The Invaders Read Online Free Page A

freezer for my unmentionables. I laughed just thinking about it. Put your frozen peas over here and I’ll put my eighths over there, Cheryl.
    My room came up with nada. Now I was gonna have to stress about finding someone to get weed from. Who was even still around? Probably fucking Steven, and I hated doing business with him. I could do a trade—my bad shit for his twigs and sticks. Or Pauline. Pauline would give me anything I wanted.
    I headed to my dad and Cheryl’s room. I was nervous about what I’d find in there. Spent K-Y Jelly squeeze tubes? I doubted it, actually.I hadn’t found one of those in a long time and I hadn’t even seen them even touch each other in years. I pulled open my dad’s bedside table and looked through the pill bottles to find something I could munch on. Heart medicine, arthritis medicine, blister pack of Viagra. I thought about grabbing some for later, because why not, but I checked the expiration date and they were dunzo two years ago. Damn, nothing more depressing than expired Viagra. I put it back where I found it and went through the rest of the bottles.
    And there, like a beautiful light, was a half-full bottle of oxycodone. I opened it and my chalky white heaven poured out. Thank you, Dad. Thank you and your fucked-up arthritis. I love you so much. I took a few and figured I’d steal more as needed, or until he figured it out and hid them. All those low-voiced commercials of dread, commanding parents to keep their pills locked away from their children, hadn’t scared him into hiding them from me.
    I took the pills back to my room and crushed one on my desk and snorted it real tight. It was just gonna be a little bit to tide me over because the Vicodin wasn’t doing shit. I went to take a shower because nothing feels better when you’re high than hot water. It’s like you can imagine standing under a warm waterfall and there’s a numb buzz in your head and maybe it’s like being inside something bigger than you. Maybe, like, I don’t know, a vat of warm honey. Just soft. I left my clothes in a pile, turned on the shower, and waited for the big mirrors to steam up.
    I looked at myself and thought, This is you, Teddy. This is all about second chances, right, brother? You’re on a game show and this is you getting your shit together. I made fierce faces at myself in the mirror to show that I meant it. The numb buzzing was hitting hard and I went into the shower, closed the glass door, and stood under the water. I opened my mouth to let it all in. I wanted to drown in it.

CHAPTER THREE
CHERYL
    I PASSED THE TENNIS COURTS and listened to the pop of tennis balls hitting racquets—percussive pop pop pops as tanned arms swung back and forth in perfect unison—and followed the one-way road back toward the water and my home. At the Hughes’ house—“Bay Hoovs Us”—Lori was bent over picking out weeds from around the Petite Lizette heirloom roses she had strategically placed all around the perimeter. I was surprised she wasn’t ordering her gardeners to do it.
    â€œOh, Cheryl!” Lori shouted.
    I waved hello and took note of her new personalized license plate— LOVE 40. Her obsession with tennis was unparalleled in this neighborhood. Despite that, she was short and round and always seemed unhappy. Once she even confided in me that she was lonely. Who wasn’t? Her husband was a partner at a top New York law firm. What more could she want or need? I tried to extricate myself, worried about what Teddy was doing in the house, but she was not interested in letting me go.
    â€œWhy weren’t you at the fashion show?” I asked.
    â€œI went to the VIP preorder.”
    I didn’t even know about the VIP preorder.
    â€œHey, Mrs. Hughes, do you still need me to watch your dogs this weekend?”
    We both turned around and saw Steven walking toward us. Lori seemed taken off guard. She said,