The
next day was a half-day, a paper delivery day, so I agreed to pick up Pete after
lunch and go down to the Pi office with him to sign the contract. If I didn't
find anything weird about it. On the way there, I suggested that he consider
getting a part-time job as an assistant circulation manager, overseeing the
delivery boys and girls, since he didn't mind getting up really early. He just
gave me a withering look. Ah, for the good old days when he considered
everything I said as pure wisdom. Well, maybe not everything. The kid paid
attention better when he still had a clear memory of being thrown off that
balcony over the river in England, and me leaping off after him and flying us both
to safety.
The
corner beyond the Neighborlee Schools property was in that nebulous area
between farms and park land, a section of road that ended up being the long way
around no matter what the destination was. That contributed to hardly anyone
using it. Hence the business-killing dearth of traffic. The last business in
there had been a flower market, and from the state of the building, it looked
like it had been closed for ten years, not three.
"How
long have they been renovating this place?" I had to ask, pausing just a
few seconds longer than necessary at the flashing yellow light in front of the
schools parking lot entrance. There was no traffic coming from any direction,
so I didn't really need to do more than coast to a near-stop and then make my
turn. I came to a full stop anyway, and studied the building sitting
kitty-corner so it turned the parking lot into a triangle. That had to be
awkward maneuvering. Maybe that contributed to the deaths of the previous
businesses.
"Maybe
two weeks?" Pete shrugged. Then he frowned and blinked and shook his head.
"What?"
I didn't like the hint of a dazed look in his eyes.
"Didn't
really notice before …" Another shrug. "They're working on the
inside, first."
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