The bookstore owner, dressed as Santa

29 listopad 2011

packersldquo ; Oh, I believe you, packersrdquo ; his father said, sarcastic . packersldquo ; I believe you didn packersrsquo ; t take any of those drugs yourself . packersrdquo ; The conversation was spinning back and forth in directions Jason couldn packersrsquo ; t follow . packersldquo ; Then why are you flipping out ? packersrdquo ; packersldquo ; Because Dutch Oosterhaus called me at work to discuss a little lab report he got today . The one they did on Trixie Stone packersrsquo ; s blood that proves someone knocked her out by slipping her a drug . packersrdquo ; Heat climbed the ladder of Jason packersrsquo ; s spine . packersldquo ; You know what else Dutch told me ? Now that drugs are in the picture, the prosecutor packersrsquo ; s Ben Roethlisberger Jersey got enough evidence to try you as an adult . packersrdquo ; packersldquo ; I didn packersrsquo ; t . . . packersrdquo ; A vein pulsed in his father packersrsquo ; s Troy Polamalu Jersey temple . packersldquo ; You threw it all away, Jason . You fucking threw it all away for a small - town whore . packersrdquo ; packersldquo ; I didn packersrsquo ; t drug her . I didn packersrsquo ; t rape her . She must have fooled around with that blood sample, because . . . because ., . packersrdquo ; Jason packersrsquo ; s voice dropped off . packersldquo ; Jesus Christ . . . you don packersrsquo ; t believe me . packersrdquo ; packersldquo ; No one does, packersrdquo ; his father said, weary . He reached into his back pocket for a letter that had already been opened and passed it to Jason before leaving the room . Jason sank down onto his bed . The letter was embossed with a return address for Bethel Academy ; the name of the hockey coach had been scrawled above it in pen . He began to read : In lieu of recent circumstances . . . withdrawing its initial offer of a scholarship for a postgraduate year . . . sure you understand our position and its reflection on the academy . The letter dropped from his hands, fluttering to land on the carpet . The iPod, without its headphones, glowed a mute blue . Who would have imagined that the sound your life made as it disintegrated was total silence ? Jason buried his face in his hands and, for the first time since all this had begun, started to cry . Once the storm had stopped and the streets were cleared, the storekeepers in Hines Ward Jersey Bethel came out to shovel their walkways and talk about how lucky they were that this latest blizzard hadn packersrsquo ; t caused the town manager to cancel the annual Winterfest . It was always held the Friday before Christmas and was a direct ploy to boost the local economy . Main Street was blocked off by the spinning blue lights of police cars . Shops stayed open late, and hot cider was served for free in the inn . Christmas lights winked like fireflies in the bare branches of the trees . Some enterprising farmer carted in a sickly looking reindeer and set up portable fencing around it : a North Pole petting zoo . The bookstore owner, dressed as Santa, arrived at seven o packersrsquo ; James Harrison Jersey clock and stayed as long as it took to hear the holiday requests of all the children waiting in line . This year, in an effort to connect local sports heroes to the community, the square in front of the town offices had been sealed and flooded to create a makeshift ice rink . The Ice CaBabes, a local cornpetitive figure - skating team, had done an exhibition routine earlier that evening . Now the championship Bethel High School hockey team was slated to play pickup hockey with a local group of Boy Scouts . After everything that had happened, Jason hadn packersrsquo ; t planned to go until Coach called up and said he had an obligation to the team . What Coach hadn packersrsquo ; t done, however, was specify in what condition Jason had to arrive . It was a fifteen - minute ride downtown Heath Miller Jersey , and he drank a fifth of his dad packersrsquo ; s Jack Daniel packersrsquo ; s on the way . Moss was already on the ice when Jason sat down on a bench and pulled out his skates . packersldquo ; You packersrsquo ; re late, packersrdquo ; Moss said . Jason double - knotted the laces, grabbed his stick, and shoved hard past Moss . packersldquo ; You here to talk or play hockey ? packersrdquo ; He skated so fast down the center of the rink that he had to slalom around some of the wobbling kids . Moss met him and they passed the puck in a series of complicated handoffs . On the sidelines, the parents cheered, thinking this was all part of the exhibition . Coach called for a face - off, and Jason skated into position . The kid he was opposing on the scout team came up as high as his hip . The puck was dropped, and the high school team let the kids win it . But Jason stick - checked the boy who was skating down the ice, stole the puck, and carried it down to the goal . He lifted it to the upper right corner of the net, where there was no chance of the tiny goalie being able to stop it . He pumped his stick in the air and looked around for his other teammates, but they were hanging back, and the crowd wasn packersrsquo ; t cheering anymore . packersldquo ; Aren

From what the prosecutor had said,

packersrsquo ; t we supposed to score ? packersrdquo ; he yelled out, his words slurring . packersldquo ; Did the rules change here, too ? packersrdquo ; Moss led Jason to the side of the rink . packersldquo ; Dude . It packersrsquo ; s just pond hockey, and they packersrsquo ; re just kids . packersrdquo ; Jason nodded, shook it off . They met for another face - off, and this time when the kids took the puck Jason skated backward slowly, making no move to go after it . Unused to playing without the boards, he tripped over the plastic edge of the rink liner and fell into the arms of the crowd . He noticed Zephyr Santorelli - Weinstein packersrsquo ; s face, and a half - dozen others from school . packersldquo ; Sorry, packersrdquo ; he muttered, staggering to his feet . When he stepped onto the ice again, Jason headed for the puck, hip - checking a player to Charles Woodson Jersey get him out of the way . Except this time, his opponent was half his size and a third of his weight, and went flying . The boy banged into his goalie, who slid into the net in a heap, crying . Jason watched the kid packersrsquo ; s father hurry onto the ice in his street shoes . packersldquo ; What is wrong with you today ? packersrdquo ; Moss said, skating close . packersldquo ; It was an accident, packersrdquo ; Jason answered, and his friend reared back, smelling the alcohol . packersldquo ; Coach is going to rip you a new asshole . Get out of here . I packersrsquo ; ll cover for you . packersrdquo ; Jason stared at him . packersldquo ; Go, packersrdquo ; Moss said . Jason took one last look at the boy and his father, then skated hard to the spot where he packersrsquo ; d left his boots . I did not die, and yet I lost life packersrsquo ; s breath : imagine for yourself what I became, deprived at once of both my life and death . Laura read Lucifer packersrsquo ; s lines in the last canto of the Inferno, then closed the book . Hands down, Lucifer was the most fascinating character in the poem : waist - deep in the lake of ice, with his three heads gnawing on a feast of sinners . Having once been an archangel, he certainly had the freedom of choice - in fact, it was what got him to pick a fight with God in the first place . So if Lucifer had willingly chosen his course, had he known beforehand that he was going to end up suffering ? Did he think, on some level, that he deserved it ? Did anyone, who was cast in the role opposite Clay Matthews Jersey the hero ? It occurred to Laura that she had sinned in every single circle . She packersrsquo ; d committed adultery . She packersrsquo ; d betrayed her benefactor - the university - by seducing a student . . . which could also be considered treachery, if you classified Seth as an innocent pawn in the game . She packersrsquo ; d defied God by ignoring her wedding vows : She packersrsquo ; d defied her family by distancing herself from Trixie when Trixie needed her most . She packersrsquo ; d lied to her husband, she packersrsquo ; d been angry and wrathful, she packersrsquo ; d sowed discord, and she packersrsquo ; d been a fraudulent counselor to a student who came looking for a mentor and wound up with a lover . About the only thing Laura hadn packersrsquo ; t done was kill someone . She reached behind her desk for an antique china human head she had found at a garage sale . It was Ray Nitschke Jersey smooth and white and divided into calligraphed subsections across the brain area : wit, glory, revenge, bliss . Over the skull she packersrsquo ; d put a headband sporting two red devil horns, a gift from a student one Halloween . Now she took the headband off and tried it on for size . There was a knock on her door, and a moment later Seth stepped into her office . packersldquo ; Are those horns on your head, packersrdquo ; he said, packersldquo ; or are you just happy to see me ? packersrdquo ; I She yanked off the headband . packersldquo ; Five minutes . packersrdquo ; He closed the door, locked it . packersldquo ; You owe me that much . packersrdquo ; Relationships always sounded so physically painful : You fell in love, you broke a heart, you lost your head . Was it any wonder that people came through the experience with battle scars ? The problem with a marriage - or maybe its strength - was that it spanned a distance, and you were never the same person you started out being . If you were lucky, you could still recognize Aaron Kampman Jersey each other years later . If you weren packersrsquo ; t, you wound up in your office with a boy fifteen years younger than you were, pouring his heart into your open hands . All right . If she was going to be honest, she had loved the way Seth knew what an anapest was, and a canzone . She loved seeing their reflection in a pane of glass as they passed a storefront and being surprised every time . She loved playing Scrabble on a rainy afternoon when she should have been grading papers or attending a departmental meeting . But just because she had called in sick that day didn packersrsquo ; t mean she wasn packersrsquo ; t still a professor . Just because she abandoned her family didn packersrsquo ; t mean she wasn packersrsquo ; t still a wife, a mother . Her biggest sin, when you got right down to it, was forgetting all that in the first place . packersldquo ; Seth, packersrdquo ; she said, packersldquo ; I don packersrsquo ; t know how to make this any easier . But . . . packersrdquo ; She broke off, realizing the words she was about to say : But I love my husband . I always have . packersldquo ; We need to talk, packersrdquo ; Seth said quietly . He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and tossed a rolled newspaper onto the table . Laura had seen it . The front page chronicled the newly filed charge by the district attorney . Jason Underhill would be tried as an adult, due to the presence of date rape drugs in Clay Matthews Jersey the victim packersrsquo ; s bloodstream . packersldquo ; Ketamine, packersrdquo ; Seth said . Laura blinked at him . From what the prosecutor had said, the drug found in Trixie packersrsquo ; s system hadn packersrsquo ; t even been one of the more popular date rape drugs . It hadn packersrsquo ; t been listed in the newspaper, either . packersldquo ; How would you know that ? packersrdquo ; Seth sat down on the edge of her desk . packersldquo ; There packersrsquo ; s something I have to tell you, packersrdquo ; he said . packersldquo ; I packersrsquo ; m coming ! packersrdquo ; Trixie yelled through the open door, as her father honked the horn for the third time . Jesus . It wasn packersrsquo ; t like she wanted to go into town right now, and it wasn packersrsquo ; t her fault that the pizza cheese he was using to cook dinner had grown enough mold to be classified as an antibiotic . She hadn packersrsquo ; t been doing anything earthshattering that she couldn packersrsquo ; t interrupt, but it was the principle that was upsetting her ; Neither parent felt comfortable letting Trixie out of sight . She stomped into the first pair of boots she could find and headed outside to his idling truck . packersldquo ; Can packersrsquo ; t we just have soup ? packersrdquo ; Trixie said, slouching down in her seat, when what she really meant was : What will it take to make you trust me again ? Her father put the truck into first gear to go down a long hill . packersldquo ; I know you want me to leave you home alone . But I hope you also know why I can packersrsquo ; t do that . packersrdquo ; Trixie rolled her eyes toward the window . packersldquo ; Whatever . packersrdquo ; As they approached town, there was a glut of cars . People in bright parkas and scarves spilled across the street like a stream of confetti . Trixie felt her stomach turn over . packersldquo ; What packersrsquo ; s the date ? packersrdquo ;

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