[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Oh. Still with the library story.
Yeah. Got this idea, see. You gotta swear secrecy; I don t want nobody swiping my idea.
Was it paranoia from the weed that made him look all around the yard for eavesdroppers, or was
he always so secretive about this subject?
I nodded and crossed my heart.
He seemed satisfied with my oath. Sometimes when you re workin under the hood of a
car, you need more light. Maybe all over the engine, maybe just in one little spot. So I got this idea
for a flashlight you can adjust& bright beam in a specific area, or broad beam all around.
Oh. Back to my standby reply.
Yeah, see, you could twist the aperture open and shut like on a telescope, but it would affect
the light comin out, instead of how much comes in with a scope.
Ah. I nodded. Sounded like a& Focus Light, a particular type of flashlight David owned
in every size made. Did my father invent the Focus Light? Would he go on to patent it, maybe
under another name? So did you, um, find out what you needed to? And what was he doing at
the donut shop?
He let out a heavy sigh. Looks like I m about five grand short of what I ll need to get a
model made and start applyin for the patent. I could find an investor, but I want this to be my show,
nobody tellin me what to do with my invention.
Oh. Again.
But I should have it later this week, after Rico pays me my cut from The Big. I been savin
up for a while now. With an air of confidentiality surely brought on by his buzz, he added, Got
almost twenty grand.
Twenty grand. Nice little nest egg accrued by assisting in drug trafficking. Soon to be twenty-
five. Money he probably had hidden somewhere, either never to be found after he disappeared,
or he d taken it with him. When he went& where? Did he go off and start a new life for himself,
hiding out from Rico, and become a financially independent recluse who turned his back forever
on his family? More specifically, did he make a new family somewhere else and forget about me?
With a start, I realized I d nodded off, but Dennis was still talking.
& Yep. Soon as I ve got my cash together, Rico can kiss my white ass goodbye.
I sat up straighter, rubbing my eyes. How could I have been sleeping when he was telling me
exactly what I d come here to find out? Um& what do you mean? You gonna, like, leave town?
I thought you said it was impossible to tell Rico no?
Let s just say Rico s not all I got goin on right now, see? He waved his hand expansively
through the air, the tip of his smoke flaring brighter. Matter of fact, Cuz, maybe I ll have to come
out to Arizona and look you up for a little visit. Whattaya think of that?
118 Trouble Under Venus
I thought he d probably be looking high and low and never find me, since I d likely be about
twenty-eight years in the future by then. Er, sure. My mind was spinning with the possibilities
though. If I could somehow link him in the future to this invention, I could maybe find him. But I
needed names, since he d obviously be changing his identity. We d have found him if he was still
Dennis Keenan. How d you find the companies where you can make this prototype flashlight?
Are they local?
He launched into a lengthy discussion of the research he d done at the library, but never
seemed to name a specific company. Or maybe I just missed that part, when I dozed off. When I
woke, he was snoring in deep, regular intervals.
Unaccountably, a lemon had plopped in my lap, and another was on the concrete beside my
chair. With no wind, though, it was hard to explain how they d traveled what must have been thirty
feet from their tree.
Maybe I shouldn t dabble in illegal drugs anymore.
I had a mystery to solve.
At least now I knew where to snoop next time I had the chance.
Chapter 22
I d landed in some ghastly corner of hell where a clanging bell rang for an eternity. The
exertion required to wrap my arms around my ears was in vain, for the ringing permeated, seemed
to echo inside my head.
And then the ringing stopped, to be replaced by the sound of Dennis s voice. Hello? Hello?
Hello! was followed by a crash which ended with a tiny ring of its own. Ah, the satisfying heft of
an old-style rotary phone. Made me almost wish I d been the one to bash it into its cradle.
Only that would have required moving my arms from my ears, which I was in no condition to
do, not even when trying to hear what my dad was muttering. Something starting with Son of&
So maybe I hadn t gone to hell yet. I probably deserved to. Judging by the condition of my
mouth, I d swallowed Santa Claus whole before going to sleep felt, fur-lined suit included.
Cotton mouth. The bane of the pot-smoker. You play, you pay. The words of a certain good-
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pldoc.pisz.plpdf.pisz.plalternate.pev.pl
|
