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"Mary says its evil. "
"Do you believe that?"
"Yes," said the girl quickly. Then after a moment. "I dont know . . . " She regarded it for a moment more, clearly tempted. Then she asked, "What will you do to me if I dont take it?"
"Nothing," said Nick. "Just because Im offering it to you doesnt mean you have to take it. " He was surprised by the question, but he supposed he shouldnt be. The lies that Mary must have told her children about him were woven so deeply into their minds, it would take more than a chocolate smile to win them over.
"Im not supposed to take anything from you, sir. "
"I understand. Go back to Mary and tell her the Chocolate Ogre says yes. Ill meet her. "
The girl left as quickly as she could, and Nick showed the note to Johnnie-O.
"Two hundred Afterlights?" said Johnnie-O. "If all she has are two hundred, we outnumber her two to one! We could take them on right now!" He pounded his fist into his palm. "Sneak attack!"
"We could, but we wont. This is about freeing, not fighting--never forget that. "
"Yeah, but you got an army back there waiting to bust some heads. "
"Were in Everlost," Nick reminded him. "Heads dont bust. " But Johnnie-O still wasnt satisfied. Nick sighed. "Youll have your fight," Nick admitted--as much to himself as to Johnnie-O. "Marys got them so brainwashed, theyll fight us rather than take their coins. "
"Then well force em" said Johnnie-O. "Well make em take their coins, and if they dont, well push em down into the dirt. Good riddance!"
A surge of anger raged through Nick, and for a moment his chocolate ran as dark as licorice. He grabbed Johnnie-O by the shirt, and his voice became a deep liquid roar. "Thats not the way we do things around here!"
Johnnie-O was not intimidated. "Youre the one who wanted an army," he said. "What did you think an army was for?"
Johnnie-Os point struck deep. The idea of gathering a fighting force was one thing--but actually using it was another. Nick might have been a good leader, but he was no warlord.
His anger faded, and he let his chocolate arm slip from Johnnie-Os shirt, leaving behind a nasty brown stain in the middle of his chest.
"Once Marys defeated, well free the ones we can," Nick said. "And if they wont take their coins?" Johnnie-O asked.
"Then we take them as prisoners of war," Nick told him.
Johnnie-O nodded, but his expression was still one of worry. "Yknow . . . you cant fight her if you love her. " All this time it had been an unspoken rule that they never spoke of Nicks feelings toward Mary. But maybe Johnnie-O was right to bring it up.
"I fought her before, and I won," Nick reminded him.
"Yes, but this time, shell be ready. "
Nick closed his eyes, and searched for something in himself more sturdy than chocolate. "So will I. "
The note from Mary had come shortly after noon, but it was more than an hour before Nick called for Zin. He wanted some solitude, some silence so he could find a sense of resolve, but the Mississippi wind whistled over the train, making it difficult to feel anything but uneasy.
His good intentions had become like the chocolate devouring him--sweet and rich, but also muddy and debilitating. He had become too much of a good thing. Now he sat with a full bucket of coins that could free countless Afterlights, but how many had he freed since he began to build his army? None. He began to wonder how much different he was from Mary after all.
"So, is this it, then?" Zin asked, as she stepped up into the parlor car. "Do we got our date with the devil today?"
"Sit down," Nick told her.
"I prefer not to, sir," she said. "Aint no chair clean enough in this train car. "
And she was right, so he didnt force her. "Mary has called for a meeting. Well take a team with us, but once we get there, you and I will go in alone," he told her. "Bring paper--Ill tell her youre there to write up a treaty. "
"Johnnie-Os been teachin me readin but we havent got to writin yet. "
"That doesnt matter--because when I give the word, youre going to drop everything, and cram Mary like theres no tomorrow. "
Nick had played it out dozens of different ways until he saw the whole thing clearly in his mind. He would be there with Mary, engaged in a polite, but guarded conversation of diplomacy. He would string her along until he felt the moment was right, then he would make his move.
I have a gift for you, he would tell her. The finest gift in the universe, and its all for you. He would step forward, and he would kiss her. A final kiss. Then Zin would grab her, and begin to push, until Mary was thrust through to the other side, into the living world, just as Zin had done to Kudzu. Mary would be alive, with nothing but the clothes on her back, and the sweet taste of chocolate on her lips.
I will not only save Everlost from you, but I will save you from yourself. I will give you the precious gift of life, Mary. Because I love you.
"What if I cant do it, sir?" said Zin. "Crammin Kudzu was near impossible, and a persons bigger than a dog. "
He put his good hand on her shoulder. "Your whole afterlife has been leading to this," he told her. "I have every faith in you, Zin. "
Chapter 34 Poolside Rendezvous
Several of Nicks scouts had gone down Danny Rozellis street, and one even walked right through the boy, but they were looking for a teenage Afterlight girl, not a live seven-year-old boy. A needle in a haystack didnt come close.
Within Danny Rozelli were two sets of thoughts, two minds, two histories, and with each day it was getting harder and harder for Danny and Allie to recall whose memories were whose. Now they both fell asleep at the same moment, awoke at the same moment, and when they dreamed, they dreamed as one.
It was late August, and the school year had just started. Life was slipping into a regular routine. Allie tried to imagine growing up, and growing old as a lifelong tenant in someone elses body. Would there come a time when she could accept life as the other half of Danny Rozelli? In these two weeks they had learned each others rhythms and patterns like Siamese twins, and were quickly adapting to a life for two in a single body.
And what of her own body? It was lying somewhere in any one of a dozen hospitals--and that was just if she was in Memphis. She tried calling a few, but never got very far.
"Honey, why dont you put your mama on the phone?" the receptionists would invariably say. It was hard to get respect as a seven-year-old.
--This is not who I wanted to be-- Allie thought.
--Me neither--Danny thought right back at her, but both of their protests were getting weaker every day. They were becoming resigned to a shared existence.
Then the pool cleaners came.
They came the same day that Mary arrived in Memphis and sent her letter to Nick, but Allie had no way of knowing that, or anything else that went on in Everlost. As long as she was stuck in a living body, all she could see was the living world.
Late that afternoon, Allie and Danny were out in the yard playing handball against a side wall. It was one of the benefits of their particular condition; there was always someone to play with. Allie would hit the ball, then pull back, letting Danny take his turn. They had become skilled at switching back and forth at will. Neither fought for control anymore. It was like riding a tandem bike.
Allie scored a point.
"Aw! No fair!" Danny said.
--Quiet--Allie thought to him--your mother will hear you talking to yourself--
But when they looked up, it wasnt his mother standing there, instead it was a man holding a blue pole with a net on the end, and a second man a few feet behind him.
--Its okay-- Danny told Allie-- Its just the pool guys-- The head pool guy was a middle-aged man with a frayed baseball cap and beard stubble. His assistant was a punk with skull tattoos and a limp mohawk on the verge of surrender.
"Hi, Curtis! Hi, Chainsaw," said Danny, brightly. "Pools real dirty. Sgot lots of leaves and bugs today. "
"Cmon, Ill show you," Danny said. He led them to the pool, and pointed at one of the drains. "See--its all clogged. "
But the pool guys werent here for a service call today.
"I wish to talk to Allie now," Curtis said.
Danny recoiled out of shock, pulling far back inside himself like a kid finding strangers at the front door. Allie pushed forward to fill the void. She could feel Dannys heartbeat instantly begin to race. He wanted to run--he wanted to tear into the house, but Allie didnt let him. Maybe she should have, but she didnt let him go.
"Who is this?" she asked.
Curtis smiled, and Allie instantly knew. It was hard to see him behind the beer belly and beard stubble, but she knew.
"Milos?"
"So you are in there!" He looked down at her with a furrowed unibrow. "I thought you went home. Is this . . . home for you?"
"What do you think? Does it look like Im back in my own body?" And she couldnt help but add, "This might not have happened if you would have told me that skinjackers bodies are all still alive!"
--Who is that, Allie? Thats not Curtis! I dont like this!--
--Just let me handle this, Danny--
Allie looked over at Chainsaw, noticing the way he shifted from one foot to the other, looking around like ninjas might leap out and attack him at any moment. "And thats Squirrel, I presume. "
"Cmon, cmon," Squirrel said. "We found her, now lets just get out of here. "
"How did you even find me?"
"A friend of ours. He was able to sniff you out. " Milos took a good look her, and shook Curtiss head. "So much you did not know about skinjacking. If you had just stayed with us . . . "
"Fine! Tell me I told you so all you want--but if you know a way out of this, tell me!"
"Shhh. " Milos glanced to the house, where Dannys mother threw occasional glances out of the window. "Do not look suspicious," he said. "Act like youre playing. "
Allie found a rusted toy car in the nearby grass, then knelt down and began to run it along the concrete edge of the pool deck, while Milos moved the net back and forth in the water, pretending to clean it.
"As it happens, I do know a way to free you. "
"You do?" Her excitement made the boys body jump with joy. "Thank you, Milos, thank you! Ill owe you for this. "
To which Milos said calmly, "Yes . . . you will. " Allies excitement took a slightly sour turn. She became guarded, and a little worried. Yes, she would owe him, and she already knew that Milos didnt do anything for free.
"I have come a long way, and at great peril," he told her. "If I free you, there is something I want in return. "
"Like what?"
"If I free you," he said slowly, "then you will owe me your loyalty and your commitment. You must, therefore, follow my orders. You must do whatever I ask you to do, for as long as I ask you to do it. "
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