Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn Read Online Free Page A

single nail, which he proceeds to pound into the wall with just a few short, sound whacks. Next he produces from the duffel a black wooden 8><10 framed black-and-white photograph of a young, pretty girl. As Nicholas arranges it on the wall, Gid leans in for a closer look. The girl has dark hair and bright, sparkling eyes.
    "Wow," Gideon says. "Is that your girlfriend?"
    Cullen throws his head back and howls. Nicholas says nothing and rummages in his duffel again. He removes a white sheet and, with a firm, almost angry shake, tosses it over the bed. "No," he says, without a trace of warmth in his voice. "It's my mother." He constructs two perfect sets of hospital corners. Then he sits down, unties and removes a pair of New Balance sneakers, and, as if in pain, eases himself onto his back.
    "I apologize for not being more social," he says. "Being in a car with my stepmother emotionally exhausts me, and I have to rest."
    Cullen is still giggling into his hand, and Nicholas throws him a disapproving look before he closes his eyes and pulls the sheet up under his chin. Within a few moments he's snoring.
    Cullen reaches into his pocket and produces a tiny silver camera. "How about a picture of me and your son on our first day as friends?"
    Jim loves this. He forgets himself for a minute, grateful that his son is in caring hands.
    Or so it seems.
    Mugging for the pose, Cullen throws a heavy arm around Gid's shoulder. "Hey," he whispers in Gid's ear, "say booze, bongs, and bitches."
    Minutes later, when his father drives away, Gid watches from the window.
    Cullen squats in front of the open CD changer. "Sad?" he asks. He puts on Cat Power. Which is really sad. Too sad. It's good, though, because Gid knows he's not that sad.
    "No," says Gid. He doesn't know exactly how he feels. There's some guilt, but only because he's so relieved. He watches his father drive away partly because it seems like the right thing to do, but also because he wants to make sure he's really gone.
    Cullen nods. "There comes a certain age in a boy's life..." And with this, he reaches under the bed and produces a contraption, like a plastic vase with tubes coming out of it, "where Dad steps out and the Vaportech steps in." Gideon is about to ask what the Vaportech is when Cullen reaches into his pocket and produces a very large and heavy-looking Ziploc bag full of pot.
    Gid is speechless. I feel a strong responsibility toward him, and I will him, as hard as I can, to say something like, "You know, I thought I would have a little bit more time to figure out the extent to which I'm interested in misbehaving," or, "Let me figure out what the rules are before I start breaking them." But I'm clearly not reaching him, because he not only says nothing, he smiles, takes the Ziploc, and opens it.
    "Smells like good stuff," he says, although this is the first time he's ever seen pot, let alone smelled it.

the yellow thong
    Gideon spends the afternoon with his face wrapped around the Vaportech. Nicholas sleeps. Cullen talks, ceasing the relay of information only long enough to smoke more pot himself.
    "So we get our pot delivered from Sanders, the maintenance man. He also put sealant around the doors for us over the summer, so Cockweed, who lives across the hall, can't smell it." Notice Cullen doesn't mention that he pays the maintenance man, dearly. Cullen is one of those rich people who seem to have forgotten about that little element of his transactions and sees the world as this place where people are, miraculously, just really into doing nice things for him.
    Gideon tunes in and out. Mostly, he's picturing the girl Cullen was making out with earlier in the closet. If he were friends with Cullen, would girls like Katie like him? That makes sense. Or is he just high?
    It makes some sense. But, yes, he is extremely high. "When I got my key from, uhh...Cockweed...he said to tell you guys he was keeping an eye on me," Gid says, and is pleased when Cullen throws his head