“What do his parents do for a living?”
This time his temper snapped and he spoke before he could stop himself. “What does that matter?”
“It matters to me and if you want to go, I want an answer.” Nick rol ed his eyes at the response that grated on his last nerve. “What do your parents do?”
There was a strange look on Caleb’s face. When he spoke, his tone was completely stoic. “My dad’s a broker and my mom is his eternal unwil ing concubine who sold her soul to him to buy the equivalent of a Ferrari.” Nick let out a long breath. Caleb definitely had a way with words. “His dad’s a stockbroker.”
“His mom?”
“She’s a housewife.”
His mother hesitated before she continued gril ing him. “Is he a good boy?”
“No, Mom, he’s Satan incarnate. In fact, once it’s over, we’re going to get liquored up and tattooed, then find some cheap hos and have a good time with his trust fund.” Caleb laughed.
His mom, however, did not share that sense of humor.
“Don’t you take that tone with me, Nick Gautier. I’l ground you til you’re old and gray. Now answer my question.” Would she never appreciate his sarcasm?
Realizing he had to play nice, Nick took the attitude out of his voice. “Yes, he’s a good boy. Never been in trouble at school and he’s on the honor rol . Captain of the footbal team.
Al -around psycho serial kil er who hides bodies in the fridge whenever his parents go out of town.”
Wel … he’d tried to remove al sarcasm. Thing was, for him, it was an impossible task.
Caleb laughed again, then leaned in to speak so that Nick’s mom could hear him. “I also eat babies for breakfast and torture smal animals for fun. My therapist says that I’m making real progress though.”
His mother responded with a sharp note. “Don’t you boys get smart with me.”
Nick grinned at Caleb. “Sorry, Mom. We couldn’t resist.” She spoke to her boss, then came back to Nick. “Al right.
You can go, but I want you here in an hour.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’l be there.”
“I love you, baby.”
Nick felt his face turn bright red as he turned away from Caleb. “I love you too,” he said in a low tone. Then he hung up the phone and returned it to Caleb. “I don’t want to hear no crap from you about that.”
Caleb held his hands up. “Don’t worry. Wish I had a mom I could love. Mine’s a psycho hose beast who begrudges me every breath I take. Besides, you didn’t make kissing noises at her. So what’s to mock?”
This time. And it was only because Caleb was here that he didn’t.
Caleb put the phone in his pocket and led the way toward Bubba’s store.
As they walked, Nick’s thoughts went back to Stone and the oddity of their meeting. “What do you think Stone was doing behind Liza’s store?” It wasn’t like him to be out alone. His brand of cowardice usual y needed an audience to perform for.
Caleb jerked his chin in the direction of the ful moon. “He was probably prowling around with his buds and found some Dumpsters with trash in them to sniff.”
“Huh?”
“It’s a ful moon, Nick. I’m sure the animal in Stone took over.
He was probably trying to teleport somewhere and because of his young age, screwed up the jump. I think he landed behind the dol store ’cause Liza was summoning the gods earlier tonight and her powers cal ed out to him or something. They might have even interfered with his.”
Nick snorted at his worthless answer. “Ah, gah, you’re not going to start with al that werewolf crap too, are you?”
“You don’t believe in them?”
“I only believe in zombies and only because I’ve seen them today. The rest … total caca.”
Caleb shook his head. “You live in New Orleans and you’re Catholic, not to mention friends with Bubba and Mark, yet you don’t believe in demons, werewolves, or vampires?”
“The only vampires I’ve ever seen are the Goths trying to get a glimpse of Anne Rice’s house, who drink strawberry sodas and tel each other it’s blood.”
“You’re such a skeptic.”
And Nick took a lot of pride in that too. He didn’t like the idea of anyone putting anything over on him. Better to be jaded than a victim. “I take it you’re not.”
“I believe in it al .”
“Why?”
“C’mon, Nick, haven’t you ever been walking down the street and just felt the hand of evil brush down your spine? You know that tingle. That sense that something isn’t right, but you don’t know what it is. That’s a demon by your side, boy. He’s sizing you up to toy with.”
Nick didn’t believe a word of what he was trying to sel .
“You’re just trying to mess with my head.”
“I’m trying to prepare you for the real world.”
“The real world is getting a good job, paying your bil s, and keeping your nose clean.” Staying off death row.
Caleb gave him an arch stare. “Wow. You’ve total y bought into that namby-pamby status quo.”