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But seeing Coffee-that was simply too much Such a claim flew in the face of the facts Coffee was unknowable; Coffee was, like the virals, a creature of the shadows And yet Tifty’s story possessed the tincture of reality He had gone with his father to H-town, its lawless, shantied streets, to ster There, in the back room of the , like a living dragon of wires and pipes and huffing cauldrons-areasy smiles of blackened teeth and pistols tucked into their belts, theof lick was procured These excursions were routine, Tifty had described the was different This time there was a man He was distinct froht away Tall, with the erect bearing of a soldier He stood to the side, his face obscured, wearing a dark overcoat belted at the waist Tifty saw that his head was shorn Evidently this ent business; usually Tifty’s father lingered, drinking and trading stories of H-town days with the other ed behind his desk like an egg in its nest, accepted his father’s bills without comment; no sooner had they arrived, it see out the door It wasn’t until they ell clear of the shed that his father said, Don’t you knoho it was you saw in there, boy? Huh? Don’t you? I’ll tell you who that was That was Niles Coffee hi else" The five of them were crowded into the shelter in the alleyway Tifty was carving in the dust with the pocket-knife, which had, after all, stayed his "My old ht out in the open, like being outside was nothing They let the dracs come to them, then crisp ’eer boy’s face practically gloith excitement He swiveled on his knees toward Vorhees "What did I tell you?"

"No fking way," Cruk scoffed Of all of them, his role was the skeptic’s; he wore thisyou, it was him You could just feel it The way everybody was"

"And ould Coffee ith a bunch of traders? You tell me that"

"How should I know? Maybe he buys lick for his men" A new idea ca his voice "Or guns"

Cruk gave a sarcastic laugh "Listen to this kid"

"Joke all you want, I’ve seen the real Arrenade launchers"

"Whoa," Boz said

"Where would Cousin get guns like that?" Vorhees asked

Tifty eased up on his knees to look around, as ifsure no one could hear the you this," he continued "There’s a bunker, an old Army base near San Antone Cousin runs patrols up there"

"I can’t listen to this another second," said Cruk "You didn’t see Coffee or anybody else"

"You saying you don’t believe he exists?"

The idea was sacrilege "I’ that You just didn’t see hiht Half of what Tifty said was pure bullshit-e to believe was strong

"I don’t know," he uessI don’t know"

"Well I believe him," Dee proclaimed

Tifty’s eyes widened "See?"

Cruk waved this away "She’s a girl She’ll believe anything"

"Hey!"

"Well, it’s true"

Tifty leveled his eyes at the older boy "What if I said you could see Coffee for yourself?"

"Just hoould I do that?"

"Easy We can go through one of the spillway tubes I’ve been down there lots of times This tio right to the base of the dam-we should be able to see the cae had been laid down; there was no way to say no

"There’s no goddamn camp, Tifty"

It took them three days to work up the nerve, and even then Cruk forbade his sister fro The plan was to sneak out after their parents were asleep and rendezvous at the shelter; Tifty had plotted a route to the dam that would keep theht by the ti He appeared at the end of the alleyway and made his way toward them quickly, the hood of his jacket drawn up over his head, hands stuffed in his pockets As he ducked into the shelter, he withdrew a plastic bottle

"Liquid courage" He unscrewed the cap and passed it to Vorhees

It was lick Vorhees and Boz’s parents, prayerful people ent to church at the sisters’ every Sunday, wouldn’t have it in the house Vorhees held the open bottle under his nose A clear liquid with a harsh chemical odor, like lye soap

"Give it here," Cruk commanded He snatched the bottle and sipped, then handed it back to Vorhees

"You ain’t never drunk lick before?" Tifty asked Vorhees

Vorhees did his best to look offended "Sure I have Lots of times"

"When did you ever drink lick?" Boz scoffed

"There’s plenty you don’t know, brother" Wishing he could hold his nose, Vorhees took a cautious sip, sing fast to avoid the taste A blast of stinging heat filled his sinuses; a river of fire tumbled down his throat God, it ful! He finished with a wheezing cough, tears swar

Boz drank next To Vorhees’s eed to take a respectable sip without much more than a wince Three more times the bottle traveled around the circle By the fourth pass, even Vorhees had gotten the hang of it andHe wondered why he wasn’t feeling anything, but the round lurched beneath his feet, and he had to put out a hand to steady hio," Tifty said