22 Dance of the Bones by J A Jance

Author:J A Jance [Jance, J A]
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

GABE LAY ON HIS BED, playing with his Xbox. His mom was mad at him. Lani was mad at him. Probably everyone in the whole world was mad at him, including Tim. They often hung out together on Saturdays, usually at Gabe’s house rather than at the Josés’ place. Without Mrs. José or Mrs. Francisco there to look after things, going to Tim’s house wasn’t much fun anymore. One of the big attractions in the José household had always been the food. Now, with Carlos in charge, the food at Tim’s house wasn’t very good.

None of the brothers knew how to make popovers. These days Tim and his brothers lived on sandwiches and take-out stuff from Bashas’—food that didn’t need cooking. The kinds of food that would drive Lani nuts, Gabe thought, especially peanut butter sandwiches made with white bread. Thinking about peanut butter made him glance at the dresser drawer where he’d hidden both Tim’s mysterious note and the jar of peanut butter. What was that all about? Probably just some brother kind of thing. Tim’s older brothers often teased him unmercifully, and maybe the peanut butter was Tim’s way of getting back at them for a change.

Gabe sometimes wished he had brothers. Maybe Tim didn’t always get along with the ones he had, but at least they were there. Tim wasn’t alone, not really—not the way Gabe was alone.

Gabe picked up his phone, the one Lani had taken away from him the day before. His dad had left it on the kitchen counter, and Gabe had found it when he went out to make some toast. He tried calling Tim again. Still no answer. That was odd. If Tim’s plans for the day had changed, wouldn’t he at least have let Gabe know? Disappointed, Gabe slid the phone back into the pocket of his jeans.

His bedroom door opened, and his mother poked her head inside. He could tell from the frown on her face that she was still angry that he hadn’t stayed out on the mountain overnight.

“I have to go to the office for a couple of hours, then I’m going grocery shopping. Your dad’s going to be late. There was some trouble out that way when he went to pick up Lani. You’re to stay here until he gets home, understand?”

Gabe nodded.

“Oh, and if you talk to Timmy, let him know you’re grounded. He can see you at school on Monday, but not for the rest of the weekend. Got it?”

“Okay,” he muttered. She left, and he allowed himself a few moments of gratitude. At least she hadn’t taken his Xbox away, and she hadn’t made him go shopping with her, either. It was bad enough that he’d had to go camping with Lani. If the kids from school saw his mother dragging him around the grocery store on Saturday morning, he’d never hear the end of it.

After his mom left, Gabe kept right on playing. Some time had passed—he wasn’t sure how much—when someone knocked on the bedroom door.

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