Free Janet McNulty - Mellow Summers 03 - An Apple a Day Keeps Murder Away by Janet McNulty Page B

thru.
    “May I take your order?” asked the guy on the intercom.
    “Yes, I’ll have your five taco special, two churros, and two Sprites,” said Aunt Ethel cheerily.
    She pulled the car up to the window with remarkable calmness.
    “Don’t worry, dear, I’ll get it,” said Aunt Ethel. She dug through her purse oblivious to the fact that I still held on to the door handle for dear life. She handed the money to the man at the window and took the food.
    The roar of a bunch of bikes sounded behind us. Apparently, Tiny and his pals had noticed us as we passed their place. They parked behind us in the drive thru lane. Tiny hopped off his bike and walked toward the driver’s window. “Mel?”
    One look inside told him everything. Slowly, I released my death grip on the door handle.
    “Oh,” said Tiny.
    “Tiny, darling,” said my aunt in her usual peppy voice. “Be a dear and get me some hot sauce.”
    He did. “There was a report about a car causing a lot of damage around town. Something about a lunatic driver.”
    “I wonder who that could be,” said my aunt.
    “I think he referred to us,” I said.
    “Preposterous, dear. My driving is perfect,” said Aunt Ethel.
    “Uh, you guys do realize that this is a drive thru?” asked the kid in the window. One look from Tiny shut him up. Poor kid. He couldn’t have been more than sixteen.
    Sirens screamed a few blocks down. Sure, now the cops show up.
    “You two might want to get out of here,” suggested Tiny.
    “OK,” said my aunt as she started to put the car in gear.
    “NO! Out of the car now,” I told my aunt, “I’m driving.”
    “Mellow darling, I’m perfectly capable of handling a car,” said Aunt Ethel.
    “Now,” I said, firmly.
    Relenting, Aunt Ethel stepped out of the car and we switched seats. I slammed the car into gear and took off. This time, I took the back roads back to my apartment being extra careful to not go above the speed limit or go through any red lights.

Chapter 8
     
     
     
    “There is some crazy report around town— Oh,” said Jackie when she saw my face. “So the lunatic driver was your aunt.”
    “I do not want to talk about it,” I said clenching my fists.
    “Where was Rachel?” asked Jackie.
    “Your aunt’s driving could scare a ghost,” said Rachel materializing beside me.
    I flopped on the couch exhausted. Aunt Ethel had decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood. She had mumbled something about my driving making her car sick. I thought the entire prospect was laughable. Me, making her car sick.
    A knock sounded at the door.
    Jackie opened it to reveal a boy standing there with a package. It looked like the one I had received previously.
    “Is a Mellow Summers here?” asked the boy.
    Grunting, I haul ed myself off of the couch and went to the entrance. “Who’s it from?”
    “I don’t know,” replied the boy, “Some guy paid me five dollars to deliver this.”
    “What did he look like?” I asked.
    “Don’t know,” said the boy impatiently. “Look, do you want the box or not?”
    “Put i t there,” I said pointing at the floor.
    The boy placed the box down. If he thought my request was strange, he never said anything.
    “Are you sure you don’t know what the guy looked like?” asked Jackie catching on to why I wouldn’t touch the box.
    “Yes, I’m certain,” said the boy. “The man kept his face covered. What does it matter anyway?”
    “It doesn’t,” I said closing the door in his face.
    I went to the hall closet and grabbed my knit gloves. I put them on before handling the box. It looked just like the others. These mysterious packages had quickly grown old and I tired of their taunting.
    “Jackie, call Calvin,” I said as I opened the package.
    She pulled out her cell and dialed his number. The conversation only lasted a few seconds before she hung up. “He’ll be right over.”
    I lifted the untaped lid. Inside were three bags of apple chips and another note with cut out