he's likely to find himself leaving without one. Geddit?"
You had to admire Daisy. Only she could pull off a hackneyed gangster shtick and make it sound convincing. If I had been that kid, I 'd have been soiling my shorts right about then.
But he wasn 't.
Instead, he was staring blankly into her eyes as she spoke, waiting for her litany to end.
"Snot-nosed punk." Daisy straightened with a grunt and nodded in satisfaction. "Teach you to be more polite in future. Now get the hell out of my diner."
She turned to leave.
"My book," he said quietly. "I need it."
Daisy turned back, her face scrunching into a grimace. "What the hell is with you and that dumb book? I said get out of my diner. Don't make me throw you out."
Jed and his boys finished their meals, bored with a show they 'd seen countless times before and left with muttered goodbyes and shuffling feet. They couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. It was close to a hundred degrees outside but wearing the heat was a damn sight better than wearing Daisy MacFarlane's tongue.
I knew how they felt but I wanted to see how this played out. I wasn 't sure why but something about the kid didn't sit right with me and it wasn't just the dead eyes or the loose-fitting clothes.
Meanwhile, Ralphie had picked up the book and was wafting the burnt edges and blistered back cover with his hand as he walked toward Daisy. She moved aside with a disgusted grunt as he slid the book back in front of the kid. "There you go, kid. Not too badly messed up. I reckon the words'll still be there."
He offered a broad smile and nodded before turning to leave. The kid muttered something and Ralphie half-turned, the smile still on his crooked mouth. "What was that, son?"
The kid looked up and I noticed there were tears in his eyes as he caressed the charred cover of the book with his fingertips. "I said I'm sorry about what's going to happen to you. I don't mean for you to get hurt. It'll be a case of standing in the wrong place at the wrong time."
" Uh…son, I don't know what…"
Daisy 's sudden outraged bellow almost sent me flying backwards off my chair. "That's a threat if I ever heard one! Tom, call Sheriff McGrath! We got us a little no-good criminal here. In my diner!"
I didn 't move. I never had the chance and what happened next would haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.
The kid wiped his nose against the back of his sleeve and picked up the book. I remember wincing when he cracked it open, tiny pieces of melted binding scattering across the counter. Daisy was still shrieking and at one point she nudged my hand but I didn 't hear what she said. Whatever I'd felt—or sensed or whatever the hell you want to call it—about this boy was going to show itself now. I was sure of it and God himself couldn't have moved me off that chair. I felt the hair prickle all over my body as if the air had suddenly filled with electricity.
The boy opened the book. The pages it seemed were intact though the edges were badly burnt. He raised the book up to his chin.
Daisy had had enough. She shambled forward, shoving Ralphie out of her way and with a muttered curse she reached a hand out to snatch the book from the boy's hands.
The kid blew across the pages like a librarian blowing dust from an old tome, except it wasn 't dust that flew from the pages of the kid's strange book.
It was the words.
As Daisy, Ralphie and I stared transfixed by this most impossible of illusions, a strange circular symbol, tiny, black and round lifted off the page and floated out until it attached itself like a fake tattoo to Daisy's jiggling arm. At first she simply frowned and crooked her elbow to get a better view of the bizarre attachment. "Now how in the hell did you…?"
Then she shrieked as it began to burrow beneath her skin.
My immediate instinct was to run like hell. I'm sure I might even have tried had the kid not turned the book on me.
" And you," he said and I felt as if my guts had turned to ice
You had to admire Daisy. Only she could pull off a hackneyed gangster shtick and make it sound convincing. If I had been that kid, I 'd have been soiling my shorts right about then.
But he wasn 't.
Instead, he was staring blankly into her eyes as she spoke, waiting for her litany to end.
"Snot-nosed punk." Daisy straightened with a grunt and nodded in satisfaction. "Teach you to be more polite in future. Now get the hell out of my diner."
She turned to leave.
"My book," he said quietly. "I need it."
Daisy turned back, her face scrunching into a grimace. "What the hell is with you and that dumb book? I said get out of my diner. Don't make me throw you out."
Jed and his boys finished their meals, bored with a show they 'd seen countless times before and left with muttered goodbyes and shuffling feet. They couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. It was close to a hundred degrees outside but wearing the heat was a damn sight better than wearing Daisy MacFarlane's tongue.
I knew how they felt but I wanted to see how this played out. I wasn 't sure why but something about the kid didn't sit right with me and it wasn't just the dead eyes or the loose-fitting clothes.
Meanwhile, Ralphie had picked up the book and was wafting the burnt edges and blistered back cover with his hand as he walked toward Daisy. She moved aside with a disgusted grunt as he slid the book back in front of the kid. "There you go, kid. Not too badly messed up. I reckon the words'll still be there."
He offered a broad smile and nodded before turning to leave. The kid muttered something and Ralphie half-turned, the smile still on his crooked mouth. "What was that, son?"
The kid looked up and I noticed there were tears in his eyes as he caressed the charred cover of the book with his fingertips. "I said I'm sorry about what's going to happen to you. I don't mean for you to get hurt. It'll be a case of standing in the wrong place at the wrong time."
" Uh…son, I don't know what…"
Daisy 's sudden outraged bellow almost sent me flying backwards off my chair. "That's a threat if I ever heard one! Tom, call Sheriff McGrath! We got us a little no-good criminal here. In my diner!"
I didn 't move. I never had the chance and what happened next would haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.
The kid wiped his nose against the back of his sleeve and picked up the book. I remember wincing when he cracked it open, tiny pieces of melted binding scattering across the counter. Daisy was still shrieking and at one point she nudged my hand but I didn 't hear what she said. Whatever I'd felt—or sensed or whatever the hell you want to call it—about this boy was going to show itself now. I was sure of it and God himself couldn't have moved me off that chair. I felt the hair prickle all over my body as if the air had suddenly filled with electricity.
The boy opened the book. The pages it seemed were intact though the edges were badly burnt. He raised the book up to his chin.
Daisy had had enough. She shambled forward, shoving Ralphie out of her way and with a muttered curse she reached a hand out to snatch the book from the boy's hands.
The kid blew across the pages like a librarian blowing dust from an old tome, except it wasn 't dust that flew from the pages of the kid's strange book.
It was the words.
As Daisy, Ralphie and I stared transfixed by this most impossible of illusions, a strange circular symbol, tiny, black and round lifted off the page and floated out until it attached itself like a fake tattoo to Daisy's jiggling arm. At first she simply frowned and crooked her elbow to get a better view of the bizarre attachment. "Now how in the hell did you…?"
Then she shrieked as it began to burrow beneath her skin.
My immediate instinct was to run like hell. I'm sure I might even have tried had the kid not turned the book on me.
" And you," he said and I felt as if my guts had turned to ice
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