The Acolytes of Crane (Theodore Crane, #1)(45)

‘Grandpa,’ I said.

Marv moved his head back slightly at the sound of my voice, and turned his head back to look at me. One sight at my blushing face alerted him that something was up. He put his entire paper down on the folding table in front of him, and gently said, ‘Yes, Theodore?’

‘Grandpa, there’s this girl,’ I said, walking over to face him man-to-man. ‘She—she is so beautiful. I don’t know how to talk to her.’

Grandpa chuckled. He clasped his hands on his lap.

‘Son, it does not matter what you do, if she is the girl for you, then all you need is to be cool and be yourself. She will be attracted to whatever she likes. You’re just the right age to start thinking about girls, but since you are, I must warn you. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. If this is the perfect girl for you, go talk to her before another guy does. The good girls always go quickly. Don’t even think about what you are going to say, just say it. If she’s right for you, she will like you for who you are.’

‘Thanks, grandpa.’ I wasn’t sure what to say. I still felt troubled.

Grandpa searched for clues in my expression. ‘Is there something you’re not telling me, Theodore?’

‘Well, I mean, even if a guy and a girl love each other, and get married, there’s no way it’s forever, right?’

Marv appeared concerned. He reached out for my hand, and gently pulled me closer. ‘I assure you, son, grandma and I are rock solid. Rock solid. Don’t you worry.’ He gave my hand a light squeeze.

‘It’s not you.’

‘Oh. Who is it, then?’

I blurted out, ‘Grandpa, I think Liam’s mom had another man in her house.’

‘What, McCaffrey! Absurd, that is the preacher’s wife. Theodore Daniel Crane, you tell me exactly what you think you saw.’

I told him what I saw, and grandpa kept on nodding, absorbing the sordid details. When I had finished, he told me to put it to rest. He said that there was any possible explanation; maybe the man was Mrs. McCaffrey’s father, staying over in the guest room? He warned me not to jump to conclusions. He didn’t want me uttering a word to anyone about what I experienced. As I listened to his wise words, I felt better that I’d told a grown-up. There is a serene feeling of relief once a scandal—bottled up inside you for so long—is shared.

Lincoln jabbed me into my side with his elbow. ‘Wake up, dude, we’re here.’

We had arrived at Fun Haven, There were about ten kids hanging out in front of the building, waiting for their parents. Lincoln and I stepped out of the car and waved goodbye to Marv as he pulled away.

Whack! A light, tiny object clipped me in the face. Stunned, I turned my head at the direction from which it had come. From a distance, Jack Winters and his friends were firing tightly wadded pieces of paper at people with rubber bands.

As Lincoln and I gaped in surprise, I saw another tiny ball of paper rotating in the air, suspended, just an inch from my cheek. Then, like a rock, it fell to the ground. Signaling to Lincoln, I started sprinting and we both ran inside to avoid the impish boys.

Thank goodness the bullies had not even noticed that wad of paper behaving strangely. Choosing my battles carefully was a skill that I was honing. Maturing was a side effect of carrying the weight of the multiverse.

I noticed the Dietons usually intervened only if I first had my turn to defend myself from something that wasn’t fatal. The Dietons seemed to wisely allow me to develop my skills first, before intervening. I agreed with these ground rules. I preferred to rely on my own actions first whenever possible.


Lincoln and I paid the admission fee. Once inside, I marveled at the black lights and fluorescent colors everywhere. The music was shaking the walls with bass, and everyone was blasting away with laser guns and having fun. At the back, there was a small bowling alley as well as some indoor basketball hoops. We had to rent the bowling shoes if we didn’t have our own.

One downside from renting bowling shoes is that they stink, because it seems like one thousand people wear them every week. It is disgusting if you think hard about it.

I didn’t feel like taking my X73-21’s off, but I needed to program my kicks to look like bowling shoes. I sat down next to Lincoln when he was trying his stinky bowling shoes on, and since the dressing room was empty, I took my opportunity to program a bowling shoe image onto them. Instantly, they mirrored Lincoln’s bowling shoes. Lincoln’s eyes widened in approval.

‘Don’t be showing off, maverick,’ he said.

I said, ‘Alright, let’s go rip it up, keep your eyes open for M.E.’

Mariah was nowhere to be seen. We just carried on with our fun, and what an evening it was! Without a prospect to zero in on, we were blissfully free to do as we wished, just to goof off like teenagers again. I felt so liberated within the arcade, blasting away with laser guns; and grabbing the steering wheels and planting my butt firmly on top of fake seats of the car racing cabinets. Above us, the disco ball radiated millions of colors onto everything within sight. It was as if the disco ball was absorbing my pressing, singular mission, successfully diffusing it into a spectacle of harmony.

Losing Lincoln, I stopped to catch a break at the soft ice cream self-help machines, and I saw him arguing with someone in a dark corner of the rink near the arcade. He was furious.

The person he spoke to was taller and wore a dark hoodie. When the conversation appeared to be over, he slipped away into a crowd. Not letting him out of my sight, I strolled over to him. I nearly tripped due to these butt-ugly, ill-fitting bowling shoes, and a couple of girls laughed at me as I stumbled.