Читать книгу Don't Ever Tell - Brandon Massey - Страница 13

Price Electronics operated out of a brick storefront on Main Street in Fairburn, sitting alongside a row of businesses that included a pizzeria, an antiques shop, a hardware store, and an Internet café. Part of a historic commercial district, the one-to three-story buildings had been constructed in a range of styles, from Italianate to Neoclassical, and most included awnings that contributed to the downtown street’s nostalgic vibe.

Joshua pulled his Ford Explorer into a parking slot in front of the electronics shop, grabbed his laptop off the seat, and headed inside. A bell above the door chimed at his entrance.

The shelves were packed with electronics from almost floor to ceiling. Except for the computers, the items for sale were mostly cutting-edge gadgets and arcane parts, the purposes of which eluded Joshua. Heavy metal played on the in-store stereo.

Tim Price, the proprietor of the business and a friend of Joshua’s since high school, sat behind the long glass counter typing furiously on a BlackBerry, a messy mop of brown hair obscuring his face. Tattoos webbed his gangly arms—colorful renderings of dragons, griffins, and more otherworldly imagery.

Tim drove a custom-painted purple Chrysler PT Cruiser that continued the fantastical theme, sword-bearing warriors, gruesome orcs, long-bearded wizards, and slavering giant monsters adorning the body, like a mobile advertisement for Dungeons & Dragons. During their high school days, Tim had been a hardcore role-player and probably would have spent his days playing as a grown man if not for the shop.

Tim looked up, rose from his chair. He was nearly as tall as Joshua. He wore a white T-shirt with the slogan, ANIMALS TASTE GOOD, beneath which were shapes of fish, chicken, cattle, and pigs.

“Big Jay,” Tim said. They slapped hands.

“Nice shirt,” Joshua said.

“I’ve already offended one customer today. Some vegan guy.”

“Don’t you ever worry that wearing shirts like that might cost you business?”

He shrugged. “Screw ’em if they can’t take a joke.”

Although Tim had earned an electrical engineering degree from Georgia Tech, he’d worked in the shop all his life. His grandfather had launched the store in the seventies and passed it down to his father, who had then given it to Tim about five years ago. They specialized in the sort of obscure consumer electronics that only tech junkies cared about, and a large part of their business was doing repairs.

Joshua placed his notebook computer on the counter.

“I’ve been having issues getting connected to the Internet,” he said. “Rachel’s laptop works fine, so I know the problem is with my machine.”

Tim raised the laptop’s lid.

“Wireless connection?”

“Yeah, you set it up at my house, remember.”

“That’s right.” Tim snapped his fingers. “I’ll run some diagnostics. You might’ve inadvertently downloaded spyware or a virus, corrupted some files. That crap’s all over the Web these days, dude.”

“I can’t do much work until it’s fixed. When can you get to it?”

Tim checked his watch. There was an image of Mickey Mouse on the watch face.

“Mickey Mouse?” Joshua asked.

“He kicks ass.” Tim’s face was serious.

“Mickey Mouse?” Joshua asked again.

Tim broke into a grin. “You got me. Conversation piece. You noticed, didn’t you?”

“You’re a weirdo.”

“So? I know my shit. You can be as weird as you want if you’re good at your job. Einstein was eccentric, but we celebrate his genius.”

“The only one who celebrates your genius is you.”

Tim gave him the finger.

“Anyway, dude, I’ll have an answer for you on this by four. How’s that?”

“That’s cool. I’m about to go have lunch with Eddie.”

“You didn’t invite me. Is it a black thing or something?”

Joshua laughed. “We’ve invited you to lunch plenty of times, but we can’t ever get you out of this shop.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, Josh, I’m the only employee. I can’t leave.”

“Hire some help then.”

“I don’t trust anyone else to know what they’re doing. I’ve got a family legacy to live up to here.”

“Sounds like a personal problem to me.”

“Man, get out of here before I decide to start charging you for all the work I do.”