Gents, ladies, we've got a lot to cover, so let's get to it. Enjoy!
6 Days Earlier
They all stood dumbfounded for a few moments, staring at Granny and her wad of cash.
Jason broke the silence. "Granny," he said, "where did you get all that money?"
"I surmised that it would be useful to our situation," Granny said, "and so I procured it. But I can return it if -"
"Let's not be hasty," Telly said, and reached out to grab the money from her.
Granny smacked his hand away. "Ow!" Telly yelped.
"This is for Jason," Granny said. She approached Jason and put the money in his palm, and then folded his fingers around it.
"And now," Granny announced, "I require repose, to replenish my energies."
"You should try the bed," Pearl said. "It's awesome!"
"I suppose I shall at that," Granny said. She exited the room, and they heard Jason's door click closed.
Telly looked at Jason and said, "Do I even wanna know?"
"The less, the better. Trust me," Jason said. He counted off five hundred dollars, peeled off the bills, and handed them to Telly. "That oughtta cover this month, plus utilities," he said.
"Thanks," Telly said. "And...?"
"Me and Pearl'll make an IKEA run today," Jason said.
"Cool," said Telly. "And...?"
"It might be a minute before I can replace 'game central'," Jason said. "But I promise you it's at the top of the list."
"Good enough for now," Telly said. "Well, almost," he added. "I could sure use some breakfast. There's that taco truck a few blocks down the street ..."
Jason handed him a twenty. "Get your grub on," he said.
Telly grinned broadly. "It's a beautiful morning!" he said. Tipping an imaginary hat to Pearl, he said, "Ma'am," and left the apartment.
Jason counted off the money left over in his hand. "Thirteen hundred," he said. "That's a lot of cheddar."
"Is it a lot of butter?" Pearl said.
"That too," Jason said. "Was this part of Granny's plan?"
"I guess so," Pearl said. "She said she was gonna make use of her talents as an ecdysiast."
Jason frowned. "What the hell does that mean?" he said.
"Beats me," Pearl said. "Let's go buy stuff!"
"Not so fast," Jason said. "I need to ask Granny where she got all this."
"Who cares?" Pearl said.
"Me!" Jason said. "What if she broke into a store, or a bank, or rolled some rich big shot?"
"That doesn't sound like Granny," Pearl said. "Actually, that's more my style."
Jason started toward the bedroom. "Well, I still wanna -" he said, but Pearl grabbed him by the bicep.
"Maybe you can't see it, but old girl is
tired
," Pearl said. "You thought she was cranky before, if you wake her up now she's liable to bite your head off."
Jason considered, wondering if Pearl meant it figuratively or literally. Either way, bad news.
"Fine," he said, "for now."
"That's the spirit!" Pearl said, and cuffed him on the shoulder. "Now, do they have butter at this IKEA place?"
* * *
Half an hour later they were in Jason's truck, making their way up I-35 through sluggish Saturday afternoon traffic.
Pearl, despite her initial enthusiasm, had been complaining almost the whole time. She'd complained about having to take a shower. She'd complained about not knowing how a shower worked. She'd complained that Jason wouldn't take a shower with her, even when Jason explained that that was just asking for trouble. She'd complained about the light blue sweatshirt that Jason had given her to wear, since it was the only clean thing of his that would make Pearl's big, braless boobs look decent rather than deviant.
And she was still at it.
"This is boring," Pearl said.
"Only way to get there," Jason said.
"There are too many other vehicles," Pearl said.
"Austin's a big city," Jason said. "Lotta people."
"This belt thing is uncomfortable," Pearl said.
"It can save your life," Jason said. "You'll get used to it."
"Not with
these
," Pearl said.
Jason couldn't help himself; he glanced over at Pearl. The seat belt flattened a diagonal line across her enormous breasts in a way that certainly could not have been comfortable.
Still ... lucky seat belt.
"Well, it's the law," Jason said. "You have to wear one if you're in a car."
"What about that guy?" Pearl said.
"He's on a motorcycle," Jason said.
"Then I want a motorcycle," Pearl said.
"God no," Jason said.
Normal humans on motorcycles were disruptive enough. Just the thought of the chaos Pearl could create with one was terrifying.
"You need a special license to drive a motorcycle," Jason said. "
And
you need two hands to control it."