River and Percy ditched Grover the second they got off the bus.
Yes, it was rude. But Grover was freaking them out. Looking at them like they're already dead.
Whenever Grover got upset, his bladder acted up. So when they got off the bus, he made them promise to wait for him. But instead, the twins grabbed their suitcases and caught the first taxi uptown.
"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," Percy told the driver.
A little about River's mother before you meet her.
Her name is Sally Jackson. She is the nicest person in the world. Her parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to become a novelist, so she spent her high school years saving up for a good college with a creative writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, so she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. When he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.
The only break she got was meeting River's father.
Sally doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad, and she has no pictures.
They weren't married. She always said he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic Ocean on some important journey and never came back.
Lost at sea, she told her kids. Not dead. Lost at sea.
She worked hard. Took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised the twins on her own. Never complained or got mad. But the twins knew they weren't easy kids.
Finally, she marries Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds they met him, then showed his true colors as the world's biggest jerk. When they were young, River and Percy nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. He reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.
Between Smelly Gabe and the twins, they made Sally's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her. And how he got along with the twins. Well, when Percy and River came home is a good example.
Percy and River walked into their little apartment. They hoped their mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were scattered on the floor.
Hardly looking up, he said with a cigar in his mouth, "So, you're home."
"Where's my mom?" Percy asked.
"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"
Gabe had put on weight. He had three hairs on his head, combed over his bald scalp.
He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. River always wondered why they hadn't fired him yet. But he just kept collecting paychecks, spending it on cigars and beer. Whenever the twins were home, Gabe expected them to provide his gambling funds.
"I don't have any cash," Percy said.
Gabe raised an eyebrow.
"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six or seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, they ought to carry their weight. Am I right Eddie?"
Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at Percy with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "They just got here."
"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.
Eddie scowled.
"Fine," Percy said. He dug out some cash from his pocket and threw it on the table.
"River?" Gabe intended.
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Fanfiction"i would've married you, if you had stuck around."
