Doppelganger by David Stahler Jr

Author:David Stahler Jr.
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2010-10-22T04:00:00+00:00

“Echo?” I called from the doorway.

The house was empty. She was still at her friend’s.

I went into the kitchen and checked the answering machine. Sheila still hadn’t called. Big surprise. Then I flipped through the numbers on the phone’s caller ID, like I’d seen Sheila do, until I found the number Echo had called from yesterday. I dialed it, and a woman answered.

“Hi…Mrs. Simon?” I said. I was a little nervous. I’d never used a phone before.

“Yes?” she said.

“Is Echo there? This is her brother, Chris.”

“Oh, hello, Chris. The girls are upstairs. I’ll get her.”

There was a clunking noise and then a long pause. A minute later Echo’s voice came on.

“Yeah?” she said.

“This is Chris,” I said.

“I know,” she said.

“Oh, okay. Listen,” I said, “I was wondering if you wanted to stay another night. I mean, it might be good for you to stay another night. Think they’ll let you?”

“Probably,” she said. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, really,” I said. I wasn’t sure how Barry would deal with my quitting the team, but judging by how he’d reacted when I got benched, I wasn’t taking any chances, at least not by having Echo around. “It’s just that things might be better if you came back tomorrow.”

“Okay,” she said. Her voice sounded so small on the phone.

“Good,” I said. “See you later, then.”

“Bye,” she said, and hung up.

I knew Barry was still at the game along with everyone else—probably wondering why I wasn’t out there—and he wouldn’t be back for a while, so I took a long shower and washed all the sweat and grime off me, scrubbing until my skin was raw and tingly. It felt good to be clean, to feel clean, if just for a little while. I even shaved afterward, something I hated to do because it meant I had to look at Chris in the mirror for more than a few seconds.

“Sorry, Chris,” I said as I finished the last few strokes. Even though I figured he would have been upset about my quitting, I felt a lot better. Like I was doing it for both of us.

Barry got home not long after that. I came out of my room as soon as I heard him walk in. I decided to get it over with now and not wait. Besides, he probably wouldn’t have started drinking at this point—not much, anyway.

Seeing me standing down at the end of the hall, he stopped and leaned against the wall near the kitchen doorway. He took a cigarette out of his shirt pocket and lit it.

“I quit,” I said.

He snorted. “Yeah, I know. I found out after I chewed the stupid coach out for ten minutes for benching you in the second half.” He took another drag. “You made me look like an asshole, Chris.”

“Sorry,” I said.

“Me too,” he said. He shook his head. “That’s it, you know. Forget the scholarships, forget college, because we sure as hell can’t afford to send you on our own. Not that I’d pay for you anyway.

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