Blind Fall Read Online Free

to him. “Pizza Hut or Domino’s?” John asked him.
    “Golden Door.”
    “What the hell is the Golden Door?”
    “Um… language .”
    “Where is it?”
    “Loma Linda.” John tried not to curse. It was a good twenty-minute drive south and they were sure to hit bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way back. The kid continued, “And it’s not just pizza. They have everything—an arcade, a play area, live music—”
    “I got it. I got it. The Golden Door it is.”
    Live music . The only term that struck greater fear in his heart was enfilading fire . But he was a good kid and he didn’t deserve to spend the afternoon being ignored, even if it meant John might have to put up with a mariachi band in his face.
    Just as he had expected, John found his neighbor Emilio working on his truck in a makeshift garage he had built next to his trailer out of two-by-fours and canvas tarps that were so wind-battered they looked like they had been shot through with bullets.
    The truck’s hood was up, but Emilio was in the front seat, surfing stations on the radio. The forty-seven-year-old Mexican managed an auto body shop in Highland, and a few weeks earlier a cousin of his had brought some friends in who had needed serious fender work done at a serious discount. When the guys decided not to pay even the reduced price, Emilio’s cousin caved and told him the guys were all gangbangers who wouldn’t take kindly to multiple invoices, this after Emilio had called one of the cholos in question a no-account thug. His pants wet, Emilio had shown up on John’s doorstep one night and told him the whole story. John spent the entire next day teaching him basic defensive moves. Ever since then Emilio had been strutting through Devore Meadows like a rooster on steroids.
    When he saw John through the windshield, Emilio shot from the front seat and threw his arms around him. John gave him a pat on the back until he was released, and said, “If you see Mandy, tell her I took her kid to get some pizza.”
    “Mandy.” Emilio winced. “Aw, tell me you’re not gonna hit that shit, man.”
    John whacked Emilio across the back of the head, just as his own sister had whacked him across the back of the head every time he’d referred to a female by any term besides lady or woman or ma’am . “That’s no way to talk about a lady, Emilio.”
    “Dude, you’re a fuckin’ Marine. You could walk into any bar, have any woman you want. You just throw her right over your shoulder, walk out. Ace in every hole, man.”
    “I don’t just want any woman. I want Jessica Biel,” he said, turning from the truck. “When Mandy comes back you tell her that her kid’s dad dropped him off early and he asked me to take him to some pizza place in Loma Linda that sounds like a whorehouse.”
    “What?” Emilio called after him.
    “The Golden Door! Loma Linda!”
    “Got it,” Emilio called after him. John was almost back to his own trailer when he heard Emilio shout after him, “Hey man, you be careful of that kid’s stomach. One time I gave my sister’s kid some pizza—it was like a horror movie, man!”
     
     
    The Golden Door had everything Li’l D had promised and more, including a birthday party made up entirely of shrieking little girls, seated at the table right next to them. To keep himself from losing his mind, John kept his attention on the boy sitting across from him. A band played onstage, a band made up of giant animatronic animals who belted out the lyrics “It’s time to be happy to-daaaay! It’s time to be happy to-daaaay!” Their heads jerked from side to side. Their giant furry eyelids rose and fell in time to the music. A giant puppy played drums—he had big floppy ears that shot up into the air on the high notes and a long mouth lined with rounded white teeth that made him look like a barracuda. Li’l D was transfixed by this display, his eyes wide and glassy as he slowly chewed each bite of cheese pizza.
    If John had known how