Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in this story except for Lea.
I am very sorry for the long wait- it's been over 2 weeks, I think. I was very busy, but I plan to keep the chapters rolling much more quickly now.
Chapter 4: Newspapers, Inventions, and Discoveries
"All right, guys, let's get going!"
I sighed and gripped the sides of my chair. We were going to have to go to the library today to look through newspapers. There was nothing in any of our recent newspapers.
Everybody started getting up from their chairs, and I did the same. After reality finally hit me, I realized how hard, or even impossible, it could be to find something to use to denounce the Perkins', among the most reputable, not to mention richest, people in town. My hopes were pretty low.
"Hey Lea, what's the matter with you?"
"Nothing, I'm just… tired."
They seemed to buy it, which I was glad for.
"All right, come on, then!"
Being the last person out, I slammed the front door shut.
20 minutes later, we were in the library, hunched over newspapers. My eyes were straining to read the small print.
"Fire consumes Smith family house…" I didn't need that.
I skipped to the next page. No Perkins. I turned the page again. No Perkins.
I sighed. There's nothing IN here, I'm just wasting my time! I was staring at the obituaries. Perkins isn't dead! I shouldn't have to read this; I'll just skip over it.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. No. No. No. No. NO!!! This is useless! The guy is clean! If there were anything against him, it would have been found ages ago! Gosh, I just want to scream!
"Hey guys, I think I found something!" Data piped up.
I dropped my newspaper. Or was I wrong?
Mikey and Mouth dropped the newspapers they were holding and moved to stand behind Data. Chunk and Stef were already sitting next to him.
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong WRONG!!! There IS something against him! We can save the Goon Docks again! Mikey's Dad will become mayor, and nothing'll happen to us! I could barely conceal my excitement.
"Lea! Get over here!"
I jumped up and moved to the small crowd that had gathered around Data.
"See guys? See?"
I looked over Mikey's shoulder at the newspaper that Data was holding. It took me a moment to find what he was talking about.
Speeding tickets. Elgin Perkins.
Well, at least it was something. I seriously doubted it would work for our purpose, but at least we knew that he wasn't completely a strict law-abiding citizen.
I glanced at my watch. 1:00 PM.
"Hey guys, let's go back to our house right now and discuss this over lunch. It's kind of late."
"Agreed."
"Okay."
"Sure."
"Yeah."
"Is it lunchtime?"
It had started raining about 10 minutes after everyone had returned to our house. Now, lunch was eaten, and the speeding ticket business was discussed. We had decided almost instantly that it wasn't enough, but it boosted our hopes. Well, it boosted mine, anyway.
Since it was raining, we decided not to go back to the library. Hence, everyone was trying to find ways of busting their boredom.
Stef, unfortunately, had left after we decided not to go back to the library. So I was the only girl here. That made me pretty bored.
Mikey was sitting on the couch, reading a magazine he had found on the kitchen table. Chunk was in the kitchen, as always. Data was working on an invention. Mouth appeared to be sleeping. You never know with him. And I was staring out the window, watching the rain fall, incredibly bored and restless.
"Hey Lea, what'cha doing?"
"Trying to decide which is more boring- watching rain fall or watching paint dry on a wall," I said sarcastically.
Mouth gave up trying to get me to play poker with him, and fell asleep again.
I sighed. Brothers.
This did not help my boredom problem. If possible, it made me feel more melancholy than before.
Presently, I became so bored it was nearly killing me. I looked around the room. Nothing had changed. I was dying to talk to someone. I walked over to Mikey.
"Hi, Mikey."
"What?" He asked snappishly.
"Nothing." I said, instantly changing my mind about talking to him.
I looked around the room once again. Mouth was sleeping. If I woke him up, he would probably be as friendly as Mikey.
Chunk was in the kitchen. He would be eager to talk, but food was not one of my favorite subjects.
That left one person. My eyes wandered over to Data. He seemed to have some problem with his invention. I walked over to him.
"Hi Data, what is that?"
"I'm trying to fix my bully blinders."
"Hmmm. Are you trying to make the batteries last longer?"
"Yeah. They last too short."
"What is it for?" I didn't ask about the batteries. Science was stuff that I couldn't comprehend in a million years.
"Well, one time I was walking home, and these 2 big guys stopped me and asked for my money. So I took out my bully blinders, and at first they fell down. Then they turned around and ran away."
It suddenly occurred to me how resourceful Data was. His inventions were incredibly useful. NO ONE likes a bully.
I talked to Data for a few more minutes, then he went back to fixing his bully blinders. I decided to wake Mouth up and play a few games of poker with him.
That didn't go too well, because he fell asleep again after the first game.
The hours passed slowly. Very, very slowly. I groggily wondered if my watch had stopped.
I was searching through newspapers again, but this time alone.
It must've been really late, because I was tired. I didn't know what day it was, what time it was, or why I was in the library in the first place. If someone had asked me my name, I probably wouldn't have been able to answer.
I pulled some newspapers out of a box that said, 'Astoria 1966' I looked at the headlines of some of the newspapers.
" Elgin Perkins Arrested for Crime."
This was it! This was what I was looking for!
"Perkins, a land developer, was caught yesterday..."
CRASH!!!
I jolted and opened my eyes. A huge bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.
It was still pouring outside. And even worse, the dream about finally finding evidence against Perkins had been false. Or was it?
I stopped in mid-sigh when I looked around me. Mikey was lying on the couch. Mouth was lying with his back against the side of the couch. Data was lying with his back against the wall, much in the same fashion as Mouth. Chunk was sprawled across the floor.
They were all asleep.
I found it kind of scary, how they were all just... asleep like that.
What WAS that dream? Was it true? IS there something against him? Was it in that newspaper? That box... I thought hard to remember the label on that box.
Astoria, 1960... Astoria, 196-
Astoria 1966!
I was trying hard not to get my hopes up. It was a dream. Dreams are usually not real.
But it could've been. And nevertheless, I'm not going to leave any stone unturned.
I looked at my watch. I was barely able to distinguish the hands. It was dark in the room.
I moved closer to the window. 5:15. You'd never believe it, the color the sky is right now.
I relaxed, and time once again became a hazy existence.
Again, I am sorry for the long wait and plan to update a lot more quickly now. I will get the next one up soon. :) Please R and R!
