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Jenks jogged down to hirabbed the other end of the twenty-foot pole It was heavier than he&039;d thought He grunted, tucked it up under his arued into a wheezing grunt "A little project for the professor"
They waddled down the hall Jenks started to sweat He asked, "What&039;s his deal anyway?"
"Valentine?"
"Uh-huh"
"He&039;s crazy," Eubanks said "Oh, not in a bad way Not dangerous-like I think he just likes it on campus I think he&039;s unhappy with the rest of the world Here on caenius"
"How&039;s that?"
"Pulitzer Prize"
"Oh" Jenks had heard of that one
"Personally, I can&039;t see it," Eubanks said "I borrowed some of his poetry books, ones he&039;d wrote hisself Do you know them poems he wrote don&039;t even rhyue
"I e educated, but I know poerader knows that"
The custodian kept yakking about it But the more Eubanks talked, the more Jenks didn&039;t want to listen, the more he felt the distance
thirty
The black Mercedes devoured thethem over the line and into Dallas, where they picked up Interstate 45 south Night fell They&039;d run through Jakes&039;s CD collection: Stones, John Prine, Willie Nelson, Freakwater, Steely Dan, the sound track to Footloose, and Tony Orlando&039;s Greatest Hits At Reams&039;s insistence, they&039;d taken only one short break fros Considered on NPR
Jakes had a little routine He&039;d doze in the backseat awhile, start awake, launch into a story about so from his flask (refilled periodically froan drove now, had the cruise control set to eighty-five
Reaht alone "Why won&039;t this infernal thing shut off?" He reached above his head, thuue
"Leave it alone," Morgan said
"It&039;s bothering et it"
Reams reached around the wheel, fussed with the switches on the steering coluan slapped his hand "Knock it off I&039; to drive"
"I know the button&039;s over there sohts," Reay"
"No I&039;ve tried them all already Just leave it And don&039;t mess with the speakers or the radio The balance is fine The bass is fine The treble is fine Everything is fine The heat is fine Your seat is fine"
Jakes stirred in the backseat
"Great" Morgan forced himself to unclench his teeth
Jakes sat up, fu He belched, wiped his mouth on his sleeve He rubbed his eyes with a knuckle, took another short drink
Morgan and Reams braced theuys about this red-haired chick I knew at UCLA? Man she had tits-"
"White as snoith nipples like dark raspberries," Morgan and Reaether
Jakes blinked "Yeah"
"You told us," Reams said "This is the third time"
"She was the best one I looked her naot her phone nu her a call" He finished the flask, upended it again like he couldn&039;t believe it was empty "But I don&039;t call It&039;s been maybe twelve years"
Jakes hiccuped "Jesus, I don&039;t feel so good"
"Lay off the bourbon," Morgan said
"It&039;s empty" Jakes tossed the flask onto the floor of the backseat It clanged harshly "What the hell is this?" He bent, looked "So and a hammer What is this shit, Reams?"
Reams twisted, looked over his shoulder "Blast Ithe car The tools for the gazebo"
"You&039;re cluttering up my brand-new Kraut car with this shit"
"Sorry"
Jakes threw his head back with sloppy laughter Loud "Hey, Morgo, you hear about Bob Vila? Alan said
Jakes squinted at the ceiling "Why the hell&039;s the doure how to turn it off," Rea buttons on the steering coluan said
Jakes snorted "Well, try theain, dammit It&039;s a brand-new car I know the buttons work"
"They don&039;t"
"Hell" He grabbed the hammer from the floor "I&039;ll fix it" He flicked his wrist, and the claw part of the haht with a loud pop Glass rained, peppered Morgan and Reaan jumped "Shit!" He jerked the wheel, spilled into the next lane, nearly shts
Morgan pulled back into his lane, heart thuulped breath, held it, let it trickle out slowly
"I don&039;t think that was necessary," Reams told Jakes "I could have taken the bulb out"
A lapse into angry silence
But it was good to have the light out Morgan could see better now The road was nearly deserted, only a single set of headlights several car lengths behind, and the Honda, which had elected to speed up and put soan included hiht a road trip with these tas a good idea? God was punishing him
"Guys" It was Jakes
Nobody spoke
"Guys, I think I&039;an wondered if he should pull over This stretch of road was very, very dark I don&039;t want to die in Texas
"Try taking deep breaths," suggested Reams
"Fuck the breaths, I&039;an said "We&039;ll find soet soh seas"
"Hang on," Morgan said "Just take it easy"
Morgan prayed for an exit Let Jakes puke all over an Amoco station
"Jesus, here it cout heaved, and he spewed liquid, sprayed a good portion of the backseat
"Not on the tools!" Reaain, coated the tools with gunk The san almost puked too when it hit his nose "Oh, my God" He hit thebuttons, lowered all four of theh the car quickly
A blue sign ahead Morgan squinted at it, crossed his fingers It was a rest area