Twenty Palaces Read Online Free PDF Page A

grabbed a paper bag off the dashboard and dug out some damp-looking fries.  
    We drove for a while longer before I felt the tell-tale sharp turn and sudden bump of a vehicle pulling into a parking lot. "Hell yeah," Jon said. Echo put away her instrument, and a few seconds later, Jon was shutting off the engine and squawking the parking brake in place.  
    Everyone piled out of the van. I could see my breath in the chill night air. Jon threw his arm around my shoulders. "Wait until you see what I have planned for us."  
    Macy grabbed his wrist and pulled him away as Echo moved into his spot, standing close enough to command my attention. It was a well-timed switch, almost as though it had been orchestrated. "Big baseball fan, are you?" Echo asked.  
    "I used to be." We had come somewhere outside the city. There was a single large building in the center of the parking lot; it looked like some kind of huge sports bar. Jon had chosen a spot near the back, past a scattering of Hondas, Toyotas, and Fords--not the most upscale models, but worth a lot when stripped down for parts. Not that I did that anymore.  
    "We spent part of the day out at a field by Jon's house. He hit the ball as we chased it. I could see the appeal for him, but..."
    I laughed and looked over her shoulder. Jon and Macy were speaking very closely, very quietly as she examined his nine-fingered hand. Payton was just behind Echo and me, and he wasn't smiling anymore. "I gotta admit, I lost my taste for it. It's been a while since I followed a team."  
    "Well that's not allowed!" Jon said, bursting in on us. "Ray, ten minutes, that's all I ask. Ten minutes and you'll be ready to throw in with the Mariners again."  
    I liked the way he was smiling at me. It made me feel good. "Hell, you can have eleven."
    Everyone laughed. Echo jumped at Payton and threw her arms around his beefy neck, and he lifted her off the ground with one hand as we walked. Macy came forward and slipped under Jon's arm on the other side. I was the odd man, but it felt okay.  
    The inside was dark and cavernous. Dings and clangs of dozens of arcade games could barely be heard over the blaring butt rock. Jon turned to Macy and yelled "Food!" over the din. She, Echo, and Payton yelled it right back, then headed toward a narrow counter at the back of the bar.
    Jon took my elbow. "Come on! Let's go home!" He dragged me through the bar and out the back door.  
    There was a sturdy weathered picnic table chained to the back of the building. Beside it was a long, high chain link fence. It stretched twenty feet up, with huge squares of canvas hung over the far side. Then I noticed it had a roof, like an enclosure for a giraffe. A cage.
    I almost had time to get angry, but then I noticed a machine at one end. Jon offered me an aluminum bat from a rack. "What do you think, huh?"
    I couldn't help but smile as I accepted the bat. "Pretty cold out here. Even the pros have given up the game until spring."
    "Screw them. I'm going to be out here all winter. Maybe I'll even try out for the M's."
    "Great way to get rid of those news vans."  
    Jon laughed as he got a second bat from the rack. The back door opened and Macy, Echo, and Payton carried a startling amount of food to the picnic table. They laid out red plastic baskets full of french fries, burgers, and fried chicken strips, then began to eat. The women tore into the chicken as though they were starving, and the smacking noises they made were disgusting.  
    "Whoa," Payton said. "Hungry, babe?" He took a shaker from his pocket and sprinkled a pale white powder over his fries. Macy and Echo reeled away from him, holding their noses and gasping for air.  
    "Jesus!" Echo said. She had tears running down her cheeks. "You and your garlic powder."
    "What? It purifies my blood."
    I watched Macy and Echo as they wiped away tears, trying to decide if they were play-acting to bust Payton's chops. They didn't look like it, but I was standing almost between