The Traveling Vampire Show(75)

 

Slim was a big fan of cheeseburgers. So was I, for that matter. So I hurried to the fridge and took out our Velveeta. Carrying it to the counter and unwrapping it, I found myself remembering the Velveeta at Rusty’s house. And his mother’s bridge club. And Bitsy catching us. And how we’d run away from her.

 

Life had seemed wonderful for the past few minutes, but now I started feeling a little rotten again.

 

In my mind, I saw the eagerness on Bitsy’s face when she thought we’d be taking her with us.

 

Then I heard Rusty’s mother. Elizabeth has always been very fond of you.

 

I found our cheese slicer in a drawer.

 

I must say I’m terribly disappointed in you.

 

I pushed the tight wire of the slicer down through the block of Velveeta. When I had four slabs, each about half an inch thick, I put them on the plate with the buns. Then I picked up the plate and hurried outside.

 

Slim watched me trot down the stairs. She still had that frown on her face. As I neared her, she smiled. “Velveeta,” she said.

 

“Yep.”

 

“Just a sec.”

 

Fire was leaping around the patties, fueled by their dripping grease. Slim had already flipped them over. Their upturned sides were brown and glistening, striped with black indentations from the grill. They sizzled and crackled and smelled delicious. As I watched, Slim pressed down on each of them with the spatula, squeezing them flatter, making juices spill out their sides. Each time she mashed one, the fire underneath it went crazy.

 

After pressing all four of them, she switched the spatula to her left hand. With her right, she picked up the slabs of Velveeta. She laid them out, one on top of each patty.

 

Until she came to the fourth slab of Velveeta.

 

She gave me a quick grin. “This’ll be mine,” she said, and took a bite. A blissful look on her face, she started to put the remaining three-quarters of the slice on the fourth patty. Instead of letting it go, however, she brought it quickly back to her mouth and snapped off another quarter of it. “Gotta even up the sides,” she said through her mouthful. Then, reaching through the smoke and flames, she neatly set the remaining strip in the center of the patty.

 

By then, the cheese on the other burgers was starting to melt. “These are going to be great,” Slim said.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“But you know what?”

 

“What?” I asked.

 

“I’ve been thinking about Rusty.”

 

“Uh.”

 

“He really wants to see the Vampire Show.”

 

“Yeah, I know.”

 

“I’ve been thinking, it might not be so easy for him to get out of his house tonight. They probably won’t let him out, and he won’t be able to sneak out in time if they’re keeping an eye on him.”

 

“Maybe it’s just as well,” I said. “It might be better if we all miss it.”

 

“He really has his heart set on it, though.”

 

“Yeah, I know.”

 

“He’d be so disappointed,” Slim said, and looked at the grill. Melted Velveeta was starting to spill down the sides of the patties and drip into the flames. “Uh-oh.” Quickly, she stabbed the spatula underneath one of the burgers, lifted it off the grill and slid it onto a bun.

 

“Should we go to Rusty’s rescue?” I asked.

 

“I think we’d better.” Slim scooped off another burger.

 

“I thought you liked it better without him around,” I said.

 

“I do,” she said. She flashed me a sly smile, then transferred another burger from the grill to a bun. “But he’s still our friend.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“More appreciated in his absence than in his presence....”

 

I laughed.

 

She took off the last burger, the one with half as much Velveeta. “This one’s yours,” she said.

 

“Okay.”

 

“I’m kidding,” she said. “It’s ...”

 

“No, really, I’ll take it. I’d rather have that one.”

 

She laughed softly and shook her head. “If you want it that much, you can have it.” She set the top of the bun in place and pressed it down with her open hand. “She’s all yours.”

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Thirty-one

 

 

The sun normally would’ve been blazing in our eyes at this time of the evening, but it couldn’t get through the heavy clouds. Though the air felt muggy, a breeze came along every so often. A warm breeze. It felt pretty good, anyway.

 

We sat at the picnic table near the back of the lawn. It was painted green and had benches along both the long sides. Slim and I sat across from each other.