Theodore Boone 01: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham

Author:John Grisham
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780142417225
Publisher: Puffin Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

The nightmares stopped just before sunrise, and Theo abandoned the notion of somehow finding meaningful rest. He stared at the ceiling of his bedroom for a long time, waiting for sounds that his parents were up and moving about. He said good morning to Judge, who slept under the bed.

Theo had convinced himself many times throughout the night that he had no choice but to sit down with them early that morning and tell them the story of Julio’s cousin. He’d changed his mind many times. And he could not, he decided as he finally eased out of his bed, force himself to violate the promise he’d made to Julio and his cousin. He could not tell anyone. If a guilty man was about to walk free, then it wasn’t Theo’s problem.

Or was it?

He made the usual noise as he went about his morning ritual—shower, teeth, braces, the daily torture of deciding what to wear. As always, he thought of Elsa and her irritating habit of quickly inspecting his shirt, pants, and shoes to make sure it all matched and that none of it had been worn in the past three days.

He heard his father leave a few minutes before seven. He heard his mother in the den watching an early morning television show. At exactly seven thirty, Theo closed the door to his bathroom, opened his cell phone, and called Uncle Ike.

Ike was not an early riser. His sad little career of a small-time tax man wasn’t very demanding, and he didn’t start the day with a rush of enthusiasm. His work was dreary, something he had mentioned to Theo on many occasions. And there was another problem. Ike drank too much, and this unfortunate habit made for slow mornings. Over the years, Theo had heard the adults whispering about Ike’s drinking. Elsa had once asked Vince a question dealing with Ike, and Vince replied with a curt, “Maybe if he’s sober.” Theo wasn’t supposed to hear that, but Theo heard a lot more around the office than the others knew.

The call was finally answered with a scratchy and rude, “Is this Theo?”

“Yes, Ike, good morning. Sorry to bother you so early.” Theo was speaking as softly as possible into the phone.

“No problem, Theo. I assume you have something on your mind.”

“Yes, can we talk this morning, early? At your office? Something real important has come up and I’m not sure I can discuss it with my parents.”

“Well, sure, Theo. What time?”

“Maybe a few minutes after eight. School starts at eight thirty. If I leave too early Mom will get suspicious.”

“Sure. I’d love to.”

“Thanks, Ike.”

Theo hurried through breakfast, kissed his mom good-bye, spoke to Judge, and was on his bike racing down Mallard Lane at straight-up eight o’clock.

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