Professor Ellison turned around in the driver’s seat to take a look at Parker. She wasn’t really controlling the Indian-made car anyway. “How is he?”
Fon-Rahm had not taken his eyes off of his master since they got in the car. “He is not well, and my power does not extend to healing.”
“I’m well aware, Fon-Rahm. It’s almost as if you were designed as some kind of a weapon.” She began to dig through the bag in her lap. In a moment she handed Fon-Rahm a small glass vial filled with a pretty amber liquid. “This is an elixir I keep for emergencies. Give him a sip, but not too much.”
Fon-Rahm uncorked the vial and smelled the potion inside. “Is it dangerous?”
“No, it’s expensive. I don’t want to waste it.”
The genie pressed the vial to Parker’s lips. Parker coughed but finally managed to take in a few drops of the stuff.
“It does not appear to be working.”
“Give it a second. You would think that all those years in the lamp would have taught you something about patience.”
Parker put his hand to his forehead and groaned. Fon-Rahm reached back to help him sit up. “Are you feeling better?”
Parker blinked at the genie. “Sure! I feel great!” He looked out the window. “Are we in a plane?”
“We are in an automobile. The power of the Nexus keeps it aloft.”
Parker nodded knowingly. “Cool. One time? I went to a park and I saw a dog.”
Fon-Rahm narrowed his eyes and spoke to Professor Ellison. “He seems to be confused.”
“Ah. That could be a side effect of the potion.”
“A side effect?”
“He might be a little…loopy.”
“Well,” said Parker, “thanks for driving me! I am so late for the candy parade!” Then he opened the door to the Ambassador and stepped out into thin air. Fon-Rahm dove into the backseat and used his good arm to catch Parker’s ankle before the seventh grader plunged seventy thousand feet into the Atlantic Ocean. Parker didn’t even seem to realize he was dangling from a car speeding at over eight hundred miles an hour. “I’ll see you guys at the garage sale!” he yelled over the roaring wind.
Fon-Rahm pulled him back into the car and managed to slam the door.
“Maybe we should have gone with ibuprofen,” Professor Ellison said.
“How long will he remain in this state?”
“Oh, not much longer than an hour or two. Just keep him inside the car and he should be fine.”
Parker gave his genie a sincere smile and gently ruffled his hair. “You look just like my math teacher.”
Fon-Rahm frowned. Nothing in the world of humans was ever simple.
The genie put the car down just out of sight of the Merritts’ house. Anyone watching would have seen a bank of fog roll in and leave an Indian car the color of a toad sitting on the grass when it evaporated.
“Home!” cried Parker. “I love this place. I wish I had a lion.”
Fon-Rahm’s eyes filled with smoke. Before he could materialize a live lion in the Merritts’ lawn Professor Ellison stopped him. “For God’s sake, Fon-Rahm, he doesn’t mean it. You’re going to have to control your urge to make this child happy until he’s himself again. Otherwise we’ll be swimming in lions and submarines.”
“Submarines are dope,” agreed Parker.
“Just drop him home and let him sleep it off. We’ll get back to work in the morning. There’s still one more piece of the Helm out there somewhere and we have to assume that Vesiroth has at least one other lamp in his possession already. We don’t have time for nonsense.”
Fon-Rahm climbed out of the car and opened a back door for Parker, who stumbled out, slammed his door, and waved to Ellison. “Bye, Professor! You always say mean things but I know you’re a good person on the inside!”
Professor Ellison couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you, Parker. What you did in the catacombs was very brave.”
“You hear that, Rommy? I’m brave?”
“It is true,” said the genie. “You have real moxie.”
“You’re so weird.”
Professor Ellison putt-putted the little Indian sedan away, leaving Fon-Rahm and Parker to walk to the house in the dark. “Could we stop for ice cream?” Parker asked as he stumbled ahead leaning on his genie. “Or boxing lessons?”
“Perhaps later.”
“I hope Theo’s up. He’s so cool.”
“Yes, he is very cool.”
“Fon-Rahm?”
“Yes, Parker?”
“Why do I have the French national anthem running through my head?”
They reached the trellis on the side of the house. Parker stuck his foot in and began to climb up to Theo’s window. “Theo!” he yell-whispered. “Hey, Theo!”
“You must be quiet, Parker. We do not want to alert Theo’s parents, or your own.”
“Good point!” Parker loudly whispered.
“Parker! I’m over here!”
Parker heard Theo’s voice and looked up. His cousin was not at the window.
“Look down!”
Parker looked down. Theo’s head was sticking out a basement window. Parker got off the trellis. He was so unsteady on his feet Fon-Rahm was forced to prop him up.
“Hey, buddy! What are you doing down there?”
“We had to—”
“You’re back!” Naomi stuck her head out of the window, too. Thinking fast, Fon-Rahm made himself unseen. Since she couldn’t see Fon-Rahm, Parker looked to Naomi like he was leaning at an impossible angle. “Whoa.”
“Get back inside!” said Theo. “We’re making too much noise!”
“Nope.” Naomi squirmed her way out of the high window and onto the side of the house. “I have to get out of here before my folks notice I’ve been gone all night. They’re clueless, but they’re not that clueless.” She pulled off her sweatshirt and threw it to Parker. He made no attempt to catch it and it landed hung up on his face.
“What’s wrong with him?”
Theo had no idea. “Nothing’s wrong with him. Thanks, Naomi! We’ll see you at school!”
“Yeah, thanks, Naomi! We’ll see you at school!” Parker’s voice was muffled by the sweatshirt. “You smell nice.”
Naomi just stared at Parker. “Okay.” She started to walk away, but then turned back. It seemed as if she was looking directly at the genie. “I’ll see you guys later.”
Theo held his breath until she was gone. “What happened to him?” he asked Fon-Rahm as Reese helped them lower Parker through the basement window and down the wobbly wooden chair they were using as a stepladder.
Fon-Rahm said, “Parker was injured and required a magic potion to revive him. He is suffering a side effect that should diminish with the passage of time.”
“Wait a second,” said Reese. “Are you saying Parker’s drunk?”
The genie nodded. “Exactamundo.”
J.T. Quarry left the game to pour himself a glass of water in the kitchen. “Does anybody want anything?” he yelled into the living room.
The card players all said no.
J.T. took a halfhearted look inside the refrigerator and then locked his eyes on the basement door.
Theo, Reese, and Fon-Rahm propped Parker up against a wall in the basement.
“His condition will improve at any moment,” the genie said.
Parker’s eyes were half-shut, his movements were slow, and a goofy grin was plastered on his face. “That seems optimistic,” said Reese.
“What’s up, guys?” Parker said. “You missed this thing where there was a genie and then it was, like, a bunch of bees.”
Fon-Rahm used his good hand to hold Parker’s arms above his head so they could get the sweatshirt on him. “They were wasps, actually.”
“Did you find the piece of the Helm?” Reese asked.
“Yes!” Parker exclaimed. “But then we lost it again. It had something to do with a motorcycle.”
Theo’s shoulders sagged. “So Vesir
oth has a piece of the Helm now?”
“He sure does! Two, I think. Didn’t he say he had two?”
The genie nodded. “He did. Our trip was not successful.”
“It was tight, though! A whole bunch of things tried to kill me and I talked to a skull!” He looked puzzled. “That can’t be right. Hey, Reese! I totally speak French! Combien de salles de bains sont sur ce bus?”
Theo asked, “What’d he say?”
“He asked me how many bathrooms were on the bus.”
“What bus?”
“I don’t know, Theo! I’ve been here with you!”
Theo said, “Let’s take a look at him.”
They stepped away from Parker. The sweatshirt was on. His eyes were open.
Reese nodded. “He looks okay!”
Parker gave her a thumbs-up and then slid slowly down the wall and fell asleep on the floor, passed out cold.
“This could be going better,” Reese said.
They heard the door at the top of the stairs open and Theo’s eyes went wide with terror. “What are we going to do?”
Fon-Rahm grimaced. “Take a chill pill,” he said. “I have a plan.”
“Did you just tell me to take a chill pill?” Theo asked.
J.T. reached the bottom of the stairs. To the left was the unfinished half of the basement the Merritts used for their washing machine and extra storage. To the right was the junk-filled playroom.
He went right.
“Hey, guys! What’s happening down here?”
“What’s up, Uncle Jay,” said Theo as he blasted a Ping-Pong ball to the other side of the table where Parker, in the Frankenstein mask, easily volleyed the ball back. If his movements seemed a little jerky, that’s because Fon-Rahm was propping him up and guiding his movements with his one good arm. J.T. couldn’t see the genie but Theo and Reese could. The whole thing was very strange.
J.T. said, “You okay, Reese?”
Reese sat against the wall, petrified but trying hard to look like she was just playing on her phone. “Sure, Mr. Quarry. I’ve got winner.”
“It’s getting pretty late. I think maybe someone should drive you home.”
Perfect! A way out! She jumped to her feet. “I’m ready! See you, Parker, see you, Theo!”
“Bye, Reese!” Theo didn’t stop playing. “We’ll see you Monday!”
Reese hurried to the stairs. Before J.T. took her up, he turned to his son. “Parker, aren’t you going to say good-bye to your guest?”
Parker (Fon-Rahm, really) took a swing at the ball but missed by a yard. It bounced noisily across the room.
“Parker? You in there, kid?”
J.T. stepped toward his son. Theo and Reese held their breath as J.T. grabbed the plastic hair on the latex mask and pulled.
The mask came off. Parker blinked. Then he looked at his dad and smiled. “Bye, Reese! Thanks for hanging out with us!”
J.T. seemed satisfied. He chucked the mask onto the Ping-Pong table and followed Reese as she ran up the stairs. “Go to bed, guys. I’ll see you in the morning.”
When J.T. and Reese were gone, Theo and Fon-Rahm gathered around a finally clearheaded Parker. “Do you think he knows something’s up?” Theo asked.
“Hard to say,” said Parker. “He’s not dumb. Even when I got away with stuff with my mom, my dad always knew about it. He plays it cool, but he always knows more than he lets on.”
“What do you think we should do?”
“We shall keep our present course,” said Fon-Rahm. “It is all we can do.”
“And what about Professor Ellison?”
Parker shrugged. “Well, as far as I can remember, she didn’t kill anybody, so that’s something.”
“Parker…” Theo paused. “Was he there?”
Parker nodded.
“What’s he like?”
Fon-Rahm said, “He is the father of the Jinn and the most powerful magician the world has ever known. He has not wavered in his desire to hold mankind in his fist.”
Theo looked to Parker.
“He’s the scariest guy I have ever seen, Theo. Just being in the same room with him is…” Parker shivered. “He’s worse than Xaru. Theo, he’s worse than anybody.”
21
FON-RAHM HAD VISITED CAHILL’S TINY Main Street with Parker many times before, but this was the first time he had gone alone. It was the first time really he had gone anywhere alone.
He took a few tentative steps. Were people looking at him funny? Did they sense he was not what he appeared to be? The genie briefly considered making himself unseen, but that would have defeated the whole point. He was making an effort to fit in.
What did humans do all day? He knew that children went to school, of course, and he knew that adults usually had jobs. But this was a Saturday and TV had taught Fon-Rahm that weekends were reserved for movies and mowing the lawn. Fon-Rahm didn’t have a lawn and he didn’t see the point of movies. Life in modern America was confusing enough without throwing fiction into the mix.
He walked past a bar filled with TVs blaring some kind of sporting event and paused briefly to look at the clothes in the window of a small department store. He was free to do whatever he wanted and yet nothing appealed to him. He was resigned to the idea of returning to his apartment when he saw the diner and remembered that he did have one hobby worth exploring.
He sat down at a booth by a window. “I would like a pie, please. Apple, I would think.”
The waiter nodded. “A slice of apple pie. Gotcha.”
“Not a slice. An entire pie.”
“Wow. Um, okay,” the waiter said. “Can I get you anything to go with that?”
Fon-Rahm thought for a second. “An extra-large order of French fries.”
Reese tried to keep a straight face but Naomi was making it impossible.
“It ees not qvite right,” Naomi said in a fake accent that seemed to be an unholy mix of German, Russian, and straight-from-a-vampire-movie Transylvanian. “Vould you have this in, how you say, vlack?”
The jacket was made of bright red sequins and it looked ridiculous on Naomi. The increasingly frazzled salesclerk gave the girls a weak smile. “Let me check in back.”
As soon as she was gone Naomi and Reese burst into laughter. The store was way out of their price range and the clothes it sold were more appropriate for fifty-year-old rich ladies than for middle-school girls. Naomi had claimed to be the daughter of a diplomat visiting the college from Europe, shopping for a new dress for an embassy ball.
“Naomi, we’re going to get caught!” Reese said.
“What are they going to do, send us to mall jail? The next store you’re going to be a princess from the Republic of Bulgrania. You talk in, like, weird gibberish and I’ll pretend I’m your translator!”
Reese shook her head wildly. “You’re out of your mind!”
“Come on, nobody cares what you do as long as you don’t hurt anybody and you get good grades. Straight A’s are a license to do whatever you want.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve never met my mother. She sent me to an SAT prep course when I was in fifth grade.”
“My mom’s no picnic, either.” Naomi looked over Reese’s shoulder. “We should get out of here.” Reese turned around and saw the salesclerk heading right for them with a man in a suit in tow. Naomi quickly took off the jacket and laid it over a nearby rack.
The two girls hurried for the door. “Good-bye!” Naomi yelled back. “Your store is qvite lovely!”
The girls ran giggling arm in arm back into the mall. Reese had traveled the globe and arguably had saved the world from total annihilation, but this was a new kind of thrill. For the first time, she was hanging out with a cool friend who thought she was cool, too.
Parker yawned as he trudged up the stairs, still wiped out from his adventure in Paris. Almost getting killed took a lot out of a guy. He had been looking forward to kicking back on his bed, cranking some music, and just zoning blissfully out.
&nbs
p; He swung open the door to his room and froze. J.T. was looking through a pile of Parker’s clothes heaped in a corner.
“What are you doing, Dad?”
J.T. looked up, his eyes wide. “Nothing, I…” He trailed off. What could he say? He was caught red-handed.
“You’re looking through my stuff.”
“Yes, I was looking through your stuff.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s clearly something going on with you!” J.T. took a deep breath. “Look, I don’t know what you’re up to and you won’t tell me anything and I…I thought that maybe I could find some clues.”
Parker stood in the doorway, his face red with anger. “Like what, exactly? Did you think you were going to find drugs?”
“No! Maybe! I don’t know, Parker. You and Theo are always sneaking around. I don’t know what you two have in common with Reese. And that weirdo Mr. Rommy…What kind of kid would rather talk to his math teacher than his own father? I’m worried about you.”
“Yeah? Now you’re worried about me? You can’t just show up here after more than a year and start poking through my life. You don’t get to be worried about me.”
J.T. held up his hands to calm Parker down. “This isn’t a big deal, Parker. Maybe I made a mistake coming in here. I should have left this to your mother.”
“Yeah, you should’ve. You let her do everything else.”
“Watch it, pal.” J.T.’s voice was cold.
“It’s not fair. You’re the one who went to jail and you don’t trust me? Maybe I should be looking through your crap!”
On the other side of the wall Theo stopped typing on his computer to listen to Parker and his dad fight. He hated it when people yelled at each other. His parents had gone through what they called a “rough patch” two years ago, and he’d had his fill of raised voices in the house.
It was bad enough that J.T. was snooping around where he didn’t belong (and had already come this close to catching them with Fon-Rahm), but he was also bringing tension back into the house.
Theo put his headphones on and went back to his game. He couldn’t wait until his cousin and his aunt and uncle moved out.
Finders Keepers Page 12
