Chapter Twenty-Two

 "What do we do now?" Blessing asked.

The three girls were sitting in Mila's car in the parking lot.

Mila looked at the hospital. "Open up the envelope."

Emery looked at Mila. Gator was dead. The day before, Gator had told Emery to get the envelope out of the hotel safe and bring it to him. She pulled the envelope out of her backpack. The envelope was full of cash. Even more cash than the first time she had followed Gator's instructions to bring him some cash from the hotel safe. 

"Oh my God!" Blessing exclaimed. 

"Let's count it," Mila said. 

Emery counted the money in the back seat.  "Eighty-one thousand, seven-hundred-and-forty dollars and sixty cents," she said. "He's not going to need it now." 

"Who's it from?" Mila asked.

"Well, it's Gator's money," Emery said.

"All of it?" Blessing asked.

"Well, yeah. I only had to renew his room and take care of a tab down at McCarthy's," Emery said. "He didn't tell me he owed any more money."

Mila thought hard. "Let's divide it into three."

"What?" Blessing said.

"How much is it per person, Blessing?" Mila asked.

"Twenty-seven thousand two-hunderd-and-forty-six dollars and eighty-six cents."

"Right. We'll split it three ways. Here's some hairbands." Mila handed three hairbands to Blessing.

Emery passed the envelope to the front seat. Blessing began to split the money. 

"We can't spend any of it. Maybe it's being traced."  Mila thought out loud.

"What?" Emery said.

"Maybe someone will want this money. So we have to lay low and not spend it. For the moment."

Emery thought Mila was being paranoid. "Why not?"

"You guys are on the security camera going into his room." Mila said.

Blessing shuddered. "That was pretty creepy with those life sized carboard people standing around. I nearly had a heart attack." 

"What?" Mila said.

"Yeah, he was a wierdo." Emery said. "I didn't recognize any of them except Moses." 

"And one was Tirzah Pyrestone," Blessing said. "I need some fives and ones. Does anyone have change for a twenty?" 

Mila pulled out a a wad of dollars from her bra. She took the twenty Blessing handed her and put it in a plastic card holder. She put the card holder back in the car door's compartment. She stared at the car door. "Listen," Mila said, "you guys are going to get your driver's licenses this year and you are going to need cars. You can't do anything without a car."

"I want a mini van that I can convert into a camper," Emery said. 

"Second hand, that will set you back about eighteen thousand," Mila said. "I can start looking for one. You can pay it cash to my dad and you can tell your folks you are paying for it in installments." 

Emery thought about it. That would mean that she could hold on to more of her earnings. It might work.

"I just want something basic," Blessing said. 

Mila nodded. "This money will give you a set of wheels. But we can't tell anyone about it."

"You already have a car. What are you going to do?" Blessing asked.

"I opened up a savings account for Juanito. BUT," Mila said, "we have to wait and see if it's safe to start using the money. AND we can't tell anyone about it."

"I am going to need a bigger binder," Blessing said.

"Forget that, we need a safe place for all of the money. And it's not my house, everyone is in everybody's business," Mila said. "Emery?"

"My mom's nuts and gets into these Biblical cleaning fits. I have a hard time keeping my binder out of sight."

"Blessing? What about in the garage?"

Blessing thought about it. There seemed to be more cash appearing every week in her room. "Okay," she said. 

"Believe  me, there won't be much left over after you get your vehicles," Mila said with a little shake of her head. "Man, to get ahead these days, you'd have to find three hundred grand in Gator's safe."

"Remember, no one says a word about this," Emery said, "because I want to be able to get away from my parents in three years and I will definitely need a van." 

"Blessing?" Mila said.

"Oh yeah, my lips are sealed."

"Okay, remember we might have to give it back," Mila said, "but until that moment, we are not saying anything to anyone."

Emery glanced down into her backpack at the bottle of meds she had taken from Gator's room without Blessing seeing her do  it. The sticker across the bottle read "Hero Pills."

Teary had read El-Don's powerpoint about starting his own business, Intergalatical Telepathic Interface System. "It's God's natural vibe!"

"I don't understand. What will you sell?" she asked El-Don.

"Hmmm?" El-Don said, preoccupied with his day. Lolly hadn't been at the center.

"Who are your clients?" Teary tried again.

"Everyone!" El-Don said.

"How much will they pay?"

"It's a sliding scale system. The more you use, the more you pay."

"It's a wireless service?"

"Yep."

El-Don was feeling vibrant and energetic, after the deep sleep with dreams of connectivity. Take Lolly, for instance. Lolly didn't show up in person at the center, but Lolly showed up later in the rear view mirror of El-Don's sedan. 

"Knock-knock" Lolly said, knocking on the mirror from inside the mirror. 

"Lolly!" El-Don said.

"You're supposed to say, who's there," Lolly said.

Lolly needed El-Don's help. He had been abducted by two aliens named John. Actually one was going by the name Johnita, but really she was a John. 

"What do they want?"

"To be called John and Johnita," Lolly said. Lolly looked suddenly frightened. "Gotta go!"

The drive back to Kimbark Street had been beautiful. A beautiful drive in Colorado, as the sun set over the mountains and Donald J. Trump was soon to be inagurated. 

"This is getting out of hand," Keith said to Mike Sowl. They were sitting in Beer Springs. 

"At least Rhino Ritz hasn't been on any more destruction derbys,"  Mike said.

Keith explained about the Water Demon's demise. 

"By spring someone will think they hooked the remains of the Loch Ness Monster," Mike said. "Do you think Rhino Ritz could actually find your manuscripts?"

"Maybe Candace will have better luck," Keith said.

"The founder and leader of The Kindred Spirit Community?" Mike asked.

"That woman is unstoppable. Maybe if I appear to her and tell her what I want, she'll help me out."

"Well, she likes dead people." Mike said. "That's a start."

"She may like them a little too much," Keith said. "That's what scares me."

Just then Gertrude Stein walked in. She had news and was almost ready to tell it. 

 Chapter Twenty-Three

#gator #eldonmast #longmont #colorado #gertrude stein #keithabbott #keithkumasenabbott #routineappartions #teenagedectectives

 

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