Tell Me Read Online Free PDF Page B

money.”
    I smile.
Welcome to community theater.
    â€œWe need you back tomorrow morning, starting at ten. Okay?”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œAnd, look, that girl Caitlin, she’s like that. She’s thelead trumpet player.” He whispers the next part. “Her dad owns half the town. Don’t worry about it.”
    I nod.
    He smiles. “I’m Ben. I’m on drums.”
    The band walks by. Caitlin glares at me like I’m crawling with bugs.
    If I were dressed like a daisy I’d probably keep my mouth shut, but I’m not. I push the pink petals out of my eyes. “Caitlin, if you knew me and decided you didn’t like me, that would be okay. But you don’t know me. I just got to town, so give it a break.”
    Her face turns cranberry red.
    The band loves that.
    Caitlin storms off.
    Ben laughs the hardest. “Nice one, Petunia.”
    I wonder what happens when you insult the spoiled-brat daughter of the richest man in town.

Seven
    Mim left her meeting and sent Burke to pick me up.
    I have a feeling I made a mistake with Caitlin—she doesn’t seem like the kind of girl who lets things go. I lean back in the passenger seat of the Flower People truck. “So, Burke, I keep hearing about this guy, Coleman Crudup.”
    His face gets tight. “You’ll hear more, I’m sure.”
    â€œYou know him?”
    â€œYeah . . .”
    I drum my fingers on the door. “So, what’s he like?”
    Burke points a finger at me. “Stay away, Anna. He’s not a good guy.”
    I bite my lip. “Why do you say that?”
    â€œBecause I do.” He drives up a winding road that gets narrower. “And it just so happens . . .”
    Now a huge house appears—it’s yellow with white shutters, three stories tall with a wraparound porchfilled with plants and wicker furniture. The front door looks like it’s built for a giant. There are balconies by the windows and three chimneys on the roof.
    Burke pulls by the locked gate. “That’s one of Crudup’s houses.”
    â€œHow many does he have?”
    â€œA few around here, and at least one on an island somewhere.”
    â€œWow. He’s rich.”
    â€œMoney-wise he’s rich, but not in any other way.”
    I nod. I get the difference. “I met his daughter. She doesn’t like me.”
    Burke smiles. “I’d take that as a compliment.” He backs the truck up. “Come on, I want to show you something else.”

    It’s long and gray, at least a block long, and it doesn’t have windows. The roof is rounded and trucks are parked outside.
    â€œIt used to be an old airline hangar,” Burke explains, “but now . . .”
    We go through the huge doors.
    Oh, wow!
    This is where the floats are being decorated for the parade.
    â€œIn a week we’ll have so many volunteers, you won’t be able to move in here.”
    There’s scaffolding everywhere—a few people are high up on it, decorating, painting.
    Burke points to a float in the corner. “That’s for the library. They’re going to have a twenty-foot bookworm covered in flowers.”
    Fun!
    â€œAnd over there is the middle school jazz band float.”
    It’s not as big as the others, but still. I walk with Burke past all the floats. There’s yellow caution tape around some of the areas. A lady climbs up a ladder and waves at Burke.
    â€œThe flowers go on the last few days,” he explains. “If we put them on too early—they’ll die.” He touches the float we’re passing. It says CACTUS CHARACTERS on the side with prickles coming out of the sign.
    â€œThey just grow cactuses,” Burke explains. “No flowers.”
    A man working that float raises a paintbrush. “Cactuses have flowers, boy.”
    â€œYou’re right, sir.”
    â€œWe’ve got four hundred and sixty-three