The Seal of Solomon (Alfred Kropp #2)(8)

I nodded. “My mom. My dad. My uncle.”

“I guess I’ve lived a sheltered life,” Ashley said. “I’ve never had anything like that happen to me. I mean, your mom and dad and your uncle.”

“Oh, it was more than just them. I’ve lost count now. No, that’s a lie; I count ’em up all the time. I’ve never told anybody this except my therapist, who doesn’t count, but I died too.”

“You died?”

I nodded. “Yeah, but I came back—only sometimes I feel like a zombie, but I don’t have any interest in eating people and I dress better. I guess that’s the price I have to pay for sticking around. You know how spiders eat by sucking the juices out of their prey? The body or husk or whatever stays, but all the life’s been sucked out. That’s how I feel. Husk-o’-Kropp.”

She took a long pull from her shake, studying me over the straw.

“Alfred,” she said softly, “nothing ever stays the same. It’ll get better.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you’re a knight. One of the good guys.”

I wanted to believe her. There were no knights left, but plenty of good guys.

Thinking of knights reminded me of Bennacio, the Last Knight, and his daughter, Natalia, who was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She had kissed me the last time I saw her. I thought about Natalia a lot, wondering where she was and if she was okay, because she was an orphan now like me—but mostly because she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen.

We drove back to the Tuttle house. Ashley put her hand on my arm before I stepped out of the car.

“Here,” she said, digging into her purse. “I want to give you my phone number.”

“Why?”

“So you can call me, silly.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you.”

“You like me like me or just like me?”

“I like you.”

My chest tightened and I got out of the car, then turned back and leaned close.

“Listen, I get it. You’ve taken me on as a project. Poor, big, stupid Alfred Kropp. Well, I don’t need your pretty . . . I mean pity. Find some other loser to feel sorry for.”

I turned away before she could say anything, jogging across the yard to the front door. I missed seeing the gnarled old oak root sticking up in front of the sidewalk, tripped, and sprawled flat on my face in the cool dirt. Could it get any worse? I had been waiting for a sign and, as I pushed my big slobbery bulk from the ground, I realized this was the sign I was waiting for.

It was time to leave.

7

Horace was standing in the entryway holding a gray suit on a hanger.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Your suit, Alfred.”

“I don’t own a suit.”

“You do now. You need to try it on to see if it fits. Tomorrow afternoon is the hearing. And you gotta look nice for the judge, Al,” he said.

I brushed past him, went into the bathroom, and proceeded to floss. After a second there was a soft knock and Horace whispered from the other side.

“Hey, Al, I think you forgot the suit. I’ll just hang it here on the knob. We’re having fried chicken for dinner. Isn’t that your favorite?”

I didn’t answer and Horace went away.

I went into the bedroom and pulled my old duffel bag from the closet. It took about five minutes to pack because I didn’t have much. The door opened and Kenny came in.

“What are you doing, Alfred Kropp?”

“Packing,” I said.

“You’re leaving!”

I looked up at him. He started to cry.

“Don’t do that, Kenny. I don’t want Horace and Betty to know.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.”

“Take me with you.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I just can’t, okay? Look, it’s going to be all right. I can’t live here, Kenny. Horace is plotting to adopt me and take all my money and I can’t let that happen.”

He climbed onto the top bunk and refused to come down for dinner, but I ate to keep up appearances, plus I didn’t know where my next meal was coming from. I planned to slip out the window as soon as Horace and Betty went to bed.

Around eleven I heard the Tuttles go to their room.

“Alfred Kropp is leaving me to die,” Kenny muttered in the top bunk.

I sighed. “Look, when I get to wherever I’m going, I’ll call you to make sure everything’s okay. And if it’s not okay I’ll come back and rescue you. How’s that?”

“You’ll rescue me? You promise?”

“I promise.”

I guess that satisfied him, because he quieted down. It was time to go, but I didn’t move. What was I waiting for? I had thought Ashley’s pity was the sign I needed, but now leaving was the last thing I wanted to do.

Looking back now, I wonder what would have happened if I had gotten off my big butt and left that moment. If I had snuck out ten or even five minutes earlier would the horrors I was about to unleash on the world have been averted?

I’ll never know, because I didn’t leave that moment. I was waiting for Kenny’s breathing to even out. It must have been close to midnight when he yelled, “What’s that? I heard something, Alfred Kropp, outside the window.”