Poison Town by Creston Mapes Read Free Book Online Page A

me,” Jack said. “I think one of you should be at the hospital overnight. Did the police ever get back to you on the video from the hospital?”
    “Tomorrow,” Travis said.
    “Think about it, Travis. They poisoned Galen. They ransacked your house. These guys are playing hardball.”
    “What do you think we should do?”
    “Let’s meet at the hospital, see if we can talk to your dad. I’ve got some questions for him. And meanwhile, you need to tell your lawyer what’s happened.”
    “How soon can you be there?” Travis was already heading for his coat and keys.
    “I’m about to grab a bite with my family,” Jack said. “But I can be there in an hour. I’m going to have Derrick meet us there too.”
    “We’re going now. They moved him to room 356.”
    “See you there.”
    * * *
    Rebecca and Faye loved eating at Campolo’s, the cozy Italian restaurant nestled along the sidewalks near their Merriman Woods neighborhood. Pamela sat on one side of the booth, watching for Jack, while across from her Rebecca and Faye colored away at their kids’ menus, sipping their lemonades through straws, gabbing like old ladies, and looking out the window every once in a while at the gently falling snow.
    After the awkward call from Jack, when he told her he needed to work that evening, they had agreed to meet for a quick bite. Pamela placed their order when she and the girls arrived so the food would be ready when he got there.
    “Look, girls, here comes Daddy.” Pamela tried to sound excited as she shooed them off to greet Jack. With a solemn face, he peeled off his heavy coat on the way to the booth. When the girls reached him with squeals and hugs, he couldn’t help but smile as he knelt and engulfed them in his strong arms.
    He hung his coat and gave Pamela a quick kiss as he slid into the booth next to her. “So tell me …” He leaned over the table toward the girls. “How was your day today, young ladies?”
    The girls’ eyes flashed as they jabbered about spelling bees, a butterfly collection, and a pet hamster named Golem that visited Faye’s second-grade class. They were oblivious to the tension that sizzled like an invisible electric fence between their parents.
    “So, what are we having? One large kitchen sink pizza pie?” Jack kidded.
    “Noooo!” Nine-year-old Rebecca shook her head vehemently. “We girls are getting a medium cheese pizza pie with extra cheese. You and Mommy are getting a medium kitchen sink pizza pie, but no sausage, because Mommy says—”
    “It’s greasy,” Jack finished, pretending he was going to faint.
    The girls laughed, and he and Pamela exchanged obligatory smiles.
    “Let me guess, did Mommy get extra black olives?”
    “She most certainly did,” said Faye. “And if you don’t like it, you may pick them off—one by one.”
    So there , Pamela thought.
    Jack took Faye’s little hands in his big ones and shook them. “Did Mommy say that? Did she?”
    Faye nodded and smiled broadly. “She most certainly did.”
    “And if you have a problem with it,” Rebecca chimed in, “you don’t have to eat.”
    Pamela felt her cheeks warm.
    Jack changed to Rebecca’s hands. “She did not say that!”
    “Uh huh.” Rebecca nodded. “Yes, sir, she most certainly did.”
    The girls giggled and went back to their coloring. Jack turned toward Pamela. “So I’m going to need to pick off the black olives one by one, am I?” he teased her, clearly trying to gloss over what had happened earlier. “Any more word on your dad?”
    Jack was ignoring the obvious elephant in the room.
    “No.” She fidgeted with her napkin and stared out at the crisp winter night, at the patches of snow beneath the streetlamps, at the cars and people heading to and fro.
    “Maybe we can get up to see them soon. My car won’t be ready for a few days.” He told her about Galen’s poisoning and the break-in at the Randall house.
    Pamela had always believed in choosing her battles wisely; if it