Heartland Junk (Part II): Sanctuary by Eli Nixon Read Free Book Online Page B

around this long. It curled her whole face up into a Valentine's heart and made me want to smile, too.
                  On the afternoon of the third day, I proudly unveiled the first of my brews to the residents of River House. It was plain fermented sugar water in a gallon jug. I poured some in a glass and plopped both the jug and the glass down in the center of the kitchen table. Theo, Abby, Jennie, and Rivet gathered around, and for a moment, we just stared at it. The liquid in the glass was clearish and thin, with dark, snot-looking tendrils floating serenely from one side to the other.
                  "That's fucking gross, Ray." Jennie spoke up first.
                  "Young ears," I reminded her absently, looking around. "So how about it? Who's game?"
                  "I'll drink it," said Theo, balling his hands into thin, determined fists.
                  "No, you won't. Rivet will," Jennie said.
                  "Why me?" Rivet retorted. "Ray should drink it. He made it."
                  "He made it for us ," Jennie reminded him. "Don't be rude."
                  "I don't mind," said Theo. "Really."
                  "No," I told him. "I think Rivet should."
                  "I thought we were friends," Rivet glowered at me, but he picked up the glass and swirled it in the light. The snot pieces danced around, caught in the eddies. "Onward and upward..." he murmured, then tipped the glass to his lips and took a long swallow. He made a show of trying to keep it down, screwing his face up like he'd just sucked a lemon.
                  "That's some real bad shit, Rayman," he said when he was done.
                  "But it's booze!" I said, laughing.
                  "It is indeed booze," Rivet conceded. "Tangy, too. Well done, Raymondo."
                  "Okay, I'll ask what everyone's thinking," Jennie said. "Do we even know if plain booze will work? I mean, it's not like we know how the drugs work. Maybe alcohol won't do the same thing. We still dose, even when we drink."
                  Rivet belched and squinched his face again. "I think I'd rather be a zombie."
                  "Can I try it?" Theo asked.
                  "No," Jennie and I said together. "I have a plan to find out," I added. "If the booze will work, I mean. But I'm going to need all of your help."
                  Rivet swallowed another gulp of the hooch. Jennie caught him doing it.
                  "I thought you said you didn't like it," she said.
                  "I said it was fucking horrible is what I said. But...it's growing on me. Now quit interrupting Ray. I want to hear this."
                  "It's simple enough," I said. "You're going to tie me up, and I'm going to get drunk."
                  As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Abby shoved past Jennie and grabbed my shoulders, locking her eyes onto mine. Her eyes bulged, terrified, and she shook her head at me. Her fingers dug into my shoulder like claws, and Rivet was saying something, joking, but all I could process was Abby's eyes. The sheer terror in them, the sadness and pain.
                  "Ms. Abby says you can't do that," came Theo's reedy voice. I barely heard the words, and it was only when I felt him tugging on my shirt that I broke Abby's gaze. I looked down at the boy.
                  "Ms. Abby says you can't," he repeated.
                  "I heard you, kid. Why not?"
                  "Because it will break you."
                  " This again?" Rivet said. He started humming the "Twilight Zone" theme. Jennie punched him in the shoulder, and he hummed louder.
                  "Do you know it won't work?" I don't know why, but I directed the question at