The Big Splash (18 page)

Liz.
She still hadn't come to talk to me. In fact, I hadn't seen her around all day. Maybe she thought I blew her off last night by not answering the phone. I wanted to run to her locker and explain what happened, but I pushed the urge away. Liz and I would have to settle up later. Right now, I had to figure out what the hell I was doing about my job. There were only two classes to go before Thursday was in the books. Just one day left, and I was closer to going to a high school prom than I was to solving this case.

My best piece of evidence was now in the hands of the hall monitor chief. To be honest, even if I still had the Joey photo, it wasn't doing me much good. The other half was proving harder to find than a happy kid in a shoe store. While I was chasing it down, other pieces of evidence might have been slipping away.

At least I still had the note. I pulled it out and read it for the hundredth time: “Remember what we had. Do it or get out of the way. —B.” All I knew was that “B” was a girl.

The case, as much as it made me a little nauseated to think about it, still hinged on Joey the Hyena's love life. Everyone I talked to so far had testified to Joey's ability with the ladies. It still wasn't easy for me to swallow, but who was I to argue? My mind kept going back to the line: “Remember what we had.” Joey may have shopped around, but there must have been something memorable about his relationship with “B” to make her believe she had an “in” like that.

I figured I'd check with Jimmy Mac first. He made his living out of watching people. I caught up with him on my way to Algebra.

“No, I haven't found the photo yet. I would have called you if I did,” he snapped before I had a chance to say anything. The frustration was obviously getting to him.

“All right. Don't pop a freckle.”

“Sorry…. it's just …” He sighed. “This is a big story. And I
know
I have that picture somewhere. I'm just—”

“No, I know. Listen, forget the photo for a second. You said Joey went with a lot of girls, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you remember any girl in particular? A girl you saw him with more than others?”

He gave himself a minute to review the tape running through his head.

“Nope. Wait—”

He cocked his head and squinted his eyes, as if an important piece of information was about to slide by, and he grabbed it just in time, right before it fell out of reach.

“I remember … The first time I noticed him, he was in this article we were doing on a group of girls.”

“He was in a group of girls?”

“Yeah. Well, no. We were trying to get a picture of these girls, and he kept creeping into the background. We couldn't get one clean shot without him.”

“What group?

“Ohhhh … What were they called? Some goofy name …” He snapped his fingers twice, as if that would help. “You should ask Jenny.”

“Finnegan?”

“Yeah. She was in it.”

The bell rang.

“Listen,” Jimmy Mac said, backing away from me, “I can't afford to be late to another class.”

“Yeah. Me, neither. Hey, do me a favor—” I started to ask.

“Dig up that article?”

“How'd you guess?”

“Superior intellect.”

“You should use that superior intellect to get your crap organized.”

“I'll try, Mom!” he yelled from down the hall.

I barely squeaked through my last classes. This case was taking up all of my available brain space, and Algebra and Social Studies weren't about to dislodge it.

I raced out of class as soon as the bell rang. I was desperate to talk to Jenny, if only to make this lead less dependent on Jimmy Mac and his paper chaos. I pulled out the note with her number on it, went to the pay phone in the hall, and called her. For the millionth time, I wished I could afford a cell phone.

The phone rang twice before Jenny picked up. “Hello?”

“Hey, Jenny. It's Matt.”

“Hi, Matt.” I could feel her smile over the line. “I didn't expect you to call so soon. Did you find something out?”

“Maybe. Were you in a group in Ellie?”

“A group?”

“Yeah. A bunch of girls. Gave yourselves a funny name …”

“The Fourth-Grade Parade?”

I laughed. I couldn't help it.

“What?” she asked, puzzled as to why a name like “the Fourth-Grade Parade” was funny.

“Who was in your group?” I asked.

“Me, Jean Polio, Rachel Farnsworth, a couple of girls whose families moved, Melanie, Liz …”

“Melanie and Liz?”

“Yeah. We had known each other for years, but it wasn't until fourth grade that we really started hanging out. We started doing those pageants. Remember those?”

“Vaguely. They used to troop us down to the cafeteria to watch.”

“I think you older kids thought we were dorks, but we didn't care. We got to dress up, get out of class, dance in front of an audience … We had so much fun.”

“Was Joey Renoni part of your group?”

“Nope. It was just us girls. He just liked to hang
out with us a lot. I think he like liked a couple of the girls, but we were all so young then, nobody even knew what that meant. We were just having fun.”

“Which girls did he like like? Do you remember?”

“Not really. He went through so many.”

“Yeah, I've heard. Any members of the Fourth-Grade Parade have a ‘B' in their name?”

She thought about it for a second. “One. Betty Thomas. She was one of the girls who moved away.”

“Figures.”

“Why? Does this have something to do with my sister?”

“I'm not sure yet. Listen, I have to go. I'll call you later.”

“Promise?”

“Absolutely,” I said, but I wasn't sure if I meant it. We said our good-byes and hung up. I sprinted off to try to catch Jimmy Mac before he left school.

luck, like the weather, had once again turned from good to bad. Usually Jimmy Mac stayed at school pretty late, setting up the layout for the next day's newspaper. That day, however, was the first time in weeks that he had to leave early. Dentist appointment. I went outside and unlocked my bike, feeling the first couple of raindrops hit my arm. I was going to have to hurry if I didn't want to get soaked.

Of course, the rain started to fall harder when I was halfway home. By the time I got there, I was more than a little damp. As I was unlocking the outside door to my
office, I could hear the phone ringing inside. I hustled to get it before whoever it was hung up. On the seventh ring, I picked it up.

“Yeah.”

A hushed voice greeted me on the other end. “Matt?” I couldn't tell who it was.

“Yeah?”

“It's Mac.”

“Hey, I was looking for you. I thought you had a dentist appointment.”

“I did. No cavities.”

“Congratulations. Listen, I need that article on the Fourth-Grade Parade, plus anything you can dig up on Mel Kondo and Liz—”

“Matt,” he interrupted, “you have to meet me at Sal's.”

“What? Right now? It's pouring out.”

“You're gonna want to see this.”

I took a moment. “You found the picture,” I said.

“I found the picture.”

“Who's in it?”

“Not over the phone.”

“Why not?”

“You have to trust me,” he said. Then I heard his mom
yelling in the background. Mac yelled back. “I'll be off in a sec, Ma!”

“Fine,” I said. “I'll meet you at Sal's.”

“See ya there,” he said, and hung up. I looked around my office, taking a minute to soak in the warmth. Sal's wasn't far from me, but it was getting bad out. It didn't matter. I'd ride my bike through a tornado to get a lead in this case. I just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

I grabbed my bike and was about to head out when the phone upstairs started ringing. I dropped my bike and ran upstairs. I knew who it was before I picked up the phone.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Matt. How'd you know it was me?”

“Psychic. Don't worry, I'm home.”

“So you're safe and sound?”

“Yup. Inside, warm and cozy.”

“Good. I hated thinking you might be out in this downpour.”

“Nope. Your son's smart enough to stay out of the rain,” I said, and almost kept a straight face. “Listen, I'm going to go do my homework, then maybe take a nap. Someone kept me out late last night.”

“You call nine thirty late?”

“For a young, innocent lad such as myself, nine thirty is—”

“Young, innocent lad? Puh-leeze. I don't remember ordering the baloney special.”

“Forget it. You know, sometimes I don't even know why I talk to you.”

“Because I'm your gorgeous mother and you love me.

“And you feed me.”

“And I feed you. Although, I'm really starting to reconsider that.” In the background, I heard Mr. Carling bark at my mom to get off the phone. “I have to go.”

“Right. Give Mr. C a big kiss for me,” I said.

“Don't even joke about that.”

“Who's joking?”

“Ugh … Love ya.”

“You, too. Bye.” She hung up quickly, leaving me to wonder if she was getting yelled at. I felt helpless and a little guilty for lying to her, but I pushed those feelings away. I had no time for self-pity. I grabbed the bottle of chewable vitamins on the counter, shook a couple out, and popped them in my mouth. The chalky, artificial taste
of grape coated my mouth. If I was going to dodge a cold, I needed all the help I could get.

It wasn't as bad outside as I thought it was going to be; it was worse. The chill in the air, combined with the steady rain, made my legs feel like rusted iron. Every pump of my legs was an effort. The windbreaker I wore was immediately outmatched. I should have just worn a bathing suit and snorkel.

As I rode, I thought of Liz. I still hadn't heard from her, and I wasn't sure what to say if and when we finally did talk. I liked her a lot, but I couldn't overlook her blindness when it came to her brother. She loved Kevin, which was understandable, but she'd never find fault with his actions, which wasn't. Joey was a rat and deserved exactly what Kevin gave him, but that wasn't the point. It wasn't up to Kevin to give it to him.

I thought about how much easier my life would be if those things didn't bother me. I thought of all the other kids in my class who didn't give a damn who did what to whom, as long as it didn't directly affect them. I thought about all the friendships I killed because of my need for the truth. I thought of Kevin and Liz.

Then I thought about the kid behind this whole
Nikki mess: her smug smile as she sat contented in the belief that she had gotten away with it, that there was nobody in school smart or determined enough to bring her down. I thought of her watching the time run out on my investigation, and I could almost hear her laughing at me. And all I wanted to do, with every fiber of my being, was drag her out into the open and let her know, in no uncertain terms, that she chose the wrong kid to screw with. I pedaled harder.

Sal's was packed. It was standing room only, and there was barely room for that. Sal had the heaters going, but instead of being cozy, it was humid and uncomfortable, like a greenhouse in July. I started to break into a sweat, which mingled strangely with the rainwater. I expected to see steam rising off my clothes.

Jimmy Mac was sitting at a table alone, one seat saved for me. “Hey, Matt. I didn't expect it to be this busy. Lot of kids drowning their sorrows.”

“Yeah, must've been a lot of pop quizzes today. You got the photo?”

“Yeah,” he said, but in a way that made my stomach drop. He looked like he had news, all of it bad, like a
paperboy during the Great Depression. “I found it in a box in my closet.”

“Let's see it,” I said.

Just then, Sal came over to take our order. “Hey, guys. Busier than I expected.”