Death of the Mad Hatter (7 page)

C
HAPTER
E
IGHT

(
Ryley: Present Time)

The first period literature class
was missing one unforgettable student. Second week of school and Alice Mae already skipped, though rumors had spread that she’d gotten the kissing disease and had to stay home. Becky had a stellar glare and didn’t mind using it on me when she saw me walking down the hall to get to second-period chem.

She raced up to me with her algebra books in tow.
“Rumor has it that Alice Mae and a “mystery man” were making out during the football game.”

“
I feel sorry for Mister X,” I said dismissively, and picked up the pace in hopes to keep the conversation short.

Becky matched my step.
“And then it dawned on me that I did not, nor anyone else in school, see you until the end of the second quarter.”

“
Your point?”

Becky grabbed my arm, stopping me from escaping into the classroom.
“Are you Mister X?”

I’ve had it!
“Why do you care?”

She acted
like I had truly embarrassed her. Okay, I hadn’t been particularly quiet, but she seriously needed to back off.

“
I don’t like you,” she said.

“
I’m pretty sure that Ryley got the memo,” Dax said, approaching us. He walked between Becky and me and stopped to face her. “You’re acting like a scorned woman. Dare I say that you are like totally in love with him?”

“
In love with Ryley? Please! I’d rather lick a maggot infected goat's butt than kiss this loser,” Becky said.

“
Yet, you find reasons to speak with him
in private.”

“
We’re in the middle of a hallway.”

Dax didn
’t miss a beat. “So why do you insist on inserting yourself into his and Courtney’s conversations?”

“
Because I’m looking out for my friend,” she said.

“
So am I,” Dax said.

She rolled her eyes.
“I heard rumors about you, Ryley Edward Edgar. I visited my cousins in Alabama last year and they remembered you and your mom from when you were in grade school. My cousins said that you and she skipped town in the middle of a night for no reason whatsoever.”

I smacked my forehead.
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot to mention that we were being chased by a zombie serial-killer that murdered my dad and had to ditch that redneck town before it ate us.”

She narrowed her eyes.
“I’ll be investigating you.”

“
Don’t forget to put on your detective hat,” I said.

If she heard the mockery in my comment, she pretended not to notice.
“You know of my uncle—the probation office for the county. Well, he’s a computer illiterate and had some technical difficulties over the weekend. Since I know all of his passwords, I did a little digging on the Edgar family. Turns out, there is no death certificate for your dad.”

I looked around and spoke in a hushed tone.
“My mom and I are under federal protection services.”

She stepped closer.
“Why?”

“
Because Dad was killed,” I said. “The records were expunged, but every once in a while some naïve high school girl uncovers the truth and we have to skip town again.”

“
Do you ever tell the truth?”

“
I like to mix it up. Keep you on your toes,” I said and then wiggled my finger closer. “If you dig deep enough, you’ll find that there were other members in my family who bit the dust prematurely.”

Thankfully, I wasn’t the only person to recognize Alice Mae was off balanced, so it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think she called in sick to avoid being picked on. Still, rumors about her and a mystery man couldn’t possibly be good for me. I definitely didn’t need anyone, especially Courtney, thinking that I was into the crazed girl. Nonetheless, when she graced us with her presence after lunch, I was secretly pleased.
Only
because I needed to make sure she didn’t go off and tell everyone that the rumors were true and I was the mystery man.

“
Where were you at first?” I asked, trying not to make a face because of her outfit.

Faded pink tights should never be worn—period.
Nevertheless, it was easier to overlook that fashion no-no because she wore an oversized tie-dyed shirt. At least she made it a little more stylish by tying the shirt’s back into a knot with a ponytail holder. A navy blue duffle bag hung from her shoulder.

“
Chez wouldn’t get out of the oven, and my aunts were trying to bake sweets.” She held her finger along the wall, tracing the brick line as we walked down the hall to the freshman hall.

“
Who’s Chez?” I asked, walking alongside her.

“
A spy. He doubles as an annoying, super-villain feline. It would seem that making sure I received a tardy slip on week two was on that cat’s top priority list.”

There were far too many oddities about
her comment. “Why was there a cat in your oven?”

“
He was
curious
.”

“
Is this cat real or is he a figment of your imagination?”

That earned me a slap across the face.

“Do you think I’m dumb as well as deaf? I know when I’m at the butt of a joke, so I’d advise you to choose your words wisely, or one day they will get you into trouble not even you can talk your way out of, Ryley, or should I say
mystery man?”
she paused to take in my reaction. I kept my face as blank as possible. “So you heard that one too? Here’s your warning Ryley, make me mad and the whole school will think that we were swapping spit.”

I bit my tongue, not addressing that topic. She knew she had me so I changed topics.
“You think I’m a smooth talker?”

She made a
one-eighty so we were no longer walking in the same direction. “Edgars are notorious smooth talkers, until they meet their demise because of their slick words... Speaking of which, I heard a rumor that your family is in the witness protection program.”

I couldn
’t stop a grin from forming. Becky could never keep her mouth shut, especially if the secret was juicy. It had been too easy, putting the idea in her head that my family had a murderous past. Whatever. I didn’t care as long as it got her looking somewhere other than at my old man. The entire town of Rockingham didn’t need to know that he was chilling in a straightjacket on the other side of the state.

Instead of following
Alice Mae like I really wanted to, I left for the men’s locker room, changed into my gym clothes, and read the daily weight lifting program.

W
hen the bass drums went off in the classroom above the weight room, I assumed that some of the basketball players or wrestlers commandeered a room. The bass was cranked. A rap song played over the speakers. Surely, the music teacher would realize that someone was seriously blowing off some steam upstairs. I knew something was afoot after three techno songs. I finished my last squat set and decided to get a drink, and do a little investigation. I took the stairs two at a time, bounding up the steps.

I peered in Mrs. Dotson’s secondary music classroom which used to be the home-ec classroom. Inside was Little Miss Unconventional. I would have expected to see a giraffe dancing to the beats before I could convince myself that Alice Mae was performing—with her eyes closed at that. Light-pink ballet shoes were laced up around her ankles, making her pink tights no longer ridiculous; they matched the mood. Her blonde hair was pulled into a bun.

I
leaned against the door frame and watched. Ten seconds of observation made it clear that Alice Mae was a talented dancer. Her balletic movements were excellent. Her legs went on forever. She spun on her toes. I was never one to be hypnotized by any kind of dance, but the way Alice Mae moved was so graceful and fluid. She twirled on her toes effortlessly. I crunched mine. It looked painful. The music didn’t match the style of her dance, but at the same time it did. She was able to hit the beats with impression stances as well as move gracefully between challenging poses. I caught my breath when she leaped into the air and both legs were perpendicular to the floor. But what was truly earth-shattering was when she pulled her leg up straight beside her head.

“
Pick your jaw up off of the floor.” Dax nudged my shoulder.

I
hadn’t heard him come up behind me. I didn’t think too deeply about what that meant.

Alice Mae
was still in her own little world, oblivious to the fact that she not only had drawn Dax and my attention, but Mick’s as well. He stood behind Dax and glanced over his shoulder.

“
I don’t think there’s a tighter derrière in the entire school, but to be fair, I haven’t been able to check out all the new freshmen yet,” Mick said, rubbing his chin.

Falling onto her heels, Alice Mae rested her hands on the small of her back and looked up at the ceiling. Her hairline was dripping wet, and she was breathing heavy.
My jaw literally fell open when she stripped her shirt so that she was only wearing a fitted sports top. I predicted that girls everywhere went on yo-yo diets or worked their tails off in the gym to get a stomach like hers.

Dax left,
I think...

My feet were unmovable.
Mick didn’t budge an inch either. Hidden under her baggy t-shirt was this perfectly sculpted woman. It wasn’t like she had a six pack, but she could eat cupcakes for the rest of the year and still not have a muffin top.

What alarmed me more than my own drool was that t
he entire length of her arm was battered and bruised. Half the dark spots there was ripped flesh. I’d had similar injuries from sliding into home base, but I sincerely doubted that she was much of a ball player. My stomach twisted into knots. I imagined the worst. Was she okay? Hell, I didn’t care if she had kicked my family jewels, no one deserved to get slapped around.

“
You’re still gunning for Courtney, right?” Mick asked, seemingly oblivious to Alice Mae’s injuries.

“
Got a date with her next Saturday.”

He grabbed my shoulder.
“I never thought I’d be glad you were hooking up with the hottest redhead in school.”

With that, he pushed away from me and approached Alice Mae.
His walk screamed confidence. When he reached the podium, he grabbed the remote for the speakers and turned down the music.

Alice Mae stopped instantly. Her face turned three different shades of red.
I wasn’t buying it. The girl could act.

“
Was I intruding?” she asked weakly, looking from Mick to me. “Mrs. Dotson gave me the impression that the classroom was empty this hour, and I could use it for my free period.”

“
It is,” Mick said and sat on the edge of the teacher’s desk. “You have some wicked moves, girl.”

“
My name is Alice Mae, not girl.”

Mick
extended his hand to shake her hand. She grabbed her arm, just above the elbow and below her bruising. She stared at his hand like she didn’t know what to do with it. It couldn’t have been more awkward. He finally lowered his hand.

“
I’m Mick.”

“
Alice Mae,” she said. She walked over to her duffle bag and unzipped a small compartment where she pulled out a homemade Tootsie Roll. After unraveling it, she popped it in her mouth and discarded the wrapper. She shot it Anny-Anny Over style. It missed the trash can by a solid foot, landing next to a crumpled wad of paper.

“
I didn’t mean to intrude,” Mick said. “I just wanted to invite you to a dance hangout a lot of us go to. It’s called Aftershock.”

“
Who is
us
?”

“
Bunch of kids from school,” he said. “I’d introduce you to them if you wanted to go together.”