It had only been a day since Pemota High witnessed the Unchained Melody incident and found out Rey Naresh and Christy Lane might have information about the graffiti. By now, most of the seniors had probably looked Rey and Christy up in the yearbook. Rey was on his way to Benson’s Tool’s downtown. It was Thursday, twenty minutes before homeroom, and thirty three hours until Rey would go to dinner at Christy’s house. Across the street from Benson’s, two seniors lit up a clove and took turns inhaling. Rey ducked as he walked into Benson’s.
Carl Benson was Rey’s fellow classmate David Benson’s father. Carl looked at Rey like he was a cockroach invading the store and walking down the center aisle towards him. Rey guessed Carl was used to teenagers walking out with stolen items. Rey gave Carl his best declaration of innocence smile. Carl managed a meager smile of his own.
“What cha looking for?” Carl asked.
“Some address numbers,” Rey said. “My Mom wanted me to pick them up.”
“Well we sell them individually behind the counter here,” Carl indicated a set of rows of stick-on address numbers. “And in sets, these one’s here.”
Rey only needed the bumper sticker that came with one set of numbers which had stencils of dogs on them. But he didn’t want Carl to know that. He swallowed feeling like a criminal. “I’ll take that set there,” Rey said.
The plan was simple. Huxley was going to go to his locker tomorrow and see a bumper sticker stuck there. Rey had noticed the bumper sticker as he wandered into Benson’s Tools before he met Frank Brule. The bumper sticker was an image of a dog’s paw. Above the image was written the word, “Official” and below it, the word “Owner.” To the right of the dog’s paw in big letters were written the words “American Bully” -- a bumper sticker for bulldog owners. Of course, in this situation it meant something quite different. Tomorrow, when Huxley’s heart rate doubled, and his mind searched for an answer, Rey would win a small victory in the battle that was becoming a war.
There was a problem arising in this war. Huxley seemingly didn’t care about the audio tape anymore. Either he’d gone so off the deep end that his relationship with Marv and Father Muncie was a non-issue -- or he had begun to think Rey and Christy were bluffing. Der had raised the stakes after Unchained Melody. But two questions were still nagging at him: “Who were the Avocadites? And what did they want?”
Carl put the package with the bumper sticker on the counter and gave Rey an “I hate troublemakers” look. He scanned the bar codes and finally said, “You in my son’s class?”
“I think so.” Rey looked him in the eye waiting to see where this was going.
“Where ya live?” Carl Benson asked.
Rey handed him the money. “Lighthouse Point.”
“That’s in South Pemota?”
Rey nodded.
Carl turned to his left and looked at a radio that was sitting on the table. He turned it on, and popped the register open to give Rey his change. Rey hypothesized Carl was going to see if the radio made a humming sound. Rey guessed Ryan O’toole wasn’t the only person to get wise to the fact that there was something very strange going on in Pemota, California.
“One twenty-one,” Carl said. He handed Rey his change. He glanced back at the radio.
Rey noted there was no humming sound coming from the radio. There never was one with him around. Ryan had said he spoke to so many people who said it was happening to them also. Rey hadn’t heard anything from these people. But now he thought that the problem was more prevalent than he ever would have guessed. He thought his resistance to electronic devices reacting with him had something to do with the drink Aba had given him: Looza Avocado.
Rey mustered up as much courage as he could. “The humming sound right? From electronics?”
“My son complains about it. Says it’s happening to the ninth grade. Don’t hear nothing myself.”
“But you know he’s telling the truth.”
“Haven’t heard it. Have you?”
“Yeah. It’s for real. But I don’t know why. Tell David I said ‘hey.’”
“Happy trails,” Carl said, with a perplexed expression.
Rey turned and made a bee line for the door. He was going to be late for homeroom. He pushed the door open and collided with someone hard. He almost fell over. He looked up. It was one of the seniors who was smoking a clove. To Rey’s left was his friend.
“Hey,” the senior he’d collided with said.
Rey looked at him. He had wavy brown hair, his lips were upturned at the edges, and he was wearing a green fleece.
“Hey,” Rey said warily.
“I’m Tristan,” the senior said. He extended his hand. Rey looked at his friend. He was a black eyed beetle looking guy. His friends called him “Roach.” He had a black jacket with purple stripes, and a serious expression on his face.
“I’m Rey,” Rey said, shaking his hand.
“Oh, we know,” Roach said.
“The whole school knows,” Tristan said.
Rey felt like vanishing into thin air. “I gotta go or I’m gonna be late for homeroom.”
“Hold up,” Tristan said.
“No seriously. I’m gonna be late.”
Tristan pulled a wallet out of his back pocket. “We want the inside scoop. The entire senior class is gonna want to know all about it. We want to know who did it and why. Tell us and we’ll owe you.”
Rey was worried he was going to be late, but at the moment it struck him that having a few seniors at his beck and call could definitely come in handy. “What time is it?”
Tristan looked at his watch. “You’ve got fifteen minutes.”
“You’ll owe me?” Rey asked.
Tristan nodded. He opened his wallet and pulled out a twenty. He handed it to Rey. “We want to know everything.”
“It was Nadine’s Puppies,” Rey said.
“Who are Nadine’s Puppies?” Tristan asked.
“They’re the kids with the newsletter. Punks,” Roach said flatly.
Rey nodded. He told them about how Huxley, Der, and Joe hated them and how Rey and Christy had black mailed them with an audio tape. He told them how Der had put a piece of tape over the lock in the nurse’s office and broadcasted the song. The seniors listened to the whole story with amused smiles on their faces.
“I gotta go,” Rey said.
“You going out with Brianna Lane’s sister?” Roach said.
Rey nodded.
“Cool,” Tristan said. He gave Rey a handshake pulling on the fingertips with a snap. “Hey Rey Naresh,” Tristan called as Rey walked away. “We owe you.”
“You know it,” Rey called back. He turned and broke into a sprint.
As he ran he thought about last night. Last night, Huron had called him. It was the first time they’d spoken in weeks. Huron was sweating something and was bummed out. According to Huron, James had started smoking marijuana and dealing it on the side for some extra cash. That stuff will mess up your life, Huron said, and Rey couldn’t have agreed more. Huron said, James was like a zombie during the day and was failing almost all his classes. But the really interesting thing was Huron said James was almost passing out at a party and he said, “I’m a freakin’ Avocadite.” Rey asked Huron what James meant, but Huron didn’t know.
Rey stepped into his homeroom just as the bell rang. “Rey Naresh,” Miss Calida said. “So nice of you to join us. We’ll hear about Rey shortly.” She finished checking off her attendance list and the loudspeaker cackled to life. Principal Claudette Laurie came on and explained that yesterday a student broke into the nurse’s office and broadcasted that song and message. Rey thanked his stars his name wasn’t mentioned. Then she went on to say that the behavior would not be tolerated and the student would face severe disciplinary action. She apologized for the classes that were interrupted. She’d smoothed it over perfectly, Rey thought. It would be forgotten about in
a month. He took a deep breath and exhaled.
“I sort of hoped we were above that kind of thing,” Miss Calida said.
“Who did it?” David Benson asked.
“Der Kath,” Eliza Martel said.
Ms. Shumana came on the loudspeaker as she often did in the mornings. She gave the afternoon sports schedule and then said that report cards will be passed out at the end of the day in homeroom, ten minutes before the day ended. Rey thought he could make it to Huxley’s locker and apply the bumper sticker when the hallways were empty. He was concerned that he was going to get mostly C’s. He spent more time in class daydreaming than listening and more time on the phone with Christy than doing his homework.
Later that morning, Ms. Parker was mute on the subject of Unchained Melody and the message. Rey noted that maybe she wanted to treat his privacy as she would her own. Maybe it was a sign of respect and understanding and he told himself he wouldn’t forget it.
After health, Christy walked up to him when he was at his locker. He had science for the mid-day lunch period which was an hour and a half long – including lunch time. Christy told him they were eating lunch in wood shop with Fynn.
She threw her backpack down and sent it skidding like a bowling ball into a locker next to Rey.
“Rey,” she said, “We are officially in the Twilight Zone.”
“Great,” Rey said. “And I thought my day was strange before.”
“What happened yesterday, when I called? You were all weird.”
Rey picked up his backpack and they walked down the hallway as Rey told her all about Viola Specks and the tattoo they were putting on her.
“So no purple welts, purple liquid,” Christy said derisively.
A few days ago, Rey had told Christy his theory that the purple welts on Viola’s back had some connection to the purple fluid Frank Brule had given him. “Nope. I saw what they’re doing to her. Tattoos,” Rey said, feeling a little insulted.
“On her butt. God that is so messed up.”
“What class do you have now?”
“I have study hall,” Christy said.
“Why do you think her father is beating her?”
“Annette says her father is two neurons away from a lobotomy.”
Rey took a breath and exhaled. “So what did Mr. Chandon say?”
“You ready? Mr. Chandon and Miss Calida got in a car accident last night in North Pemota by where Annette lives.”
“What were they doing in North Pemota? I thought they didn’t even have cars by where Annette lives.”
Christy laughed. “That’s not the weird part. When the police found them they were both outside of their cars and locked together in a French kiss.”
“But Mr. Chandon hates Miss Calida,” Rey said.
“Annette told me her mother got a call from a woman who witnessed the whole thing.”
“Miss Calida was like really happy in homeroom,” Rey said to himself quietly.
Christy reached into her backpack and withdrew the vile of purple fluid. “And Mr. Chandon wants to know if you’re from another planet.”
Rey took the vile from her.
“He kept asking me where I got it so I just said you found it.”
Rey’s heart was thumping away.
“Okay,” she said. “It’s highly acidic. Mr. Chandon said he wouldn’t taste it. But it interacts with electricity. Mr. Chandon said he was so intrigued he decided to test it out on a lab mouse. And ... the electronic feeder started making a buzzing sound. Mr. Chandon says he wants to talk to you immediately.”
“Do you think it’s safe to tell him?”
“Tell him what Rey? That you met some crazy lady who said a bunch of weird stuff?”
“Um, yeah.”
“I don’t know. I gotta go.” Christy turned into her study hall. “Rey, five-thirty tomorrow at my house.”
Rey took a turn into science class and saw most of the class staring at him. Rey paid it little mind. His thoughts were preoccupied with Brianna. What could she do in ten or fifteen minutes in the woods before Health Class? Of even more immediate concern was tomorrow night at dinner. Rey hoped Christy wouldn’t figure out that Brianna and he knew each other. The more he thought about it, the guiltier he felt.
At lunch, they waited until Mr. Murray had left wood shop and then chose a side room where they wouldn’t be visible from the hallway. They took two wood stools off the shelf and joined Fynn who was sitting on a pile of wood chips. Rey had a bag lunch, and Radelle had given Christy one as well, although Radelle didn’t know why.
“What the hell is an Avocadite?” Fynn said abruptly. He pulled on his 49er’s cap and shook his head.
“Beats me,” Christy said, exchanging a smile with Rey.
Both Rey and Christy were wondering why Fynn wasn’t outside smoking as usual. But neither of them wanted to broach the issue. They were thankful Fynn was letting them spend their lunchtime out of the cafeteria. Fynn thought they should just spend a few days waiting for things to quiet down.
“I was at Annette’s house on Saturday because her brother was having a party and James Owens was there and he said he’s an Avocadite.”
“That’s what Huron said,” Rey said. “Was he high?”
Fynn shrugged. “I think he was just drunk.”
“I can’t believe she doesn’t even invite me over when her brother is having a party,” Christy said.
“There’s something wrong with her,” Fynn said. He took a bite of a sandwich. “She’s always acting like she’s distracted.”
“Is she on anything?” Christy asked.
Fynn shook his head. “But she says she’s seeing things.”
“Are you sure?” Rey asked. “She seemed normal the last couple times I’ve seen her.”
“She wouldn’t tell me what she’s seeing, but, like, ever since the graffiti things have been getting strange.”
“What else have you heard?” Christy asked.
“Just people in our class. In, like, fear and confusion.”
“What do you drink every day?” Rey asked. “Water?”
“I drink water at home only.”
“Do you have a well?” Christy asked.
Fynn nodded.
“I have a well also,” Christy said.
They sat in silence for a couple minutes. Rey was thinking about Aba. He felt like telling her her Avocadites adventure was more a stitch in his side than a runner’s high. Christy was thinking about Brianna – the “my sister just got her period” incident from a few years ago. Brianna better not embarrass Christy in front of Rey. She imagined even Radelle wouldn’t let that fly. But she couldn’t be sure.
As if following her train of thought, Fynn said, “Why do you and your sister hate each other so much?”
Rey started feeling like this wasn’t a conversation he could have with a clean conscience.
“Who even said we did?” Christy said. “It’s like everyone knows that but we never even tell anyone about it.”
“Annette tells people,” Fynn said. “But everyone knows what happened in sixth grade. And she used to make fun of you with her friends. So ... people talked about it.”
“It’s complicated,” Christy said.
“What’s it going to be like tomorrow?” Rey said, wondering if Christy could sense his heart racing.
“Well, my Mom will probably ask you a bunch of questions. And Brianna will probably be nice unless we say anything about the dangers of prostitution.”
The three of them laughed.
“I think she has a date after dinner anyways, so we will barely even see her.”
“How’d she find a date in Pemota?” Fynn said.
Christy furrowed her brows. “What do you mean? She can go out with any guy she wants.”
“Yeah, but isn’t she at school all the time?” Fynn asked.
Rey exchanged a sharp glance with Fynn. Fynn seemed to be playing
these cards with a poker face but Rey would have preferred to drop the whole game.
“She’s working here on the weekends,” Christy said. “Actually, she’s here all the time. I’ll be amazed if she’s not failing her classes.”
“Report cards,” Rey said dismally upon being reminded.
Fynn looked depressed as soon as Rey said it. Then he brightened up. “I quit.”
“Smoking?” Christy said.
Fynn nodded.
“How long has it been?” Rey asked.
“Three weeks,” Fynn said. He seemed genuinely proud.
“Congrats,” Christy said.
They talked for awhile longer before the bell rang. Rey admitted his report card was going to be a failure. Fynn seemed inordinately depressed about the topic of report cards and wouldn’t admit what kind of grades he was going to get. Christy said her report card was good except for math with Ms. Aster. Then Christy perked up as an important question occurred to her.
“What were they pictures of?” she asked as they rounded up their things.
“Oh,” Rey said. “Avocados. Different types of Avocados.”
Christy threw her backpack onto her shoulder. “Avocados?”
Rey nodded.
Christy shook her head. “Weird is an understatement.”
They walked out of wood shop and headed in opposite directions. Rey had another half hour of science and then spanish with Christy and Viola. Rey was planning on confronting Viola and showing her the picture as well as convincing her to do something about what Huxley was up to. It was time to help Viola before Nadine’s Puppies did something even worse than tattoos.
Viola walked into Spanish class looking like she kicked self-pity in the pants twenty times before the day began. She couldn’t appear more resilient. And it occurred to Rey that if he didn’t know what he knew, he would think Viola had a completely normal life. He called the photograph of her bent over the card table up on his cell-phone. Viola took a seat in front of him and turned to him. “Can I check it?” She said.
Rey opened up his binder and handed her the homework.
Christy walked in with David Benson who seemed to be talking to her about whether or not Der was going crazy. Rey thought back to what Aba Brule had said: “The Avocadites don’t care about what makes us human. What’s still left for us in the garden.” The significance of that statement still eluded him.
Rey passed the cell-phone up to Viola. She looked at the photograph and then turned to him quickly. “Who gave you that?”
“I took it myself,” Rey said, quietly. “Me and Christy already found the place months ago.” He took another look at the photograph of Viola bent over the card table. It was severely disturbing.
“Don’t show it to anyone okay.” Their voices could not be heard over the commotion of other speaking class members.
“Viola. Father Muncie started a rumor that Huxley would be evil when he got a tattoo of a dog’s paw. That’s why Huxley gave you that tattoo.”
She took another look at the photograph then handed the cell-phone back to Rey.
“Why are you letting them do this?” Rey asked.
Viola thought for a moment. “Sam Patton told me he thought I was pretty so I let him lead me there and they were waiting.”
The bell rang and Ms. Carmen closed the door.
“Pass your homework up to the front of the room please,” Ms. Carmen said.
The class members did so. Rey thought about what Viola had said. Sam Patton was a husky boy who Rey had English with last year but they hadn’t spoken. He was generally thought of as a hick. But Rey thought Viola and Sam would make a decent couple.
“I’m handing out a story for you to read. I want you to divide up into two’s and alternate, translating every other paragraph,” Ms. Carmen said.
Viola turned to Rey, and then maneuvered her desk, seemingly uninterested in the possibility he’d rather partner with Christy.
“You have to delete the photo,” she said. She received the story they were supposed to translate and handed a copy to Rey. “My father isn’t beating me.”
Rey looked at the story. “So it’s all Huxley?”
She nodded bashfully.
“So ... why did you lie?”
She looked at her copy disinterested. “I guess I didn’t want anyone to know.”
“Know Huxley was a jerk?” Rey said confused.
She didn’t answer.
“Viola, tell me. Maybe I can help.”
Viola thought for a few moments. “They know something about me. That I don’t want people to know.”
“What do they know?”
“I’m a lesbian,” she said quietly.
“You are?” Rey shrugged. “Oh, well ... that’s cool. So they said they’d tell people if you tried to stop them?” Rey asked.
Viola nodded.
Rey had a feeling this wasn’t the whole story. But Ms. Carmen was watching them. “This is a graded assignment,” she told the class.
They spent the next ten minutes translating the story so as not to get into trouble with Ms. Carmen. When they passed the assignment up to the front of the room they spent the rest of the class going over the words for household objects. When the bell rang Rey had done some thinking about what Viola said. It didn’t ring true for him.
She put her things in her backpack and Rey watched her. If his suspicion was correct Viola didn’t really care what Rey thought anymore. For all the Belgian beer in the world, Rey couldn’t guess why.
“My report card is gonna be terrible,” Rey said.
“Mine isn’t,” Viola said. “I made honor roll.”
“You made honor roll?”
Viola nodded.
Then the thing Rey was missing occurred to him. “Wait. Why would it matter if Sam Patton said you were pretty if you’re a lesbian?”
Viola’s eyes widened. She didn’t say anything.
“Viola. If you don’t want to tell me it’s okay, but I might be able to help.”
“I don’t know if I’m a lesbian. Sam Patton lead me there yesterday.”
“So why are you letting them do this?”
“I asked them to do it to me ... last quarter,” she said stone-faced. “Because of how I feel. But Brianna Lane came to talk to me and she said that if I made honor roll I would feel better. So I did.” She threw her backpack onto her large frame, then said, “And I do.” She walked out.