The Seal of Solomon Read Online Free PDF Page A

hand on my arm before I stepped out of the car.
    â€œHere,” she said, digging into her purse. “I want to give you my phone number.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œSo you can call me, silly.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause I like you.”
    â€œYou like me like me or just like me?”
    â€œI like you.”
    My chest tightened and I got out of the car, then turned back and leaned close.
    â€œListen, I get it. You’ve taken me on as a project. Poor, big, stupid Alfred Kropp. Well, I don’t need your pretty . . . I mean pity . Find some other loser to feel sorry for.”
    I turned away before she could say anything, jogging across the yard to the front door. I missed seeing the gnarled old oak root sticking up in front of the sidewalk, tripped, and sprawled flat on my face in the cool dirt. Could it get any worse? I had been waiting for a sign and, as I pushed my big slobbery bulk from the ground, I realized this was the sign I was waiting for.
    It was time to leave.

7
    Horace was standing in the entryway holding a gray suit on a hanger.
    â€œWhat’s this?” I asked.
    â€œYour suit, Alfred.”
    â€œI don’t own a suit.”
    â€œYou do now. You need to try it on to see if it fits. Tomorrow afternoon is the hearing. And you gotta look nice for the judge, Al,” he said.
    I brushed past him, went into the bathroom, and proceeded to floss. After a second there was a soft knock and Horace whispered from the other side.
    â€œHey, Al, I think you forgot the suit. I’ll just hang it here on the knob. We’re having fried chicken for dinner. Isn’t that your favorite?”
    I didn’t answer and Horace went away.
    I went into the bedroom and pulled my old duffel bag from the closet. It took about five minutes to pack because I didn’t have much. The door opened and Kenny came in.
    â€œWhat are you doing, Alfred Kropp?”
    â€œPacking,” I said.
    â€œYou’re leaving!”
    I looked up at him. He started to cry.
    â€œDon’t do that, Kenny. I don’t want Horace and Betty to know.”
    â€œWhere are you going?”
    â€œI don’t know. I’ll figure it out.”
    â€œTake me with you.”
    â€œI can’t.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI just can’t, okay? Look, it’s going to be all right. I can’t live here, Kenny. Horace is plotting to adopt me and take all my money and I can’t let that happen.”
    He climbed onto the top bunk and refused to come down for dinner, but I ate to keep up appearances, plus I didn’t know where my next meal was coming from. I planned to slip out the window as soon as Horace and Betty went to bed.
    Around eleven I heard the Tuttles go to their room.
    â€œAlfred Kropp is leaving me to die,” Kenny muttered in the top bunk.
    I sighed. “Look, when I get to wherever I’m going, I’ll call you to make sure everything’s okay. And if it’s not okay I’ll come back and rescue you. How’s that?”
    â€œYou’ll rescue me? You promise?”
    â€œI promise.”
    I guess that satisfied him, because he quieted down. It was time to go, but I didn’t move. What was I waiting for? I had thought Ashley’s pity was the sign I needed, but now leaving was the last thing I wanted to do.
    Looking back now, I wonder what would have happened if I had gotten off my big butt and left that moment. If I had snuck out ten or even five minutes earlier would the horrors I was about to unleash on the world have been averted?
    I’ll never know, because I didn’t leave that moment. I was waiting for Kenny’s breathing to even out. It must have been close to midnight when he yelled, “What’s that? I heard something, Alfred Kropp, outside the window.”
    â€œI didn’t hear anything.”
    â€œI heard it. I—” He stopped himself, then hissed: “There’s someone outside our