Vol 4 Chapter 4 (1/2)
Chapter 4: Neil
A little before lunch, when Seron’s wristwatch was pointing to 11:41, Seron and Meg arrived at the center of town
Several streets converged there, and large buildings stood around them Huckanee Memorial Park was prominently visible in the center
The grass was bright green, and the trees were lush with leaves The fountain speater rhythmically
Unusually enough, statues of sheep were arranged in a circle around the fountain Children were cla atop them
“We shot raphs, rode very ry”
“I’ forward to lunch”
Meg and Seron pushed their bicycles into the park
A tiled pathas paved into the grass, with benches lining the sides The benches seated three and had intricately-carved armrests and backrests
On one of the up at the sky with his helmet and jacket beside him
“You’re early, Larry”
Larry slowly turned
“Hey guys You roaned wearily
“What’s wrong?”
“I’hed
“Ohhappened to you?”
“We got to go pretty far thanks to the motorcycle, but every tiut like a constrictor so I would stop She just kept eating and eating—cookies, ice cream, you name it What in the world does her sto her eat Lia’s an extraterrestrial, no tays about it”
Seron and Meg exchanged glances Meg burst out laughing
Seron froze, like he’d been struck by lightning Meg spoke in his place
“And where now is the extraterrestrial?”
“Oh Getting crêpes at the shop over there I told her to save it for lunch, but looks like she doesn’t understand Roxchean anymore”
“Oh oodness How incredible”
Larry sighed “I learned uys? Take lots of photos?”
“Yes!”
“Huh? Oh, yeah About three rolls”
“Good to hear By the way, did you see the police cars on your way here?”
“No” Seron shook his head “Did so happen?”
“Yeah I asked a policeman—”
“A fatal car crash?”
The restaurant they had reservations at was next to the village hall
It was the biggest restaurant in town, packed with locals on their lunch break
Seron and the others were seated at the table at the very end, which they had reserved in theKurtz and Litner sat with them this time, as cautious as ever
There was nothing on the white tablecloth yet save for so inside
“We didn’t pass by the scene, I’ave hiiven Seron earlier
“It’s a bit far from the villa, but apparently a sht, then back onto the road and into a tree”
“Hoful”
“And?” Jenny urged Larry on
“Both people on the truck died”
“That’s what happens when you speed Practice safe driving, everyone” Natalia said nonchalantly Larry ignored her, but she continued “That accident ht before ent to bed You can hear better over long distances at night”
The others recalled the previous night and nodded
“Hm…”
Jenny mumbled to herself and looked around the restaurant The adults were enjoying their lunches, not particularly disturbed
“Not a lot of distress around here considering two people died” She commented
“Apparently the people who died were local kids” Larry said “They were teenagers The policeood kids’ve been lurking around for the past year and a half You kno the Capital District has gangsters?”
“Yeah But I’e like this”
“Obviously, they’re not on the same scale They’re really just a bunch of delinquents They skip classes at vocational school or sneak around at night There are four groups of thes in the Capital District”
“Fighting? Surely not to the point of starting knife fights or shootouts, like the gangs in the capital?” Nick asked with a smile Larry shook his head
“Nah They get into brawls in the park, show off about being the strongest, or start races on their trucks Nothing that big There’s supposed to be about a dozen kids in each gang”
“I see”
“But it’s been a problee since a lot of rich folks come to vacation here”
Jenny looked bitter “Tch I leave the place for a couple years and everything turns into a mess”
“But it’s got nothing to do with you, Jenny”
“What was it like when you got there?”
“They were towing away the truck It drove straight into this huge tree, and it looked like the driver’s seat was rolled around it or sonize it What was it, ‘blunt force trauma’?”
It ful, Natalia said But neither she nor Larry looked particularly upset
“Well, I learned that I’d never want to run into a tree But there was so weird about the accident”
“Like what?” Seron asked on everyone’s behalf
“Thing is, the truck drove off the road pretty far from where the crash happened Like 400 ra road, and with his right the truck
The two hands veered apart for a time, then crossed
“Then it went out of control and crashed into a tree, perpendicular to the road But even if it’s atheo off the road?”
“True” Jenny agreed
Seron nodded “Yeah”
“But the truck just kept going down the field in a straight line Then it swerved and crashed without even slowing down I just don’t get it”
“Perhaps the driver are that he’d gone off the road?” Nick suggested “Perhaps he atte an all-wheel drive vehicle But hewheel and drove into the tree”
“I thought about that too But then ould he have crashed perpendicular to the road?”
“True” Seron nodded “Even if he’dthe road, not going back onto it No one would do that unless they were trying to kill themselves Larry, did the policemen tell you the cause of the accident, by any chance? I’m sure they must already know that the driver hadn’t slowed down”
“Yeah Driving under the influence and drowsy driving”
“I see”
“From what I could make out, the police were pretty set on it Probably not planning on a serious investigation They just wanted to clean up the place and end it quietly, I could read it on their faces” Larry said Then he crossed his ars me Even if you were dead tired, you’d definitely wake up if you drove off the road I’d alh we’ll never kno” He finished with a shrug
“You took photos, right?” Asked Jenny
“Oh I forgot”
“Sit down for a sec, Larry”
“I a”
Jenny took a deep breath to give Larry a scolding—
“Thank you for waiting!”
But she was cut off by the arrival of lunch
A plued woman served their food
“It looks very delicious!” Meg exclaihetti served on a massive plate
“It sure is! Eat up, kids!”
There was a veritable hetti on the platter-sized plate Flakes of onion and bell pepper were sprinkled around, while olden crisp dotted the plate conspicuously
Jenny grinned “What do you think? This is the local specialty ht over it while you eat Forget you ever learned table manners”
When the others looked around, they saw the other patrons eating their spaghetti in groups
The waitress placed silverware on one table after another, followed by the local cheese in brick-sized blocks, along with raters
“Cheese is optional But you’re gonna have to shred it yourself—which isn’t gonna be easy, I promise” Jenny explained
“Howup her fork There was a sniper’s glint in her eye
“All right Say your prayers and let’s eat Go!”
And so began the six-way battle
To no one’s surprise, the first targets were the meatballs Forks were driven into them one after another, until there were none left to be hunted down
“Watch it, Lia! you almost stabbed my hand!”
“Outtadown on you instead!”
“Nat, you’ll find yourself with the stomachache of a lifeti down so easily —Why not join the battle, Seron?”
“I… I’m almost too scared to step in”
“Natalia… it is very scary”
“Hey, save some for your president!”
When the flaed
“Man, that was great!”
Natalia Steinbeck, who had devoured hetti and meatballs than anyone else
“You’re an extraterrestrial and a pig, Lia Should’ve snapped some photos as evidence…”
After lunch, Seron, Larry, Nick and Natalia lazed around on park benches
Their bicycles were parked along the pathway, and the motorcycle by the road about 10 meters away A litter further aas the car where Kurtz and Litner were on standby
Seron, Larry, Nick, and Natalia lounged peacefully on the bench in the afternoon sun
Jenny and Meg had gone to a stationery store across the street
“I’m stuffed…”
Natalia, the only girl who remained, brushed her ponytail over her shoulder and in front of her, looking up at the sky
“Wow! It’s a brand-new motorbike!”
“Cool!”
“Whoa!”
A group of children began chattering They were boys whose voices hadn’t yet changed But—
“I wish I had one of these babies! It looks so slick!”
“Then just take it!”
“Yeah! No one’s watching!”
—the content of their discussion was decidedly un-childlike In fact, they were discussing a crime
The newspaper club looked over at the source of the voices Three boys between the ages of 10 and 12 alking down the sidewalk
From their overalls, comfy pants and checkered shi+rts, and their short, messy hair and sunburned skin, it was clear they were local children
The boys did not realize that the newspaper club’s eyes were on them
“With a otta cut the wire inside and you’re set to go”
“Really? You’re so smart!”
“I bet it’d be real nice to go racing on this”
Innocently and loudly the boys continued to plan their crime
“Whatever shall we do, Larry? At the rate they’re planning, they’ll be riding down the street before you know it” Nick joked
Larry cringed and waved his hand