Page 24 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

I rolled my eyes. Only Gio Mancini would pick a fight with an old man. Mind you my neighbor wasn’t much better.

He swung his eyes my way and said, “you sure you don’t want me to shoot him?”

As amusing as this was, if I didn’t say something then the angry vein throbbing on Gio’s forehead might pop. I did not want to witness another shooting.

“Nah, I can handle him.” I glared at Gio in a way that I hoped would make him let it go. “You’ve got more important things to deal with.”

I nodded my head to the back left corner of his yard, where two raccoons were lurking. And just like that Mr. Garibaldi’s attention was diverted.

“Goddamn critters.” He shot Gio one last stare, added, “I’ve got my eyes on you boy.” Then took off, waving his broom through the air like a madman.

Gio watched him with a curled lip. “Why the hell were you talking to him?”

Mr. Garibaldi might seem slightly off, but he was harmless.

“I’m having a secret affair with him. Saggy balls really turn me on.”

“Uh huh?” Gio grumbled unimpressed. “Is that why you didn’t answer your phone?”

Oh yeah. I forgot about my phone.

“No, I threw that in the lake.” Technically it slipped through my hands when I was startled, but if I said that then I’d have to explain why I was startled, and I wasn’t about to venture down that road.

He stepped up on the porch and cocked a brow. “You threw your phone in the lake?”

What was so hard to understand about that?

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Because a guy named Snake snuck up behind me, which was something else I didn’t care to explain.

“Well, I kept getting calls and texts.” I rolled my eyes. “It was really annoying.”

It really was annoying. Whoever invented the cellphone should be shot.

This time it was Gio who rolled his eyes. “God forbid someone calls you on the phone.”

“Gio Mancini, is that sarcasm?” I didn’t know he was capable of that. I was a little disturbed by it. That was my move.

“Does it look like I’m in a joking mood?”

No, no, he didn’t. He looked like he did every day. Angry and annoyed. Too bad. For a second, I thought he removed that stick from his ass.

“Why weren’t you in school, Nova?”

“Why aren’t you in school?”

Ah ha!

“Because you didn’t answer your fucking phone!”

Geez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. “Well, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t hear it ring under all that water.”

Not to mention how far Quackwater was from here. I didn't have super hearing powers.

“Is that how this conversation is going to go?”

---