WESTWARD EDEN By:Juaquin Batista

WESTWARD EDEN

A Novel by

Joaquin Batista

Copyright © 2003 Joaquin Batista

ISBN 1-59113-316-5

Published by Armando Gomez    

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Booklocker.com, Inc.

2003

Part Four

Mission of Mercy II

Adán shot up from his desk. “Aw shit. I knew it!”

“A girl?” Maxey and Kenny chorused.

Maxey’s grin spread wider, menacing. “What’s she promised you, Marty? A big wet kiss?”

“No. I already got that.”

“She promised—more?” Maxey was the worldly one among us. “Way to go, Marty! You finally woke up—and smelled the panties.”

“Maxey! —How crude!” Kenny shouted. “If Marty invited her, you can rest assured it was for a noble cause!”

“All right, Marty, let’s have the rest of it. Spill it—what’s her name?” Maxey was getting annoyed.

“Emily Spinoza.” A quizzical look was tossed around like a hot potato.

“I don’t know that name,” Maxey said. “Either she’s a rich girl or one that lives down on Ross Road.

Kenny got curious. “Why there?”

“Lotta girls out there don’t use their real names—mostly handles—you know, nicknames.” Maxey turned to me. “Go on, describe her.”

I did, down to the minutest detail.

“Only one girl comes to mind—but trust me, you’re the last kid in the world she’d ever kiss!” He gave me a sharp look.

“Oh, Marty—we’re in the middle of a mystery!” Kenny said, brimming with excitement.

“Still, the girl you described wouldn’t wear a dress. She’s a tomboy. She’s been snowin’ you. But there’s more, right?” Maxey persisted.

I told him of Emily’s intentions.

Kenny gasped. Adán’s gaze pierced me. Maxey stared, too, and rose from his seat, his hand gripping the desk. For a moment, hard emotions swirled in him. We stared at each other like tomcats. Then he exhaled.

“Have you totally flipped? You want the cops to push their way up your—our butts? If her old man gets wind of this, we’ll all be in deep shit! I don’t know about you, Marty—but the lights under a line-up are way too hot!”

“That’s okay, Maxey. You don’t have to come along.” He got the message. He knew by the look on my face, I had made up my mind. Then I turned to the others. “So, are you with me?”

“A Mission of Mercy for Emily Spinoza —who could resist the challenge? Yeah, Marty!” Kenny said gleefully.

Adán wasn’t as excited as Kenny, but agreed to come along too. “Like I said, it’s been boring, hasn’t it?”

“Okay, okay! Let’s get organized here. First, we use our scout shirts to get past the town—I’ll get Emily one tomorrow.”

“Scout’s shirt?” Kenny voiced. “What’s scouting have to do with Emily’s mission?

“Because, Kenny,” I explained, “Maxey says Emily’s a tomboy. If she just wore hiking clothes, she’d be easily recognized and wouldn’t get to see her mom. But disguised as a Boy Scout with sunglasses and a hat for her hair, who’ll know the difference?”

“Perfect!” Adán jumped in. “The disguise should fool anyone. We can march right through the middle of town and no one will be the wiser!”

“Like I said, we’ll all wear our scout shirts and neckerchiefs. Plus jeans and any kind of hat we want. At least we won’t have to dress completely like scouts—just enough to fool the town folks. Besides, by eleven a.m., most of the people are either at Memorial Beach or out picking apples.”

“Marty—how brilliant! Heroism becomes you!” Kenny said.

“Okay,” I said, “We’ll get supplies at Spooner’s and …”

Maxey sat quietly, still not impressed.

When the three of us walked out of the multi-purpose room and into the hallway around the corner, Maxey lagged behind.

I stopped quickly, motioning the guys to wait. I counted on Maxey’s bravado to push him into our adventure. He wasn’t the type to be left out—even if we chose to jump off a cliff. And who would buddy up to him if we were gone? No other kid in this town liked him. We were it! Then the echo of his hollering reached us. “Wait—you lunkheads! Someone’s got to show you guys how to shuffle them leg irons we’ll be wearing while we’re building the new Highway 101 North!”

As soon as he spun around the corner into hallway, Maxey slammed into Kenny, bounced off him like a ball, sending him sprawling on the floor.

Both Adán and I reached down to help him up. “Hey rubes, did anyone get the license plate of that kid?” Maxey babbled.

Kenny remained standing with his hands folded behind him. He tilted his tousled head to one side and snickered, “Like you said, Maxey, you’re real cute when you’re rattled!”