A Gathering of Crows Read Online Free PDF Page B

seemed to want to be with him. Other times, she seemed more interested in Sam. Randy hated how the whole situation made him feel.
    Not for the first time, Randy wondered what would happen to them all after graduation. It was only a few months away. They’d have the summer together. He supposed that he and Sam would have to find jobs, although he didn’t know how in the hell they’d do that when there weren’t any jobs to be had. Stephanie would be going off to college in the fall. She’d gotten into Morgantown. What would happen then? Would she be like everybody else who left Brinkley Springs, and never come back?
    “Where’s your sister at tonight?” Sam asked.
    Randy turned around to answer and noticed that
    Sam and Stephanie were sitting very close to each other on the edge of the mattress. So close, in fact, that their thighs and shoulders were touching. Neither seemed inclined to move. Randy wondered if they were even aware of it. A lump rose in his throat and something churned in his stomach.
    “She went out,” he said, trying to keep the edge out of his voice. “Donny’s leaving tonight. She wanted to confront him before he goes.”
    “She ought to just let it drop,” Sam said. “Hell, he’s the one who left in the first place. Went off to Iraq and shit. Left your sis and his mother here. And what with his Mom being sick and your sister in love with him—that shit wasn’t right, yo.”
    “She’s in love with him,” Stephanie declared. “It’s easy to see why, too. Donny’s . . .”
    “What?” Randy and Sam asked at the same time. “Never mind. All I’m saying is that it’s easy to see why Marsha is still stuck on Donny. Love makes you do strange things.”
    “Randy?” The voice came from downstairs.
    “Shit. It’s my dad.” He waved at Stephanie and Sam to be quiet. “What?”
    “Turn that music down. The bass is coming through the ceiling.”
    “Okay,” Randy yelled.
    Muttering to himself, he walked toward the computer. As he did, the background music changed, switching from Kanye West to Foxy Brown and Kira singing “When the Lights Go Out.”
    “Oh,” Stephanie said, “I love this song.”
    And then the lights went out, along with the computer, the television, the video game and all of the other electronics. Stephanie gasped. The bedroom grew dark. The windows were open, allowing the night air to come through the screens, and a slight breeze ruffled the curtains.
    “Uh-oh,” Sam said. “Must have blown a fuse.”
    “Listen,” Randy said, holding a finger to his lips.
    “Ya’ll hush up a minute.”
    Downstairs, Randy and Marsha’s father was cursing, and their mother was asking him where the flashlight was. Outside, a dog howled. And then another. And then a dozen.
    “Come on,” Randy said. “Let’s go see what’s happening.”
    Sam and Stephanie stood up and followed him to the bedroom door. Randy reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. She squeezed back, and her teeth flashed white in the gloom as she smiled at him.
    “Besides,” Randy whispered, “maybe it’ll be more exciting than sitting here playing video games.”
    “Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “I was sort of having fun kicking Sam’s butt.”
    Sam laughed behind them and Stephanie’s smile grew wider. Randy let go of her hand and walked out into the hall, barely realizing that his hands had curled into fists.
    Outside, the barking and howls grew louder.
    ***
    Five black crows swooped in over the town and then split up, each heading to the outskirts. One glided to the town’s northern point, another to the southern tip. One went east and another west. The fifth crow hovered over the center of town. When all were in position, each simultaneously shed a single black feather. The feathers floated slowly downward. As each one touched the ground, the birds croaked in unison. Their voices sounded human rather than crowlike—as if they were chanting.
    The air around Brinkley Springs changed. A