Betwixt Read Online Free PDF Page A

as harsh. Controllable somehow, though
     he wasn’t doing anything to change them. He’d needed that, because his “gift” was coming back with a vengeance — as if to
     punish him for starting to relax.
    Hardly a way to explain all of this to Finn.
    The dreadlocked boy passed Nix two glass tubes, coughing. “Hold these.” It had been a wet spring and most of the kids at the
     squat were sick, except Nix, who had never been sick in his life — or as long as he could remember. Sometimes he wondered
     if, when his time came, he’d be able to see the light around himself; or if his own death, at least, would be a mystery.
    “All I’m saying is that you’re bringing Bleek up here and soon the cops are going to get wise and we’re going to have to find
     another squat. We’ve been here almost a month, man. We move now and we’re gonna be moving all summer.”
    Nix rolled the tubes between his fingers and nodded.
    “And berry season is coming, dude. You know how much I’ve been looking forward to berry season.”
    Nix laughed. “I hear you, man.”
    “I thought you would.”
    Just then the bushes moved behind them and a sandy-blond head appeared amidst the greenery.
    “My brothers!”
    Nix shrugged at Finn, who shook his head.
    “Bleek,” Nix said and offered a hand. Finn sat on the stump, staring at the muscular, clean-shaven kid who was now standing
     in khakis and a bright red fleece, his arms outstretched above him at the center of the clearing. Bleek’s straight blond hair,
     already receding, was short and his beard was shaven. He sported tiny silver hoops in both ears.
    “Ah, the great outdoors!”
    “Keep it down, man.” Finn hushed him from the stump. “This isn’t Yosemite.”
    “Finn Terwilliger.” Bleek arched a brow and showed a tight smile. “Always the sunny disposition. And how are you progressing
     with Evelyn? Off the tit yet?”
    Finn narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
    “I saw her at Krakatoa yesterday, and she seemed …” Bleek paused, looking up into the feathery branches. “Well, how shall
     I put it? She seemed very
moved
by seeing me. I think she’s startingto like me. Not for what I offer her, like she used to, but for who I
am.
” He smiled again and tilted his head, picking a few pine needles from the front of his fleece.
    “She is lovely, that Evelyn.” Bleek stopped. “Even with the track marks.”
    “Shut the fuck up,” Nix growled.
    “Of course.” He laughed. “That was rude. It’s just that Finn has a problem with me for some reason, and I can’t seem to do
     anything about it.”
    Bleek took a step toward Finn, who kept his eyes on his radio.
    “Finn, I am a lowly drug dealer. Some of us have to make a living so that we can pay our way through college. Some of us did
     not grow up with two last names followed by a number, Phineas Terwilliger the — what is it? Fourth? Fifth? Some of us weren’t
     lucky enough to get kicked out of prep school after dropping sixty gees on our
edumacations.
”
    Finn looked at Nix and shook his head.
    “See what I mean? This is what you’ve brought to this place now, and it’s not going away.”
    “Calm down, brother. I’m leaving.” Bleek took a rolled Ziploc from his fleece pocket and tossed it to Nix. “Here’s your medicine,
     my friend. Doctor’s fee will be thirty.”
    Nix eyed him. “Last week it was twenty.”
    “Supply has been down lately, bud.”
    He took a twenty out of his wallet and passed it to the dealer.
    “I owe you ten. Next time I’ll meet you downtown. You got to chill on Finn, man. He’s not doing anything to you.”
    Bleek waved his hand. “Self-righteous hypocrites like Master Terwilliger bug me, Nix. It’s really not your problem.
    “Anyway,” he continued, “I don’t do IOUs.” Bleek looked up and sighed. “But I’ll tell you what you can do. You hear about
     the party that’s happening in a few weeks? Around the solstice?”
    Nix shrugged. He had heard there was