Gabe Johnson Takes Over Read Online Free PDF Page B

proceeds to the band. Couldn’t that work? He’s a Minnekota Lake band alum too. Couldn’t we find a way around those Kaus jackasses?
    Oh, yeah, I was getting mad at Kailey herself, even though I once loved her.
    I thought, Can’t we raise our own cash and keep marching camp rolling?
    I needed to make some serious war plans.
    I texted Justin and Camille what I believed about the band and the cheerleaders. Hear me right now! Cheer bitches took our money! Because it was before 5 a.m., neither responded.
    Then I got ready for work.
    When I left, Grandpa and Dad were sleeping in the living room. They’d been there all night—Grandpa snoring on the gross brown recliner, Dad sawing logs on the red couch Mom bought three months before she left us to be with a douche sack Mr. Mitsunori. (I’d like to punch his face.) A rerun of SportsCenter blared on the TV. This is the environment I’m growing up in, Mr. Rodriguez. It smelled like old man in the place.
    No! You’re not an old man, sir. You smell great!
    Yeah, that’s a little awkward.
    Time to make the donuts. I walked out into dawn, fresh dew on the grass, new sun glowing in the trees. It’s only a few blocks from my house to Main Street and Dante’s old-timey, tourist-trap, brick-and-glass storefront. I walked with new purpose. Gonna win!
    Dante usually has three kids there on the weekends during the summer, two or three during weekdays. Summers are busy as hell because of the resort traffic on the lake. As I mentioned, Dante had hired RC III. I got him to apply. Then Dante asked me what I thought of him. “RC III is one top-notch hombre,” I said.
    Dante did not, however, ask me about Chandra Gore. If he had, I would’ve been very, very negative on the matter.
    Her eyes look like they’re firing death at you! She wears black lipstick! She makes her cheeks look pale with makeup! Most of the time, she’s wearing old, black lacy blouses like a dead old lady! Her fingernails are painted black! She wears skull rings and black boots! I’m a fan of her now, but really, that’s not what I’d be looking for when hiring a cashier. Here’s an interview question no businessman would ask: Can you stare down customers and make them feel ice in their souls?
    But there she was. Gore was at Dante’s before me. What a shock to my system! There’s some really rough history surrounding Gore in my grade, and I just assumed Carrie Dragovich, who is one of Dad’s students at the college, would be continuing to work at Dante’s for the summer. But I walk in through the back door and there she is, the new hire, Gore herself sipping coffee out of a freaking Styrofoam cup.
    I was all prepped to ask Dante to raise prices to support band, but I stopped sharp, wondered, Is this some evil hallucination from not eating enough? Is she real?
    â€œUm…hi,” Gore said. Her big ghost eyes popped out of her head. These were the first words I’d heard her say since seventh grade.
    Isn’t that weird, sir? Gore was in class with me every day. She was silent.
    Then Dante came in from out front with his own cup of coffee. He wears a sailor’s hat and white painter pants and a tight T-shirt all the time. Looks like he could be swabbing deck in the Navy. “Hey! Summertime!” he called to me.
    â€œWhat is this?” I asked, pointing at Gore.
    â€œThis?” Dante asked.
    â€œI’m a girl,” Gore whispered.
    â€œSummer help, buddy,” Dante said.
    â€œWhere’s Carrie?” I asked.
    â€œWorking on her dad’s farm. You knew that,” Dante said.
    â€œNo, this is not going to work,” I said, again pointing at Gore. “She’s a potential murderer.”
    Gore swallowed hard, then whispered, “You don’t know anything.” She turned and bolted for the bathroom. Even through her makeup, I could tell her skin was flushed.
    â€œUnacceptable,