The Falls by Unknown

The Falls by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP (CANADA)


Chapter Sixteen

THE SIDEWALK WAS CROWDED with sightseers, all walking and gawking and trying to decide which of the dozens of cheesy attractions they were going to go into. The restaurant with the volcano on the roof and the Ripley’s Museum seemed to be getting the most business. Timmy and I wove between the throngs of tourists. The lights were just starting to come on—neon lights that kept night from ever being truly dark.

“So, what would you do with a million dollars?” Timmy asked me.

“Buy a better class of friend, for starters.”

“You couldn’t buy a better class of friend than me. Seriously, what would you do?”

“First off, there’s no way this is worth a million dollars.”

“Just shut up and let’s pretend it is. Until we get there and find out what he really will offer, I want to keep believing it’s worth a million. Is that so bad?”

“I guess not.”

“So, what would you spend your money on?”

“If it’s worth a million, you get two hundred thousand,” I said.

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“Nope, I told you that you’d get a share. Two hundred thousand doesn’t sound too shabby, does it?” I asked.

“Man, you are such a good friend.”

I smiled. It wasn’t that hard to give away money you didn’t have and weren’t going to get. I would have offered him an extra fifty thousand if I’d known it was going to make him so happy.

“And what would you do with the rest?” Timmy asked.

“I’d give my mother the same amount I’d give you.”

“That still leaves more than a half a million bucks. So?”

“I’d buy a really, really nice car, and I’d have money to go to university and—”

“University? If you had that much money you wouldn’t need to go to university.”

“But I’d want to. And then I’d buy myself a really nice house. Someplace for me and my mom to live.”

“You could buy a mansion with that kind of money. Would you buy right by the Falls or more uptown?” Timmy asked.

I laughed. “I’d be uptown . . . in another town. If I had that much money, do you think I’d stay here?”

“Why not? I like the Falls.”

“What are you talking about? You’re always telling me how boring it is here.”

“It wouldn’t be boring if I had two hundred grand,” Timmy said. “I’d stay right here. This is my home. This is where I belong.”

It wasn’t where I belonged. If I had that much money I’d move someplace else, and fast. Someplace where there weren’t traffic jams or crowds of tourists or neon signs. I wondered if there was anyplace where it was illegal to have neon signs.

“Here we are,” Timmy said as we came to a stop in front of the Daredevil Museum. There was nobody waiting in line to get in, and some of the bulbs in the sign were burned out. “Let me do the talking.”

“Why should this be any different than usual?” I asked.

We walked up to the ticket booth. There was a little old man, sitting on a stool behind the glass.



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