Jos wandered to the table and eyed the four covers, then peeked into the bag.
“I texted a friend—” Callum was interrupted by his phone ringing. “A voice call from Sully. The world is ending. Putting him on speaker.” He answered and set the phone down.
“What the actual fuck?” a disembodied male voice exclaimed.
“Watch your fucking language, Sully,” Callum chided. “There’s a teenager in the room.”
Sully barked a laugh. “Around you? He’s doomed. But I meant the comics. Are those real?”
“Yeah. Like I told you, some friends found them.”
“Well, three of them are just old, worth a few bucks each, but that Wolverine, if it’s in good shape, is worth close to a hundred dollars.”
“Seriously?”
“Hell, yeah.”
Olivia leaned toward the phone and said, “We have two giant Tupperware tubs of these things.”
“Holy fuck,” Sully said. “I mean, um, crap. Wow.”
Jos whispered, “Can you ask him about this one?” He lifted the next one out of the paper bag and held it up.
Callum scooped up the phone, aimed his camera and sent a picture.
“Don’t know,” Sully replied. “I don’t recognize it, which could mean it’s rare and valuable or unknown and worthless.” There was a whispered conversation on the other end of the call, then Sully said, “Hey, I could come over and take a look. Anytime. We’re just cleaning house today anyhow.”
I heard a woman laugh, then she said, “He’s ready to run out the door in his boxers, Callum. Not eager or anything.”
I spoke up. “This is Zeke, Callum’s neighbour. Come on over. The more the merrier. We’re having breakfast and exploring the stash.”
“I’ll text you Zeke’s address,” Callum told him, and did so.
“Over the bridge, huh? Give me an hour.”
“I don’t promise to save you donuts.”
“Fuck you. Forty-five minutes and you’ll keep me two.”
“It’s a deal.” Callum tapped out of the call, but he was smiling in a way I hadn’t often seen.
“Good friend, eh?” I asked. I knew this was the roommate who’d ditched Callum for his girlfriend, but that smile made my stomach flinch.Does Callum have a crush?
“Sully’s the best. Hannah’s great too. Hopefully, he’ll bring her along.”
Well, that was something anyway.
Jos was picking through the comics in the bag, stacking them in two piles.
I peered over his shoulder. “Why do some go in one pile and some in the other?”
“Hm? Oh.” He dragged his attention up to me. “These are the ones I’ve heard of, and these are the ones I haven’t.” Thehaven’tpile was much smaller.
The smell of bacon getting a bit too crispy called me back to the stove. Good thing I’d started it on low heat. I flipped the mess of ambrosia-strips over and asked, “Who wants eggs?”
Olivia drained her coffee mug and pushed to her feet. “Come out and get those tubs first. Nicole and I have places to be.” She grabbed a donut from the box and gestured to me with her chin while taking a big bite.
“Yeah,” Nicole sighed. “A daughter’s work is never done. We have a bunch of other stuff to go to the thrift store.” She set her mug on the counter, then eyed Callum. “We need your hockey muscles, although not in bare feet.”
