Mattyboy

Very weird about Calvin. Even if he's after some chance of money (or whatever other external motivation), it's odd that he isn't even trying to fake it. I feel that stunt with the gun, as entertaining as it was, might come back up in court in a bad way. Does Calvin have a case on "there wasn't supposed to be anyone here"?

Wow, short, but a lot just happened, and Kenan (and us) learned something about Moses

We're coming up on the climax! Thank you for the note Laura, acknowledging that "these chapters are not the easiest to read." I feel from pretty early on you signaled everyone that this was noir and it was going to get dark. It's a detective thriller. It's bad to be in the clutches of evil psychos (and their many minions) But it's an extremely refreshing twist that you've set this up so we can skip the stupid scene where the hostage won't cooperate with their rescuer because they don't understand the situation or can't get over themselves. Being a hostage to evil psychos is kinda the only thing that Otis isn't naive about. And even Jackie, who still might screw up, isn't trending stupid. The army of minions outside might actually help the cops identify that there's something on in the building, and I hope they've had enough warning to bring a big enough hammer. Otis lives and we have hope!

Sounds a bit like Don't Blame the Band by Lee Wilson

"Later, when I was deep in the closet" is a fun double-entendre

David! tell Grandpa! So someone will know what happened if Burch and Johnson murder you to keep you quiet.

well, "rationalize" but also one of his friends was murdered a few weeks ago and being gay was a big part of it, and someone tried to murder him today (not thinking about that much) but being close-lipped might be a smart safety play in Daleville.

David! Send the BARF file to Grandpa!

Yeah, I suspect that too. David, tell Grandpa and/or Sarah RIGHT NOW

Yay, Jackson, Luke, and the Best Year did go back to the clearing! Nicely resolved with Cindy (assist to Pastor Alan, likely). Thanks for throwing out the tidbit that Jackson swept the freestyle races at State. Congratulations on completing the epic of the Best Year.

Cool. It's been a fun feature of this story. Also, yay new guy!

Who's the new guy in the profile-picture-of-the-week?

The brat-dynamic is a lot of fun. And excellent fun that they both seem to be into it.

Otis is not an amateur at being in the clutches of a deranged psychopath. And this time he even has figured that people might be looking for him and trying to help him. I imagine there's going to be a "scene", but I'm confident Otis will find a right thing to do

mm, if a cop does it because they witness him menacing a child? Cop who had to be there because it was a foreseeable risk? It's your story, and I like what you're doing with it, just pointing out a bit of FAFO tasering would likely delight the commentariat here.

I don't understand. How is Calvin getting tased with-cause not "better"?

I'm still on that there's something in the boys' mother's/grandmother's estate that Calvin thinks he can get his hands on. But the Calvin's-trying-to-convince-his-girlfriend-he's-a-good-person theory has some life in it (and some support in this chapter). I'm still surprised that Diego still thinks the boys meeting with Calvin was a failure. Next one can be with Judge Crustypants and a police officer with a taser present, if JC wants. It also focuses attention on the Bryan-doesn't-want-to-do-this issue, which hasn't come up in court yet but is both clear and relevant.

I don't think I'd say you need to read I Hate This Town. This is working pretty well as a standalone. You should because it's a good story, of course The River-Alec backstory is nice to have, and I guess some people could get stuck on River being a brat in the first chapter. This is great for understanding the second half of I Hate This Town, though, and how Alec and the rest of this friend group hang together.

Yay! New characters!

Excellent development in the story. I'm kinda glad Alec isn't in front of the camera, for Finn's sake. I don't see how a warning would be called for here, unless a certain Iowa cinnamon-roll might find it shocking.

I'm enjoying you cycling through these

Well done, Jackson! I like the balance between the gang not being able to stop roughhousing and beings slobs, and actually taking time to care for their found family. The sunset moment reminds me of that winter scene in the clearing in the woods. It's a long way from there but also kind of a closed ring now.

I know someone who chatted with "Mike" at a party for quite a while and was told the next day it was Michael Stipe from REM. They had in fact noticed his looks, but it just didn't occur to them that there might be a rockstar on the sofa. Maybe less so at a fancy summer house in the Hamptons, but still.

Hehe, that was fun with the name dropping of the stars versus the generation gap of what Toby's familiar with (and maybe who he's expecting to meet at a party). And fun to see Dirk's thread re-enter the weave.

That was a nice touch that the moth flew off to do moth things. 🦋 🦋