Twenty Palaces Read Online Free PDF Page B

Barbara says, either. Or my parents. You and I were friends for a long time, and what happened was hard on both of us."
    "Harder on you."
    "Yeah, it was, but you know what would have made it easier? Having my best friend around. I kinda missed you, buddy."
    I had no idea how to respond. I'd come back to town knowing I'd have to make my peace with Jon, but the last thing in the world I expected was for him to make it so easy. "I, uh... I never had a chance to say I was sorry--"  
    "And now you don't have to! Seriously, don't. Like I said, everything is different now."
    Jon was my oldest friend in the world, and he had every reason to hate me. I owed him a debt I could never repay. But here he was acting like none of that mattered. A flush of gratitude ran through me that was so strong it made me feel dizzy.  
    "Okay," I said. "Everything does seem different. You're right. So, Jon... What happened? How did you get this cure?"

CHAPTER FOUR

    "Aw, Ray, if there's one person who deserves an answer to that, it's you, but I can't, buddy. I promised. This person gave me my legs back, right? And all I had to do in return was not tell anyone who I got it from or how it was done."
    "That's cool. No problem."
    "It's the only thing the guy asked in return."
    "Hey, I take the question back. No problem."
    He was about to say something else when there was a loud clang from the cage. Jon spun around with surprising speed and stalked over to the chain link.  
    Echo crouched at the plate with her butt out way too far and one of her feet almost out of the batters box. She didn't know how to stand any better than Macy did. The next pitch came in and she smacked it. The ball flew in a line drive straight at the pitching machine, struck it at the top of the rubber wheel and rebounded straight into the air.
    "Hey!" Jon yelled. "Don't you break that machine!"
    "Relax," Payton said. "She didn't do it on purpose."
    The next pitch came in and Echo hit it onto the exact same place. Jon threw himself wildly against the chain link. "DON'T YOU BREAK THAT MACHINE!"
    Echo didn't even glance at him. The next pitch came in and she hit it squarely on the pitching machine's guard, two inches lower than her previous shots.
    She gave Jon a sly look, and he burst out laughing. That was what she was waiting for; she tossed the bat aside and said: "Your turn."
    Jon went into the cage like a man entering a chapel.  
    Echo turned to Payton. "Put a token in for the man, hon, then get us some more cheese and chicken."  
    "More?" He dropped the token into the machine, then went inside to do as he was told.
    Macy and Echo turned toward me. Each took one of my arms, and I let them push me back to the bench until I was sitting down and they were standing over me.  
    "I was Jon's therapist," Macy said. "From before. He talked about you all the time. Ray this. Ray that."
    "So where have you been?" Echo asked.  
    "Shoveling snow at the North Pole." It came out sharper than I'd planned, but I didn't like the way they were trying to stand me down, even if it was just for fun. "Are therapists allowed to date their patients?"  
    "Nope, but once he was cured we didn't need to hide it anymore."
    "And he's a big improvement over the charity case she was dating before," Echo added. "I'll bet there's a lot of job security in arctic snow shoveling."
    "Smart bet."
    Macy leaned closer to me and lowered her voice. "Jon said you were in jail."  
    I looked away from them, into the parking lot where Jon's van was parked. I didn't want to have this conversation. "Only the last few years. And before you ask what it was like or why I was sent up, don't. Please."
    "What was it like?" Macy asked.  
    "Why were you sent up?" Echo asked.
    I didn't look at them. Being challenged and tested was an everyday part of prison life, and my instincts told me that I should back them off. But I wasn't living a prison life anymore. You think you've paid your dues, but you haven't.
    "My friend started a