Page 67 of The Serpent King

“I’ll think about the Lydia thing. Until we get that house, though, you better park around the corner from my place and sleep in my room. My mom won’t notice. She sleeps heavy from being so tired.”

“You sure? I can sleep in my truck.”

“Yeah. You need a warm, safe place to sleep. We’ll get you a water bowl and a can to pee in.”

Travis giggled. “Dude, don’t make me laugh. It hurts to laugh.”

“You positive you’re okay? You need a doctor?”

“I’ve had worse. No broken bones. No teeth knocked out. Just welts and bruises. What would the doctor do?”

“You think you’ll be okay sleeping on the floor? We’ll make you a bed out of my clothes and blankets and stuff. I’d let you sleep in my bed and take the floor myself, but what if my mom peeks in?”

“I’ll be okay.”

They sat mute for several minutes.

“We’ll get through this, Travis.”

He choked up. “I wish he hadn’t wrecked my amazing night.”

They drove back to Dill’s house.

“Hey, Dill, can I have a few minutes alone in here before we go in?”

“Yeah, take all the time you need.”

As Dill opened his window to climb into his bedroom, he caught a glimpse of Travis. He had his head down on the steering wheel, his body shaking, as he sat solitary in the frozen January midnight darkness.

Lydia opened the front door. “Travis. What’s up?” It was unusual for Travis to show up at her house unannounced.

Travis held a sheaf of notebook paper. He looked nervous. “Hey, Lydia. So. I wrote this story. And you know writing and stuff. I wonder if you could read it for me and tell me what to do better.”

“Already? Wasn’t it two weeks ago that G. M. Pennington told you to consider becoming a writer?”

“Three.”

“Ah, right. It’s almost as though that date sticks in your head more than it does mine.”

Travis smiled.

“How familiar do I have to be with Bloodfall to understand it?” Lydia asked.

“You don’t need to know anything. It’s original.”

“Because I started reading Bloodfall after we met Gary. He was so awesome. I owe it to him. And you. But I’m not even close to done.”

Travis grinned. “Finally!”

She held out her hand. “Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, finally. Anyway, of course I’ll read your story. But fair warning, I’m pretty no bullshit when it comes to writing. If something sucks, I’ll tell you. And since this is your first try, there’ll probably be stuff that sucks.”

Travis handed her the papers. “I’m pretty used to criticism. I can take it.”

Lydia remembered what her dad had told her about Travis and she felt a stab of guilt. I can take it, he says. That and more. She leafed through the papers. “Wow, handwritten? Who does that? Look at you go, Shakespeare.”

“I haven’t had much access to my laptop the last few weeks.”

Another pang—this time of worry. “Is everything okay? Like at home?”