Autumn in Philadelphia Trilogy

Cory and Shawn's Miracle Soap VI

Early Thursday morning, Cory plodded down the stairs into his kitchen. He stared bleary-eyed at an open refrigerator as he struggled to wake up. His sleep the night before had been plagued with nightmares about the goop and he hadn't slept well.

Pulling a bowl out of the cabinet near the sink and a large spoon from the drawer, Cory found the most sugar packed cereal in the house. As he dumped the contents of the box into his bowl, he silently prayed that Morgan hadn't picked through it already and taken the good stuff.

"Ah, Lucky Charms," he muttered. "Breakfast of champions."

"I think that would actually be Wheaties, sport." Alan finished tying his tie as he walked into the kitchen. "Why are you eating out of a mixing bowl?"

"Huh?" Cory stared at his dish. "Oh, I just grabbed it."

"Uh-huh. Looks like someone didn't sleep very well last night." Alan poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down next to his son.

"Green stuff," Cory murmured quietly. "Lots of green stuff everywhere." He looked up at his dad. "Morgan's Swamp Thing came after me in my dreams."

"I see," Alan said. "And Swamp Thing coming after you wouldn't have anything to do with a guilty conscious, would it?"

A plumber had come out to the Matthews' house late Wednesday night to check their pipes. The green goo blocking the drains was some sort of mixture of household products. The goo was heavy and slow moving; water wouldn't move it or through it. The longer it set in the pipes the more it thickened and it had started to congeal. After talking with Amy, Alan had a feeling that Cory might know what was in the pipes and wanted to give him a chance to confess.

Cory frowned, his brow knit together in thought. "No." He paused. "Should it be?"

Alan sighed. "You tell me, kid."

Cory shook his head and shrugged.

"Cory, what did you do with that stuff you and Shawn made last weekend?"

"Ummm..." Cory gulped and stared at his bowl of cereal. What was he supposed to say? He didn't quite know what selling the goo had to do with the sink backing up, but he had a sinking feeling that his father would not approve of him selling it to his classmates. "Uh, I don't know?"

It was Alan's turn to shake his head. "Wrong answer."

"Okay, fine." Cory pushed his bowl away and flopped back against the chair. "After Eric had the stuff on his face and it cleared up his acne, we kinda canned what wasn't washed down the sink and sold it at school."

This wasn't quite what Alan was expecting. He had figured that the junk had been put down the drain instead of being properly disposed, but selling it? "You did what!"

"Uh, sold it?" Cory could tell by the look on his dad's face that he was in big trouble.

Alan put his hands over his face and said nothing. After a moment he ran his hands through his hair and sighed. He glanced at Cory.

"Why?"

Cory shrugged and kicked the leg of the table.

"I take it Shawn was in on this too, huh?" Alan was still trying to absorb what his son had just told him.

"Yeah."

"Go get ready for school," Alan sighed once more and picked up his coffee mug.

"That's it?" Cory wasn't sure if not having a verdict on punishment was good or bad.

"For now. But don't plan on doing anything or going anywhere after school. You come straight home."

"Yes, sir."