Five Flavors of Dumb - Antony John [91]
CHAPTER 49
Finn was hiding out in the basement, eyes closed, headphones practically swallowing his head while he strummed his guitar. When I touched his arm he leaped up, and the headphones clattered to the floor.
What’s going on? he signed.
Will you go to the Showbox for me tomorrow? I’m grounded, but I want someone there to make sure it goes okay.
Finn shook his head, which surprised me.
Please? Tash will be there, I reminded him.
No, I can’t. I’ll be watching Grace.
What? You’re babysitting?
Yes. Mom and Dad don’t think a rock concert is a good place for a baby.
I couldn’t believe it. My concert?
Finn was trying hard not to grin. They want to go. And they only trust me to look after Grace. He paused, thought about that. That’s what they said, anyway.
What about me? I asked, hurt by the implication.
You’re busy.
Why?
You’ll be at the concert too. He pretended to study his guitar, which made it clear he’d had a hand in this development.
What have you been up to?
Finn picked out a few chords that I couldn’t hear, then gave up. I told Dad about the contract you negotiated. You know he loves anything that makes money.
I wanted to be mad at him, but actually I should’ve thought of it myself. And now he’s going to let me go to the concert? Just like that?
I said you’d have to cancel if you couldn’t be there.
Damn. Finn was really good. And he believed you?
Finn snorted. He was seeing dollar signs. He didn’t question anything.
I couldn’t believe my parents were going to see Dumb. I began to panic, wondering what they’d think of the band.
Right on cue, Dad appeared on the stairs, Grace pinned to his hip.
Are you sure you’ll be okay with her? I signed hurriedly.
As Dad approached, Finn put his guitar on the floor and held out his arms to take Grace. She seemed to enjoy it too. “Yes, Piper, I’ll be okay,” he said.
I stared into Grace’s bright blue eyes and ran my fingers over her dimpled cheeks. “What’ll you do with her?” I asked Finn.
“I’ll just stick her in the baby carrier, wander around downtown. Maybe meet you all afterwards. I’m sort of hoping people will assume it’s my kid and give me dirty looks.”
Dad cocked an eyebrow but didn’t say a word. I think that privately he was relishing the thought of an evening without diaper changes. When he headed back upstairs, I decided to stick around. Finn’s company was comfortable, calming. I even began to wish I were a little more like him.
“Did you ever find out why Baz was sending you all over Seattle to check out dead rock stars?” he asked, conducting Peek-a-boo 101 with Grace.
“It wasn’t Baz.”
Finn looked up suddenly, and Grace arched her back in disgust. “So . . . that whole ZARKINFIB thing was, what—just a diversion?”
“Yeah. A good one too. I wouldn’t have gone if I’d known the messages weren’t from ...” A thought crossed my mind—a single, momentous thought. I was sure I must be mistaken, but even more certain that I wasn’t. “How did you know the username, Finn?”
He only hesitated a second, but it may as well have been an hour. “You told us.”
“No. Ed told you the username was an anagram of Baz Firkin, but he was the only one who saw it on my computer.”
Finn’s poker face was eluding him when he needed it most. “I don’t know how I know.”
I suddenly remembered how it had been Finn who “discovered” the details about Hendrix’s house being moved. But even though I’d solved the mystery, it still didn’t make any sense.
“Why did you do it?” I asked.
Finn resumed peek-a-boo with Grace, but his mind was clearly elsewhere. “I saw you the day Dumb played on the school steps . . . the way you watched them, and screamed at the end. Everyone there knew how ballsy it was for Dumb to do that, but when you saw them later on, you totally dissed them.”
I raised my hand to interrupt, but Finn shook his head. This was his confession, and he needed me to hear him out.
“They totally should’ve called you on it, but instead