My phone