My Friends Are Dead People by Tony Ortiz Read Free Book Online Page B

done.”
    The man sauntered back to the middle of the
cemetery. Katie grabbed my arm and whispered sharply, “Jesse, what
you doing? Don’t follow him.”
    “ Hurry up, you two,” said
the man, approaching two freshly dug-out holes. “I don’t want to be
here all night.”
    I continued walking, obeying the man, and
Katie hurried after me.
    “ I can use some extra
hands,” said the man, stopping between the two graves and waiting
for us to catch up. He spotted a shovel next to another hole. “You
can use that one.”
    I picked up the bent shovel, surprised to be
taking orders from a total stranger who either was going to make us
dig our own graves or have us work before he buried us.
    “ And one more for the
little lady.” The man searched the shaded landscape. The bushy
trees swayed as a gust of wind blew through the graveyard. The wind
blew and sounded, as though a giant was breathing on us. His eyes
stopped on a shovel leaning against a withered root. “You can grab
that one.”
    Katie trudged over to the shovel as she gave
me a frown. I knew this wasn’t a smart idea. But this was our
chance to whack him and make a run for it. But why was this guy
being so trusting with us? I decided I was going to go for it. I
lifted my shovel shakily in the air.
    “ I don’t think that is the
way you hold a shovel,” he informed, “unless of course you were
planning to strike me with it.”
    I froze.
    “ Are you just going to
stand there? Get to work. I’ve got a lot of graves to
dig.”
    “ You’re not going to bury
us?” asked Katie, hurrying over.
    “ Bury you two?” smiled the
man. “I could never do such a terrible thing. You’re
kids.”
    “ You made it seem that
way.”
    “ Oh, I did. Sorry. Just a
little Halloween fun. I don’t get much amusement around
here.”
    The man stuck out a cruddy hand.
“Jacoby.”
    Katie took his hand. “Katie,” she giggled as
he smothered her hand in mud.
    I shook his hand. “Jesse,” I said.
    “ Great name.” Jacoby
turned back to Katie. “Is that a real witch gown?”
    “ I think it is. His mamá
gave it to me.”
    “ You tell her she did a
great job. An old human friend made similar ones. He was quite
good. He would love to see this one.”
    “ Did you make your own
costume?” I said.
    “ No. All natural. You work
here for a couple of days before Halloween, you’ll be
set.”
    “ Oh. Are you going to
dress up?”
    “ I usually don’t. I’m not
that much into Halloween anymore. So . . . you two looking for work
or you still got more trick-or-treating to do?”
    “ No, we’re done,” I
said.
    “ Yeah,” agreed
Katie.
    “ I sensed you two were
done,” he said, “or maybe looking for something?”
    Before I could say anything, he
continued.
    “ Lin, the boy you were
following, was quite terrified of you two. He told me how two kids
were chasing after him, probably planning to beat him
up.”
    Katie laughed a little.
    “ No, what happened was . .
.” I said, not really knowing what to say, “we were getting
attacked–”
    “ By who?” Jacoby asked
earnestly.
    “ Well, not really
attacked,” corrected Katie. “We were just getting hassled by some
girls. But this man dressed in a costume came and saved
us.”
    “ Did he look like a large
bat?”
    “ Yes,” said Katie,
amazed.
    “ Soundrec is a
friend.”
    “ But . . .” I countered,
“but it had to be a costume.”
    “ Can a human fly?” said
Jacoby. “I don’t believe so.”
    “ But–”
    “ He flew. He was overseas
around that time. The only way he could’ve been there is if he flew
or psyclined. Believe me, Jesse, Soundrec is as real as you are.
His job is to protect us from evil halloweens and humans if he has the time. Think
of him as a strange-looking officer, very well-respected, and
definitely not someone you want to aggravate. You two, start
digging, we have to get this done before ten.”
    Katie and I climbed down into the hole on
the right. Before we could get