N9ne: The Tale of Kevin Clearwater (King, #9)(27)

He gets back in his truck and takes off down the road. I go back inside the house, but it’s too dark to read the paper. So, I step out onto the back lanai.

DISCONNECT NOTICE. 90 DAYS PAST DUE.

Ninety days! It goes on to say that the amount has to be paid in full, plus the reconnection fees in order to get the electric back on. The grand total is $3,876.24.

“Fuuuuucccckkkk!” I scream, crumpling the paper and throwing it into the dark pool. I don’t have that kind of money.

I don’t have any money.

I go back inside to find the hurricane kit, which hopefully contains a working flashlight or some electric candles. The only current light in the dark space comes courtesy of my phone currently vibrating across the hall table.

YULI: If that’s what you really want, then I’ll be there in twenty minutes. But are you sure about not going to the party? Nurse Yuli thinks a little fun is just the prescription you need right about now.

Fun. Ha! Fun seems like an impossible concept, but I also can’t let Yuli come here and see that the electricity has been shut off. I don’t need her worried about me before her trip. Or worse, not going at all. And I don’t want to sit in the dark by myself either.

ME: Come pick me up in twenty minutes.

Remembering the lights, I send one more.

ME: I’ll wait for you by the gate.





“I thought you said that we’re going to a party?” I ask as our Uber turns onto the main road.

“We are,” Yuli replies, but there’s something she’s not telling me. I know this because she keeps looking out the window to avoid making eye contact with me.

“Then, why are you dressed like that?” I point to her ripped jeans and the cropped short sleeved jean jacket she’s wearing over a low-cut white tank. She looks funky and casual while I look ready to attend The Logan’s Beach orchestra’s final performance of the season.

She turns her attention away from the window and smiles guiltily. “Because I never mentioned what kind of party we’re going to,” she sings wickedly.

I look out the window and notice we are on the causeway. “Yuli! Where exactly are you taking me?” I’ve had enough of that side for a while. Not that Yuli knows anything about that.

“A party, just like I told you.”

“And where exactly is this party?” I press.

“Oh, you know, just a hop, skip, and a jump over the causeway. Nothing to worry about, Lenny. It’s not like you’re not going to get initiated into a biker gang. Well, at least not on your first night, you gotta earn that honor,” she teases, nudging my shoulder.

I don’t laugh. Not because it isn’t funny—it is—but right now, I’m numb all over, including my funny bone.

“Len, it’s just a bonfire. We always used to talk about going to parties on the other side with real people who don’t want to talk about portfolios and numbers and decorating and blah blah blaaahhhh. I wanted us to do something different on my last night. I’ll be gone for a year, and I don’t want to spend my last few hours at one of those business mixers or one of Lori’s boring-ass dinner parties or at the dull as fuck martini bar. Shit, we party like we’re fifty, and we’re only in our mid-twenties. Let’s act like it for once. Let’s live a little.” She raises one eyebrow. “Unless, you think you’re too good for the folk on this side,” she teases.

I roll my eyes. “Of course, I don’t think that. You know me, but I’m not exactly dressed for a bonfire.” I wave my hands down my body to bring her attention to the fitted black sleeveless dress I’m wearing that barely grazes my mid-thigh. “And these aren’t exactly outdoor shoes.” I lift my foot to show her the heel on my nude four-inch pumps.

“You look fantastic. You always do.”

I put my foot down. “I look ridiculous.”

“You want me to ask our driver to turn around and take us back to your house so you can change? I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

I manage to smile at my friend. She’s right. We’ve always talked about going to one of these parties, but Jared smashed the idea down the one time I’d brought it up saying how dangerous it would be. Man, he really was fucking boring. A realization hits me.

“Shit, Yuli, am I…boring?”

“Drunk and boring, but yeah, boring nonetheless.”

I gasp.

Yuli grabs my arm. “Don’t worry. It hasn’t spread yet; there’s still time for a cure…but only if you’re willing to walk on the wild side with me tonight.”

“Cure me, Yuli.”

“Yes! That’s my girl!” She hugs me, then looks up with her arms still around my shoulders. “Do you want to go change first? Personally, I’d go wearing what you have on because one thing that dress isn’t is boring.”

“You’re the nurse,” I say. “The dress it is.”

“You are going to have fun tonight Lenny,” she lowers her voice to evil-movie-villain level. “Even if I have to kill you.”

“I thought the expression was ‘even if it kills you?’”

“Not tonight it’s not.” She shrugs off her light jean jacket, “Here. This might make the look a little more casual.”