Kent Conwell - Tony Boudreaux 06 - Extracurricular Murder Read Online Free Page A

not exactly. Sally, she found a couple
joints in his car-you know how snoopy mothers can be. Well, anyway, he claimed they weren’t his. One of his friends left
them.” He drew a deep breath. “We had a big argument. Two
days later, he gots this job in Austin. Sally and me is worried
sick.” After a long sigh, he added, “Now, if you don’t want him
around, we’ll understand.”

    I closed my eyes and muttered a curse. Drugs. Stupid kids.
Stupid, dumb kids. I kept my tone light. “Don’t say that,
Leroi. We’re family. Of course, I want Stewart around. I’ll see
what I can find out for you. You’re probably mistaken, you
know. You were always kind of slow,” I replied, my words light
with sarcasm.
    Leroi laughed. “You know where you can go “
    “Hey, cuz. I’m already there.” I paused a moment, then grew
serious again. “I’ll call when he gets in. Don’t worry.
Everything will be okay.”
    After replacing the receiver, I leaned back in my chair and
stared at it, turning the last few minutes over in my head. I
hoped all that had happened was nothing more than a young
man trying to assert his own independence from his father.
    I knew from experience that Leroi could be demanding.
More than once when we were growing up, we tangled because
he was so hard-headed-actually, because we were both so
hard-headed.
    “I hope that’s all there is to it,” I muttered, closing my eyes
and saying a short little prayer that if my little cousin needed
help, I would be capable of providing it.
    Later, I searched the apartment for the gray kitten, determined to put him, or her, back outside, but the little sneak had
vanished.
    When I came out of the bathroom, I jerked to a halt. There
he was, curled up on the pillow next to mine, sound asleep,
purring like a tiny motorboat.
    All I could do was shake my head. “All right. Just for tonight. Tomorrow, you go,” I grumbled, taking care to spread a couple
of newspapers on the floor.

    The insistent chiming of the doorbell awakened me just after
one. Figuring it was Stewart, I pulled on my robe and hurried
to the door.
    I was right.
    Swaying on his feet, Stewart stood in the drizzle, his eyes
glazed and a silly grin on his face. “Hey, bro. I made it ” He
slurred his words.
    I glanced over his shoulder. He had parked his Pontiac at the
curb. “Get in here out of the rain, Stewart.” I reached out and
pulled him inside. “Hurry up “
    Even though I’d downed a couple of beers a few hours earlier,
I still could smell the sweet-sour stench of whiskey on his breath.
He staggered inside and promptly passed out on the couch. I
threw a couple of blankets over him and called Leroi to put his
mind to rest, but without mentioning his son’s inebriation.
    When I turned back to the bedroom, guess who was standing in the doorway, watching the excitement? The kitten, his
ears perked forward, his tail straight up in the air, curled on
the tip like a question mark. When I started toward him, he
spun and raced back to the bed.
    During the night, the rain ceased. I rose early to a cloudless
and chilled sky. At seven, I dialed Safford High School. Birnam
was very agreeable. We made a nine o’clock appointment.
Safford was south, halfway between Austin and Bastrop,
around twenty or twenty-five miles from my apartment, an
hour-long drive thanks to Austin traffic.
    Quickly, I showered, shaved, and slipped into my usual attire
of washed out jeans, sport shirt, tweed jacket, and boots. I
jammed a bagel in my jacket and filled an insulated cup with
coffee. I was ready to take on the day.

    I checked on Stewart who still slept. I left him a note, a bottle of aspirin, and my cell phone number with instructions to
give me a call.
    I wanted to talk to him, try to find out just what was going on.

     

Principal Howard Birnam was swamped with problems, several of which I spotted as his secretary led me down a hall lined
on either side with surly