Town Secrets - The Book of Adam 1

by Scott Gelowitz

  Adam couldn't remember when he finally fell asleep. The previous night's excitement made his mind work hard when it should have been calming down. His alarm woke him at 7 am so he could wash the dishes before his mother woke, but he still felt tired, as though he hadn’t slept at all.

  He dragged himself out of bed and threw on some clothes, making sure to put the pin in his pocket. He tiptoed downstairs to eat some breakfast and wash the dishes. Mary didn't have to work that day, and she hadn't fallen asleep in her chair the night before. He knew she would be sleeping late that morning, or just lying on her bed as long as she could.

  Adam ate fast and then washed the dishes. By 7:45 am he was outside sitting on the step, waiting for Kevin to arrive. It was another beautiful summer day, and the birds sang in appreciation. The lack of a good rest, combined with the birdsong, kept Adam in a delightful daze until Kevin arrived nearly an hour later.

  "You look like I feel," said Kevin with a weak chuckle.

  "I slept so bad that I can't even come up with a smart reply, and you always make it so easy." Adam gave him a smile. His mind was starting to work again, now that he had someone to talk to.

  Kevin sat and handed Adam a plastic travel mug. "Here, have some coffee. I thought you would have slept as bad as I did and might need something to get you started."

  Adam looked at him. "Since when do you drink coffee?"

  "I don't. I just tried to think of something that would help me get going today. I don't really like the taste much…Anyway, bottoms up!" Kevin tipped his cup to his lip and took a big swig.

  The first sip shocked Adam. The coffee was strong and bitter. Kevin had tried to kill the overpowering burnt taste with a lot of sugar.

  Adam coughed and took a couple more swigs. He put the mug down and looked at Kevin. "That's a lot of sugar."

  Kevin smiled, "Yeah, I made the coffee strong too. I figure that if the coffee doesn't wake us up, the sugar will."

  Adam laughed at Kevin's logic, followed by another swig on the mug. He wiped his mouth after a small cringe from the aftertaste. He didn’t want to insult Kevin, as it was thoughtful of Kevin to make the effort. The more he drank the concoction though, the easier it was to drink.

  He and Kevin sat silently sipping away for a few minutes, hoping the mixture would soon give them some energy.

  Adam broke the silence. "So, one of the thoughts I had last night is that we need to get the keys to Town Hall again. It's going to be difficult to keep getting the keys from Jimmy's mom, so we should make a copy at the hardware store."

  Kevin nodded in agreement. “Good idea.”

  "When we go in, we should spend a bunch of time looking through the files,” added Adam.

  "I want to go in right now, but I know that would be crazy," added Kevin while Adam gulped the last of his coffee down.

  Adam tried hard not to make a face while finishing the coffee, although he was feeling the haze leave his mind more each minute. Maybe Kevin’s mixture was working, he thought.

  "I think we should bring Mark with us this time," said Kevin, "He might remember something he heard from George that could help us."

  Adam agreed. "We should get him and Jimmy over here and have a meeting as soon as possible. That way we can tell Mark what happened last night." Besides being Adam's workshop, the old garage doubled as a meeting place for him and his friends. He had salvaged some old lawn chairs and a coffee table from the dump so they had places to sit. Sometimes, if there was nothing else happening, they would hang out in the garage all day. They never stayed too late, as Mary would send them home if she saw lights on in the garage. Adam was sure she just didn't want to pay for the extra power.

  They put the travel mugs in the garage and walked toward Jimmy's house, since it was closest. Adam could feel the full effect of Kevin's concoction soon after they left. His mind flew through images and ideas at a rapid pace. It made him feel like running the rest of the way.

  When they arrived at Jimmy's house, Jimmy was attaching a 'For Sale' sign on the bike Adam and Kevin had fixed. It already seemed like a week since they did the work, even though it was the previous day.

  "Mom, I'm going with the guys," yelled Jimmy toward the house.

  "Ok, be good," came the muted reply.

  The three walked toward Mark's house, and made generic small talk along the way. Adam told Jimmy they were going to have a meeting at the garage to tell Mark about the previous evening, but they shouldn't speak about it while they walked. The rest of the short walk to Mark's was filled with typical teenage teasing and sarcasm, light-hearted without real intent to harm.

  Adam walked to the side door and rang the doorbell. The ring stirred the sound of excitement inside the house. Siri and Miri could be heard exclaiming, "Someone's here!"

  After a short time, the door opened a crack and little eyes appeared. "Mark, it's just your friends," yelled the mouth belonging to the eyes, as they disappeared from the crack in the door. Immediately, the first set of eyes was replaced by another nearly identical set.

  "Yep, just your friends again," yelled the other sister.

  A hand reached through and opened the crack while another pushed the face out of the way. "Go away, Siri..."

  Siri struggled against her brother’s hand, but gave up soon and ran away. Mark smiled at his small triumph. He looked at Adam and held up his index finger telling Adam to wait. Adam stepped away from the door and joined Jimmy and Kevin on the driveway. Shortly, the door opened again and Mark stepped out, still chewing his breakfast. He was washing down the food with a canned soft drink he had just opened.

  "You're having a Coke for breakfast?" Kevin's face showed how poor of a dietary decision he thought that was.

  "shhhh......" Mark ushered the group off the driveway and back the way they came. "Mom and Dad don't know, and I don't want them to find out."

  Kevin shook his head while the other two smiled. Too easy of a target, too early in the day, thought Adam.

  "So, what happened last night?" asked Mark.

  Adam made the motion of a zipper over his lips. "We're going to my garage." Mark caught on quick and was silent for the rest of the trip.