Circuit Of Heaven by Dennis Danvers Read Free Book Online

much later, of course. He commanded a submarine, waging a oneman war against the evils of his day.”
    “How interesting,” Uncle Winston said, his smile thinner still, so that he looked like he was about to bare fangs—one of the senator’s faces that never made it into the news. Nemo wished he were a paparazzi. But Uncle Winston recovered quickly and spread his arms wide to take in the beautiful house—all the beautiful houses throughout the Bin—and smiled his best heartfelt smile. “We have no wars here!” he said.
    “But you sure as hell have evil,” Lawrence drawled, and walked past Winston to the bar to make their drinks.
    THEY FOLLOWED WINSTON OUT INTO THE GARDEN , DRINKS in hand. It smelled of fresh-mown grass and cherry blossoms. A thunderstorm was piling up on the horizon, but it wouldn’t be here for hours. Nemo’s parents were in front of the grape arbor talking to a tall, slender woman in a black knit dress. Her almost-white blond hair blew across her face, and she reached up and pulled it back from her eyes just as she caught sight of Nemo. She smiled, and without thinking where he was, he smiled back. “Hi,” she said.
    “Hi,” he said, and for a moment it was as if they were the only two there. Her features were in sharp focus, while everything else dissolved into the background.
    Uncle Winston’s hand clapped down on Nemo’s shoulder. “Nemo, I’d like you to meet Justine. She’s my…uh…dinner companion for the evening.”
    Nemo saw her cut a look at his uncle as he was trying to figure out what to call her. She didn’t look like the bimbos he usually had on his arm. She was younger, about Nemo’s age, and she looked intelligent. He stuck out his hand. “Glad to meet you.”
    She smiled at him again and took his hand. Nemo gestured to Lawrence with a toss of his head as he shook her hand. “This is my…uh…dinner companion, Lawrence.”
    She laughed, her eyes crinkling almost shut, and squeezed Nemo’s hand before letting it go. It was a warm, infectious laugh. Nemo found himself beaming like an idiot.
    She shook Lawrence’s hand firmly, apparently not minding that it was covered with scales. Lawrence’s lipless smile was like a crescent moon.
    “Mighty pleased to meet you, ma’am,” he said.
    Her eyes brightened. “You’re from Texas!”
    Lawrence laughed, the slow Texas chuckle. “You might say that. You too?”
    She smiled and nodded. “Dallas.”
    Mom and Dad had been standing back, watching the introductions, their faces long and worried. Nemo’s visits always made them nervous. They’re trying to do the right thing, Lawrence often told him. We all are, Nemo thought.
    “Son!” Mom gushed and lurched toward Nemo, as he knew she would, already in tears, her arms outspread, a handkerchief waving in one hand. He put his arms around her and let her cry against his chest. It always got to him, to hold her again, like he was a little kid and nothing had changed. She felt the same, soft and slightly pudgy. Her tiny hand clutching the handkerchief might’ve been a little girl’s. She hadn’t aged in ten years. At least she hadn’t gotten “plastic surgery” so she could live out eternity in her twenties. He was the one who’d changed.
    “Happy Birthday!” Dad said with forced joviality, bobbing up and down nervously. “You can see you need to visit your mother more often.”
    “Maybe so,” Nemo mumbled, holding her tight. “Too bad she can’t visit me.”
    Mom started crying even harder, and Dad gave Nemo a murderous look. “What a thoughtless thing to say.”
    “I didn’t mean anything by it. It just came out.”
    “‘It just came out,’” Winston mimicked, shaking his head.
    “It’s the truth, isn’t it?” Justine said, and they all turned to stare at her. “It is too bad, isn’t it?” She blushed and gave them all an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.” She looked down at the ground, then up at Nemo with a