UnWholly Read Free

time it takes the Juvey-cops to herd you out the door? The answer is easy: You don’t even try.
    “I’m sorry, Mason,” his father says, tears in his eyes as well. “But it’s better for everyone this way. Including you.”
    Starkey knows he’ll never make his parents understand, but if nothing else, he’ll have the last word.
    “Hey, Mom, by the way . . . Dad’s late nights at the officearen’t really at the office. They’re with your friend Nancy.”
    But before he can begin to relish his parents’ shocked expressions, it occurs to him that this secret knowledge could have been a bargaining chip. If he had told his father he knew, it could have been ironclad protection from unwinding! How could he be so stupid not to have thought of that when it mattered?
    So in the end he can’t even enjoy his bitter little victory as the Juvey-cops push him out into a cool December night.

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    The Juvey squad car leaves the driveway with Starkey locked in the backseat behind a bulletproof barrier. Mouthpiece drives while Lady-Lips flips through a fat file folder. Starkey can’t imagine his life could have that much data.
    “It says here you scored in the top ten percentile in your early childhood exams.”
    The mouthpiece shakes his head in disgust. “What a waste.”
    “Not really,” says Lady-Lips. “Plenty of folks will get the benefit of your smarts, Mr. Starkey.”
    The suggestion gives him an unpleasant chill, but he tries not to show it. “Love the lip graft, dude,” Starkey says. “What’s the deal? Did your wife tell you she’d rather be kissed by a woman?”
    Mouthpiece smirks, and Lady-Lips says nothing.
    “But enough lip service,” says Starkey. “You boys hungry? Because I could go for a midnight snack right about now. Some In-N-Out? Whaddaya say?”
    No answer from the front seat. Not that he expects one, but it’s always fun to mess with law enforcement and see how much it takes to irritate them. Because if they get ticked off, he wins. What’s that story about the Akron AWOL? What did he always say? Oh yeah. “Nice socks.” Simple, elegant, but it always undermined the confidence of any figure of false authority.
    The Akron AWOL—now there was an Unwind! Sure, he died in the attack on Happy Jack Harvest Camp almost a year ago, but his legend lives on. Starkey longs for the kind of notoriety that Connor Lassiter has. In fact, Starkey imagines Connor Lassiter’s ghost sitting by his side, appreciating his thoughts and his every action—not just approving, but guiding Starkey’s hands as he wriggles his handcuffs down to his left shoe—just low enough to fish out the knife from the lining. The knife he’s saved for special occasions like this.
    “Come to think about it, In-N-Out Burger does sound good right about now,” says Lady-Lips.
    “Excellent,” says Starkey. “There’s one up ahead on the left. Order me a Double-Double, Animal Style, and Animal fries, too, because, hey—I’m an animal.”
    He is amazed that they actually pull into the all-night drive-through.Starkey feels like the master of subliminal suggestion, even though his suggestion was not all that subliminal. Still, he is in control of the Juvey-cops . . . or at least he thinks he is until they order meals for