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CHAPTER 12
Amy
I FOLLOWED MY own tire tracks as I ht on and threw nervous glances behind me every four seconds or so At Amy’s house I found John hunched under the hood of his Cadillac I walked past him, the horrible news coiled inside me like one of those chest-bursters from Alien I said, "Your battery dead?"
"I hope not" I noticed a set of jumper cables coiled in the snow around his feet Hooked around one elboas a knotted string of what looked like Christ late for that loves?"
"Uh, no"
"Okaycan I have a brownie?"
He caught a gliht, alare your shirt?"
"Put that stuff back I, uh, think I got it figured out"
"What? You do?"
I stepped into the war to be another of life’s little aard conversations I absently rubbed the cold froers I heard John approach the door and suddenly ideas hit ht
I could tell them it was an accident
Yeah You can make it work You can march people up to testify about the ti to carve a puency rooet half a cup of candle wax scraped off of your scrotuun incident People would believe it, would see that you’re not a murderer but arepast the house and I observed through the hat appeared to be some kind of shaved baboon, apparently escaped from a nearby circus The animal was clearly thin and reater threat to the inhabitants of the home Naturally I produced a weapon and subdued the creature with a single gunshot Now, interestingly, it was at this moment that my penis accidentally fell out and I foundfloorboards
I stopped, held my breath, listened The wind? Above me, a door clicked shut
I stepped quickly and softly toward the stairs, eyes on the darkened doorway at the top I glanced back at John, the startled look on his face told me he hadn’t invited any company over I pulled the Smith from my coat and pointed it up the stairs
Come on down, fuckers Come on down Come see David on the worst day of his life, destined for forever in jail or worse, still with fourteen bullets left to spend Whatever you are, you picked the goddaoddamned day
Come on down
I heard another door open, then close Are the erous creatures the ones that use doors or the ones that don’t?
I eased myself up the stairs one at a time, softly My feet hit the creaky wood floor of the hallway Every door in the hall was closed but one, the bedrooical one to check first I quietly cranked the brass knob until the door clicked free Nothing but darkness I tried the light and it caht on
No jellyfish
I backed out, took a step and tried the door on ht away that the rooone
Toward the bedrooid, like the turret on a tank The old sensations again, blood pu in ain My clothesure, alray torso, like a rhino
It saw me and froze
A trickle of sweat crawled downspeck in h the sights of the pistol I saw a young, very thin and pale girl draped in a gray University of Notre Dame sweatshirt that she wore like a dress
I said, "Oh! Aht ina toothbrush and was nervously rubbing the bristles with her thumb as she retreated toward her door Her other arm ended in an empty sleeve
"Hi," she said, in a too-loud squeak "Can I, uh, help you?"
"No, no It’s fine We were just worried about--"
I ht (it’s hard to couess) to take her arm I had to see if it was her, if she was solid
I wrapped ers around a very solid and very real forearm, but then she pulled away and when I went to catch the spot where her hand would be, I grabbed only air
She ducked back through her bedroom door and slaers and realized two things:
Aer had a left hand
"Wait! Hey!" I said, screaun, in exactly the way an armed rapist would "It’sscoot across the floor and jolt the doorknob She had braced the door with some piece of furniture, probably the chest of drawers
"No! It’s fine! I’m not armed! Iall over for you"
"I’m here!" She said in the artificial-sweetener tones you’d use to soothe a rabid dog "You can leave!"
I stuffed the gun in my jacket pocket and leaned toward the door "Hey, where have you been?"
Nothing fro faintly in there, like she wasto herself Poor kid
I wandered back to the stairs, one question answered with several dozen new ones replacing it First off, who did I kill?
John ca up here?"