Sasquatch in the Paint (16 page)

“I think what the coach meant,” Gavin said, “is you need to spin with a little more power.” Suddenly he whirled around as if to demonstrate, “accidentally” crashing into Roger. The impact sent Roger toppling backward, his hand flailing out for balance. His flailing hand smacked Sinjin in the face.

“Oh, sorry, guys,” Gavin said. “My bad.” He looked at Theo and smirked.

Theo might have smirked, too.

GAVIN,
Theo, and Rain climbed down out of the municipal bus and started walking toward the tall office building.

“He's in here?” Gavin asked Rain.

“Yup,” she replied.

The front of the building was old-fashioned red brick for about fifteen feet up. Then the brick stopped with a zigzag edge that resembled a broken eggshell. From inside the brick facing, a black steel-and-glass building rose thirty stories high, as if hatched from that brick egg. This was the Henderson Building.

Theo looked up, shading his eyes. “Looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. Where the bad guys make their evil plans to release a supervirus—”

“That turns poor people into mindless slaves,” Rain interrupted.

“But first they need to use their secret time machine—”

“To go back in time to get the missing ingredient to make the virus work—”

“Uh, uh, uh…” Theo faltered, thinking. Then: “The tears of a child. Because in the future, everyone is too numb to cry.”

“Yes!” Rain exclaimed. “That's good.”

Theo smiled proudly.

“If you two are finished nerd-flirting,” Gavin said with a growl, “let's get this done.”

“We weren't flirting,” Theo said, heat rising to his cheeks in embarrassment.

Rain laughed. “Boys,” she said, shaking her head. “I'll go in and check the place out. Three kids wandering around might look like a few rabid fans seeking autographs or something.”

Gavin nodded and Rain disappeared into the building.

Theo and Gavin waited in silence.

By the time they'd met up with Rain after school, she'd already done some research on the Internet and made a few calls. She had a plan of action, and since Gavin's only plan had been to scowl and threaten students until someone confessed, they agreed her plan was better.

And here they were.

After a few minutes, Gavin said, “She's cool.”

Theo shrugged as if he had no opinion.

Gavin grinned. “Listen, little cuz, this isn't the time to play it all frosty gangsta. She's smart, you're smart. She's cute, you look like the backside of a dog. Match made in geek heaven.”

Theo shrugged again. “Yeah, well…” He didn't know what to say. He'd never talked about anything personal with Gavin before. It felt like some sort of trap.

“That Brain Train thing you do,” Gavin continued.

Here it comes, thought Theo. I knew it was a trap. Now he'll make some typical cruel remark about a bunch of dweebs who know useless info that only our parents can appreciate. Which is good, because we'll be living in their basements for the rest of our lives.

Instead, he said, “I get it, Theo. You guys pushing each other to be smarter. Like you're all survivors in some jungle, sharpening your brains like spears, so you can go out into the world to hunt. Kinda like the way I'm always trying to get better at writing songs. It was pretty cool to watch.”

Theo just stared at his cousin. This couldn't be the same Gavin who yanked Theo's jeans down in front of everyone at last year's Thanksgiving dinner and hollered, “Who wants a turkey leg?”

“And since I'm in a Yoda mood,” Gavin said, “here's what I noticed about you playing basketball at practice today.”

Theo inhaled as if getting ready to take a punch to the stomach. Gavin couldn't have anything positive to say about that practice.

“It seems to me,” Gavin said, “that you play like you're ashamed of being tall. Like it's a curse rather than an advantage. You play like you're apologizing for your height. You know what I mean?”

“No.”

Gavin sighed. “It's like you think you're some kind of freak and they're doing you a favor letting you play. Like I told you before, you can't play like you're afraid to lose. You gotta play like you know you're gonna win.”

Theo started to protest, but then said, “What about you? Why are you so bold in everything but your music? Why not share it?”

Gavin looked down. “I share it,” he said in a low voice. “With my mom. She's heard everything. It's kind of like a special link between us. I don't know how to explain it.”

“What does she say about your music?”

“She's my mom, bro—what's she gonna say, except it's the best thing since Mozart.” He laughed. “She keeps telling me I should share it, too. But I'd rather get punched in the face than play it for somebody else.”

“Then why'd you play it for me?”

Gavin didn't say anything for a minute. Then he grinned and said, “Because you remind me of my mom, all girlie and stuff.” He punched Theo playfully, clearly trying to change the subject.

Before Theo could say anything, the door to the building opened and Rain waved for them to follow her.

Ten minutes later and twenty-one stories higher, they entered a reception area through huge glass doors. The space was as large as a classroom. The floor and walls were marble, except for one wall, which was a black waterfall. The receptionist sat behind a marble and wood counter. Behind her on the wall were large gold letters spelling out
MOONSILVER, KRAMER, DOBSON, AND SCHWARTZ—ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW
.

Rain spoke to the receptionist, a chubby guy in a shiny black suit and bright red bow tie who looked like the Nordstrom's shoe salesmen who used to wait on Theo's mom. At first, he seemed to be trying to get rid of Rain. But he had underestimated her. She just kept talking, her hand gestures getting more animated as she spoke. Finally, he made a phone call and relayed whatever she had told him.

Three minutes later, a young woman in a tight beige skirt and silky blue blouse escorted them down a long hall of offices. Behind each etched-glass door a worker was hunched over his or her computer keyboard, or writing furiously on a yellow legal pad, or both. The place was so busy with well-dressed men and women that it seemed like this suite of offices was somehow responsible for everything important that was going on in the world. Just thinking about it made Theo's stomach tighten with anxiety.

“Almost there,” Blue Blouse said pleasantly. Every step of her high heels clacked against the marble floor like gunshots in a video game.

When they arrived at the right door, Blue Blouse held it open for them to enter.

“Ms. Moonsilver?” Blue Blouse said. “The children are here.”

“Children?” Gavin snapped. “We're not ch—”

Rain laid a calming hand on Gavin's arm. He stopped speaking, though clearly he was still agitated.

They entered the office. It was three times as big as any of the others they'd passed. One wall was floor-to-ceiling glass, with a sweeping view of much of Orange County. From twenty-one stories up, Theo could see two different freeways, South Coast Plaza shopping mall, a community college, and far into the hazy distance, a sliver of the Pacific Ocean. The view gave him the feeling that the window was a windshield and the person who sat in this office steered the entire county from here.

Behind the giant desk sat a middle-aged woman with midnight-black hair that had a gray streak on either side, like parentheses around her face. She wore turquoise-and-silver earrings and bracelets. She also had a silky blouse, but hers was the kind of white you'd only see somewhere in the Arctic where no one has ever touched the snow.

Her desk was so massive it probably could be seen from outer space.

Theo, Rain, and Gavin sat down across from her in equally massive red leather chairs. The chair made Theo feel like he should be commanding a starship.

“So nice of you to see us without an appointment, Ms. Moonsilver,” Rain said politely to the woman.

Moonsilver? The name finally registered for Theo. It was one of the names in gold on the lobby wall. She was one of the owners of this law firm.

Ms. Moonsilver didn't smile or offer to shake hands. Instead, she picked up a gold clock from her desk and turned it around so they could see it.

“You said you had important information about a crime committed by our clients Wild World. You have exactly five minutes to convince me this isn't some kind of childish prank. After that, I'll have security escort you from the building. Whether it's into a waiting police car is entirely up to you.”

“You're Native American,” Gavin said.

“Indian,” she corrected. “We call ourselves Indians. We let the rest of the world worry about being politically correct.” She tapped the clock. “You now have four minutes left.”

Gavin stood up and snatched the clock into his fist as if he were about to throw it against the wall. “Your clients are thieves, and I'm going to sue them! I don't care how many fancy lawyers they have.”

Ms. Moonsilver showed no emotion. Neither fear, nor anger, nor even interest.

Rain said calmly, “Sit down, Gavin.”

He replaced the clock and plopped back down in the chair, staring at Ms. Moonsilver.

Rain explained everything.

Ms. Moonsilver listened, again without any emotion. When Rain finished, she stood up. “Wait here,” she said, and left the room.

They sat in silence, staring out of the huge window.

Ms. Moonsilver returned and walked briskly back to her desk. She sat down and looked at Rain, Gavin, and Theo with a stern frown. “I've checked the appropriate documents, and here's the situation: Someone approached my clients with the song ‘Wolfheart.' My clients agreed to purchase it. The seller already had the proper contracts and release forms with them, including a statement of ownership. The agreed-upon payment was made. So, as far as my clients are concerned, they acted in good faith and are not liable in any way. If you have a claim, it would be against the seller.”

“Who is the seller?” Gavin demanded.

“I'm afraid I can't give you that information. Client confidentiality. Which means I can't legally discuss in any more detail my clients' business. Which also means that we're done here. You may leave.”

The three of them were stunned. Even Rain.

“That's it?” Gavin said, jumping to his feet. “We come all the way down here and that's all you tell us?”

“I didn't ask you to come here,” Ms. Moonsilver said.

“One more question,” Rain said. “How did you get the song to go viral so quickly?”

Ms. Moonsilver almost smiled. “You can't make anything go viral. All you can do is send it to all the popular sites and bloggers. If they like it, they'll pass it on. And if others like, they'll pass it on. In the end, the video or song still has to have something special. This song has that something.”

“Yeah, I know,” Gavin said. “I wrote it.”

“Not in the eyes of the law. You'll have to prove it in a courtroom.”

An hour later they were all sitting on a picnic table at Palisades Park. They'd been quiet on the bus. Defeated.

“Well,” Gavin said to Rain, “any more brilliant plans?”

“I'm thinking,” she said.

After a couple more minutes of silence, they heard a motorcycle roaring nearby. They looked over by the restroom/snack building. Motorpsycho sat on the bike, revving his engine. He flipped open his helmet and stared at them.

“Who's this clown?” Gavin asked.

“Motorpsycho,” Theo said.

Gavin stood up. “I'm just in the right mood to meet him.”

Rain stood up, too. “No. I'll talk to him.”

“He hit you last time,” Theo reminded her.

“He won't do that again,” Rain said. Theo didn't know how she could be sure of that.

Theo started to get up, tripped, and fell against Rain. She caught him and kept him from falling.

“Smooth, bro,” Gavin said.

Theo straightened himself up and said to Rain, “Sorry.”

“Just don't do that on the basketball court,” she said. She walked off to talk to Motorpsycho.

Theo and Gavin watched.

Rain and Motorpsycho spoke heatedly. Theo couldn't hear the exact words, but he could hear the tone, which was angry.

Suddenly Motorpsycho handed her a spare helmet. She put it on and climbed onto the back of his motorcycle.

“Wait!” Theo shouted, springing to his feet and running toward them.

They rode off.

“TURN
right at the stop sign,” Theo called, pointing at the street ahead.

Gavin pedaled through the stop sign as he swung the bike right down Gardenia Street with Theo close behind. It wasn't like Theo to ignore traffic rules, but they were on a rescue mission. Maybe. Plus, the residential streets were empty right now. Except for the occasional jogger mom pushing a special jogging stroller.

“Pull over!” Theo shouted at Gavin. They both braked at the curb while Theo studied the map on Gavin's phone screen.

Here's what had happened back at the park: When Theo saw that Rain was going to go talk to Motorpsycho, he'd pretended to stumble into her. What he was actually doing was slipping his iPhone into her backpack. Once the motorcycle had roared away, he'd used Gavin's phone to activate the GPS finder that allowed them to track his own phone. Then they went back to Theo's house, grabbed his and his dad's bikes, and pedaled off to find Rain and discover her secret connection with Motorpsycho.

“How close are we?” Gavin asked.

Theo was a little pleased to see that, while he was breathing normally, Gavin was breathing hard. Theo's basketball conditioning had finally paid off. “Just a few more blocks,” he said, tapping the screen to enlarge the map.

They took off, side by side at first, then with Gavin lagging slightly behind. Finally, they pulled up in front of a two-story white house with a couple of motorcycles and a black Lexus in the driveway. There was a small yard, and a flower-filled garden surrounded the house.

The house looked normal, just like Theo's and Brian's and Daryl's and Tunes's. There was a tricycle in the driveway, so there had to be a little kid. What kind of evil could they be doing inside with a tricycle outside?

Theo's heart was pounding. Now what? He didn't really have a plan.

Gavin had taken out a cigarette and was about to light it when Theo ran over to him and blew out the lighter flame. “Put that away! No wonder you were wheezing from that bike ride.”

Gavin shrugged and put the cigarette back in the pack.

Theo took a deep breath and marched up to the front door. He knocked briskly. Gavin walked up and stood behind him. “Don't worry, cuz. I've got your back.”

But Theo was worried. This was someone's home. Private property. What right did he have to snoop into whatever was happening inside?

The door opened. Motorpsycho stood glaring at Theo. “What are you doing here?” he growled.

“I, uh…” Theo stuttered. Gavin started to push his way around Theo to take over, but Theo blocked him and said, “Where's Rain? We want to talk to her.”

“What you want means nothing to me. Now go. You are not welcome here.”

“Hey, man,” Gavin said angrily, trying to push his way around Theo again. Theo used his basketball skills to box him out.

“We just want to talk to Rain first,” Theo said. “Then we'll go.”

Motorpsycho took a menacing step toward Theo, but Theo didn't back down.

Suddenly Rain appeared at the doorway and shoved Motorpsycho aside. She said something harsh to him in a foreign language. Then to Theo, “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted—”

“
We
wanted,” Gavin corrected.

“We wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Motorcycle snorted and said something in the foreign language to which Rain responded.

“Matar,” a man called from inside, “show your friends in. It's not polite to keep them waiting.”

“Yes, Uncle,” Rain said.

“Matar?” Theo said.

Rain shrugged. “Well, come in, then. You're just in time.”

“In time for what?” Theo asked as he and Gavin stepped inside the house.

“For the trial,” Rain said.

Motorpsycho slammed the door behind them and locked it.