Death's Door Read Free

his life—his mother’s name. There was no reason to hold anything else back.
    â€œThis is something I never told you. It was too humiliating, but one time—this was two years ago—I was coming through the park and some boys—Ezra Cunningham, Fox Weir, and some boy about six-foot-fifty in a Falcon sweatshirt—cornered me. The boy in the sweatshirt held my arms behind my back, and Ezra pretended he was going to hit me in the stomach, only he stopped just like one micro-millimeter short.”
    Meat could still feel the exact spot where the blow had almost landed. He covered it with his hand.
    Herculeah waited. “And?”
    â€œAnd I fainted.”
    â€œMeat!”
    â€œI couldn’t help it.”
    â€œThat’s the second time I know of that you’ve fainted in a moment of crisis. Remember the other time in Madame Rosa‘s, when the murderer was coming down the stairs and you were alone in the hall?”
    â€œYes. I never faint without a good reason,” he said defensively. In Meat’s opinion, fainting was the only thing that had got him out of danger.
    â€œSo, what did the boys do—run off and just leave you lying there?”
    â€œI wish they had.”
    â€œWhat did they do?”
    â€œThey dragged me over to the giant peach and pulled me inside. Then they left me.”
    Herculeah glanced at Meat. Beneath the brim of his hat his expression was pained.
    â€œI woke up and I didn’t know where I was. All I could see was the color peach. I thought I’d gone blind. I moaned, and that moan went on—well, like you said, I know it was over a thousand times.
    â€œFinally, finally, a mother heard me and she came over. At first she thought I was that homeless man that sleeps in there sometimes, but finally she shook my foot—my feet were sticking out—and I realized where I was. It’s left me with an aversion to peaches.”
    â€œYou have to learn to stick up for yourself, Meat.”
    â€œI know. I know.”
    â€œOne time Billy Holland came up to me in the hall at school. He said, ‘How’s the weather up there, Giraffe?’ I said, ‘What did you call me?’ He said, ‘Giraffe.’ He had this smile on his face like he was being so cute. I said, ‘You got it wrong. Giraffes are peaceful creatures. They would never do this.’
    â€œAnd, Meat, I let him have it, hard as I could.” She re-created the jab in the air while Meat watched with admiration. “This happened right in front of the girls restroom and all the girls coming out had to step over him.”
    She smiled at Meat.
    He said, “Why are you smiling?”
    â€œBecause we went right by the giant peach. Its shadow was so long it covered the sidewalk, and you didn’t even notice.”
    â€œMaybe I’m making progress. But for some reason I still feel threatened. If you want to know the truth, I feel like something terrible is getting ready to happen to me.”
    He glanced over his shoulder at the giant peach. He shuddered. He wanted to be home where he was safe.
    â€œSears,” Herculeah said as they paused at the corner. She was unaware of his feeling of fear. “Sears.”
    â€œStop saying that. We’re getting too close to my house. If my mother heard you say Sears...”
    â€œShe’d just think I was talking about a store.”
    â€œNot my mother. She’d know I told.”
    They crossed the street and turned the corner for home.
    Meat wasn’t musical. He could hardly remember a single tune, but now his brain came up with a song. He began to hum.
    Herculeah joined in with the words.
    â€œCan you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?”
    She laughed. Meat didn’t.

4
    THE CAT IN THE HAT
    The gunman pulled his cellular phone from his duffel bag and pulled up the antenna. He punched in a number. It was the number of the house he was watching—Meat’s