Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“He said he’d be back.”
“Yes, I know.” She sniffles. “Now don’t you let me bring you down for one moment. Do you hear me? You go find Alex, and the two of you celebrate. Have some champagne. Fuck like bunnies. Please don’t worry about me.” She shoos me out the door.
And as much as I want to feel badly for Emily, I can’t wipe the shit-eating smile off my face.
EPISODE 166
WONDERLAND
Sebastian
Twenty Years Earlier...
By the time afternoon hits, River and Jake haven’t returned, and I’m freaking out. I check on my mom once more, find her still passed out, and I race over to Alex’s.
And I fucking pound on his door.
“My goodness, Sebastian.” Alex’s mom stands behind the screen door of their small house. “What on earth is the matter?”
“I need to see Alex. Is he here?”
“He went out on his bike somewhere,” she says.
“Did he take his backpack?”
She tilts her head at me. “Why would he do that?”
Okay. His money is in this house somewhere. Or he took the pack and his mom didn’t notice. We live in a small town in Montana. The guys and I have been outside from dusk until dawn since we were eight years old.
“I don’t know. Did he say where he was going?”
“I didn’t ask. What’s the matter? Are you okay? Is it your mother?”
Jeez. I hate how the whole town knows my mother is a lush. “No, ma’am. She’s fine. I just need to talk to Alex.”
“He left about fifteen minutes ago. I’m sure he’s just wandering around town, unless he rode out to River’s.”
Hmm. Why would he do that? We should all be lying low. Not seeing each other. Which means I shouldn’t be here.
I just have a nagging feeling that Jake is about to do something really stupid. River is with him, though. Besides Brett, Riv is the most level-headed of all of us.
I guess I need to see Brett. I’d give him a call on his cell—if I had one. While Brett, Alex, and Riv all have phones, Jake and I don’t. Food comes before communication for the two of us.
Fuck. Brett’s going to be pissed that River and Jake even came to my place. That’s not lying low and avoiding each other.
Not by a long shot.
But Brett was also the ringmaster of this plan and the smartest of all of us.
He’ll know what to do.
“I’ll tell Alex you came by,” Ms. Maxwell says.
“That’s okay. No need. I’ll see him later. Thanks.” I walk off the front porch and down the street until I make the turn that will lead me to Brett’s home.
Alex and Brett both live in way nicer digs than Jake and I do. We’re all townies, but Jake and I live on the west side.
The trashy side.
Some asshole christened it Wonderland a few years back, and the name stuck.
What a joke. It’s hardly a magical place. It’s broken-down houses, old cars rusting in overgrown yards, and people who’ve given up. Wonderland is a fancy name for the place you end up when you’ve got nowhere else to go.
No white rabbits or talking flowers—just stray dogs and the sound of shouting from behind thin walls. I feed the dogs when I can. I’d like to bring one home and keep it, but how can I when sometimes I have to go to Riv’s to feed myself? I can’t be responsible for a dog.
The real wonder is how anyone survives here at all.
Three more years, though. Three more years until we’re eighteen, and we can do something with all that cash.
I walk up to Brett’s house, but this time I don’t pound. That wasn’t a good move. Both his parents work full time, and Brett’s an only child—we all are, actually—so if anyone answers the door, it will be him.
A moment passes, and I knock again.
Then a voice through the door. “What are you doing here, Seb?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“We’re not supposed to see each other for a few days.”
“Don’t you think I know that? I’m not a moron. Open the door and let me in. This is important.”
The door swings open, and Brett grabs my arm and pulls me in, closing the door quietly behind us.
“Did anyone see you come over here?” he demands.
“I don’t know. But why would anyone think it’s weird that I’m at your house?”
“No one would, but you know the drill. We lie low. Keep to ourselves for a few days. Wait for Larson to notice he’s been robbed. And if he doesn’t notice for a week or two, we’ll be in the clear.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m not the one we need to worry about.”
“Christ. What’s going on?” He peers out his front window.
“It’s not me. And it’s not Alex. But River and Jake, man.” I shake my head. “Jake’s in a bad way.”