An Assessment of the Poetry of Robert Frost Essay -- Poetry Robert Lee

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nature is beautiful in every aspect, but as nature changes with every season, beauty and innocence in human life is much the same as the years progress. Robert Lee Frost uses nature in such a profound approach; every aspect of nature can someway correlate with any characteristic of life. Whether it is the beauty in nature signifying the joy and happiness that every person experiences, or it be the traumatic losses and disappointments that may lead to ultimate failure or destruction, Robert Frost illustrates life, love and loss in the most natural and beautiful way feasible. His style is uniquely his own, and his themes are ones that many people can relate to on countless levels, which is what made Frost so popular during his lifetime, and has continued four decades after his death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Robert Frost was born March 26 1874 in San Francisco where he spent the first eleven years of his life until his father died. It was then that he moved with his family to Lawrence, Massachusetts. While in high school in Lawrence, Frost fell in love with Elinor White, they became engaged and married in 1896 (the same year that their son Elliott was born). After withdrawing from Harvard in 1897, the Frost’s moved to a farm in Methuen, Massachusetts, and began raising poultry. Three years later Elliott died, along with Frost’s mother. Frost and his family then bought a farm in Derry, where they settled down, and Frost began writing. Robert and Elinor Frost had three more children before losing another infant in 1907. In 1912, Frost became irritated with his failure at success, and moved his family to England. This move proved to be successful when Frost’s first book A Boy’s Will was published in 1913, followed by North of Boston in 1914; b oth books appeared in the United States as well by the time that the Frost family returned in 1915. In 1938 Frost lost his wife to illness. New Hampshire garnered Frost the first of his unmatched four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry, followed by Frost's Collected Poems in 1930, A Further Range in 1936, and A Witness Tree in 1942. Frost’s crowning public moment was his recitation of "The Gift Outright" at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in January of 1960. He died on January 29, 1963. Robert Frost lived a very long and often tragic life. He suffered unreasonable guilt, and blamed himself for everything that went wrong. Robert Frost loved his f... ... to gain wisdom. This wisdom should not be what the speaker feels in the last line, that innocence is great and loss of it is to be mourned. This wisdom is in the title of the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay." Here is Frost telling the speaker to understand that this is the natural way, and so there is no point in fighting it or being sad about it. In fact, within every leaf is just a leaf...meaning without the gold there is no green, without dawn there is no day, without death there is no birth. It is just the way it is and so we better love it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Robert Frost’s poems are beautifully written, and offer such a deep insight into life, and nature. His work connects to readers on virtually every level of consciousness, and generates readers to understand that their feelings are not rare. Everyone experiences the same emotions, and must overcome many of the same situations in life; but his poems almost bring the sense of possibility. Frost may have become popular at the dawn of the nineteenth century, his life may have ended almost half a century ago, but his poems are still as distinguished as they were before his death, and they will continue to be popular for many years to come.

Causes of Ignorance

Illiteracy is directly related to two main causes; Schools and Parents/Environment. Schools maintain letter grades that represent the performance and outcome of the students. Grades throughout the semester, cumulative grades and final outcomes. When taking a step back and looking at society and seeing how much ignorance and illiteracy there is it really makes you begin to think about whether or not that is not only the type of environment you wish to be in but whether or not you wish to raise your children there. Typically the schools represent the environment. School funding is also a very large problem that is a leading cause of illiteracy. Many schools simply do not have enough funds to buy the proper, updated and on grade level books. This causes the children to have below average and grade level reading levels, comprehension skills and general knowledge. On a day to day basis parents are blamed for the illiteracy of their children; whether it be because they are not encouraging their children to learn and read, or attend school in general to even try. In many cases the parents are not supportive of their children because they do not want to see them succeed and surpass their families expectations for them. Perhaps this is because they may feel intimidated or as if the child is overstepping some kind of authoritative boundary. Typically the overall education level of a parent is what determines their behavior towards their children and the kind of future that they want them to achieve. If the child's parent did not go very far in their college career, if any college at all then they usually do not press the importance of graduating with a strong degree to be successful. Some believe that schools may also be to blame because the expectations are set too high. In reality many schools just expect too little. Many children need challenges in order to further themselves. By marking a level and saying â€Å"This is what we feel you need to know by this age. † it puts realistic expectations. They do this because the testing that is provided at the end of a high school career that is required to be taken, cannot be altered for any child. They need to be prepared for these tests and in order to do well on them classroom standards must be met. Teachers are as supportive as the student allows them to be. Proper measures and steps need to be taken in order for students to live up to those expectations. Depending on the location of the school, funding is a tremendous problem. You cannot run a school off of nothing. Without proper methods of payment for the teachers, there would be none. Without money to buy the textbooks and teaching supplies, there would be no classes and curriculum for the students to follow. The end result of ill-funded schools is poor educations or none at all. Without proper updated textbooks children would not be kept up on current events; nor would they have the ability to use their common knowledge of today's society. Comprehension skills, in the context of different teaching/learning theories beginning decades ago, up to theories still used and replaced today. Reading levels and the ability to practice reading skills in order to raise the levels for proper education consumption. Illiteracy is based on three sole factors that I have previously stated. Had many schools had better funds and systems to raise money the illiteracy rate would drop severely. The typical factors will not easily be cared for but with the proper dedication and skills, can steadily decrease illiteracy in children which in turn results in illiterate adults.

Stipends for College Athletes

It’s about time: Stipends for College Athletes Imagine being a college football star and finding out that a jersey representing your school with your name and number on the back is not only selling for $110 in stores nationally, but it is profiting higher than some professional sports jerseys. Now, imagine that you as that student-athlete will not be making a single penny off your institution using your name for monetary profit. Why you ask? Because according to the governing body of collegiate sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association or NCAA, this would be considered an act that would bring an athlete out of his amateur status.Yet, it is okay to exploit that athlete’s talents as if he or she were a professional athlete and not compensate him or her. The NCAA started off as a small organization whose first objective was to solve an injury crisis in college football. However, with a growing governing power came more change. In 1852, Collegiate competition or â€Å"sport† made its debut in the form of a regatta race between Harvard and Yale (â€Å"Intercollegiate History of NCAA† 1). Soon after came the establishment of baseball and collegiate football.In the beginning, competition and funding was organized through student-run campaigns, and school officials had very little control over the intercollegiate sports movement. However, in 1905, after a number of deaths and serious injuries occurred to students playing collegiate football, a group of school officials were summoned together to make a Kastel 2 series of rules that would emphasize safety within the sport. Just five years later in 1910, this group became established and came to be known as the NCAA (â€Å"History of Intercollegiate Athletics† 1).As the years progressed, the NCAA established sanctions not just for football but all sports. Most notably in 1950, the NCAA established that â€Å"Students could be awarded scholarships based on their athletic abili ty, but the funds had to be administered by the financial aid office, not the athletic department. The amount was limited to tuition and fees, and payments from sources outside the university (e. g. , alumni boosters) were banned. † (qtd in â€Å"History of Intercollegiate Athletics† 2).NCAA officials wanted to stress that there was a clear line that needed to be drawn between a student athlete’s main goal of pursuit towards higher education and the distracting blue elephant in the room of their college sports teams operating like that of a professional organization. Hence, the term â€Å"amateurism†. On amateurism, the NCAA stated that â€Å"student-athletes shall be amateurs †¦ and should be protected from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises,† ( â€Å"2011-12 NCAA Division I Manual† 1).Although the original intentions of this bylaw were to make sure professionalism in sport didn’t deter athletes away from hig her education, too much has changed within intercollegiate sports for the same standards to apply today. The NCAA’s goal was too make sure these young players continued along their famous â€Å"amateurism† tagline, but we see them featured as unstoppable super heroes throwing down monstrous one handed dunks or making bone crushing tackles in commercials advertising for games as if they were professionals. The very Kastel 3 rganization controlling college sports has in itself become the exploiter of athletes in its own commercial pursuits. With this exploitation comes a very large elephant in the room spraying water at the American public from its trunk. The huge discrepancy between the monetary value of a scholarship the NCAA provides players with and the actual profits it generates from the player’s efforts is astounding. Although the profit rapidly increases with college sports popularity, the benefits student athletes receive stay constant.The largest financi al rewards a student athlete can receive for their athletic contributions are the benefits of free room and board, tuition, and a food plan. If we take the cost of these factors over the student athletes’ time at their institution, compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars generated in revenue from the NCAA we see something similar to Nike and their illegal sweatshop industry. It’s time for change to take place, college athletes should be rewarded like the professionals in the NCAA and conferences across the country market them to be.College athletes should receive stipends because there is a large discrepancy between what college athletes are worth and how much they are given, because athletic scholarships do not cover the full cost of living, and because the operation, money, and industry associated with college athletics is too great to still be titled â€Å"amateur†. The popularity of college sports and its value to entertainment is skyrocketing. The N CAA is the head organization in control of a hundred billion dollar industry.The disgusting disparity arrives at the difference between what Kastel 4 college athletes are rewarded with and the actual revenues the NCAA is collecting. For this discrepancy college athletes need to be rewarded for their effort and should be given stipends. Television broadcasting contracts, shoe and apparel deals, and commercial advertising rake in billions of dollars for the NCAA because of the participation of college students in sports. Last year alone, the NCAA’s total revenue was $777 million.Although the NCAA claims that 98 cents to every dollar is redistributed back into schools athletic programs for things like student services for athletes and athletic funding, it just so happens that there was a $29 million surplus which was claimed by the NCAA as â€Å"reserve† in 2010 (â€Å"Expenses vs. Revenue† 1). Apparently, saving up your change is beneficial. I never knew two-cent increments could lead to tens of millions of dollars. Such revenue comes from things like its newly acquired 14 year/$11 billion dollar deal with CBS-Turner over broadcasting rights for the NCAA tournament (O’Toole 1).It is kind of like a major motion picture company producing one of the highest generating films in history and letting its actors know that they won’t be receiving a financial reward for their contributions, but the work experience they are receiving should suffice. In no other industry or job field in this country would such a compensation to revenue ratio be considered acceptable. They serve the title â€Å"amateurism† to American college athletes on a big plate of propaganda.In 2008, the NCAA teamed up with IMG College to lease its rights out to video game king Electronic Arts, making games such as NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball using the likeness of players they sold over 2. 5 million copies (Branch 1). The student athletes that were feature d on these games had their Kastel 5 numbers reflected accurately, their physical attributes like race, hair style, and even their athletic prowess such as their speed, strength, passing/blocking/catching abilities all accurately associated with their real abilities in order to ensure players of the video games could maneuver round the field like their favorite college superstar. There isn’t anything â€Å"amateur† about exploiting college student athlete’s likeliness in a video game for profit; the double standard is disgusting. However, the NCAA isn’t the only one caught with their arm elbow deep in the cookie jar. Such conferences such as the SEC, ACC, and the BIG 10 are generating billion dollar contracts for individual television networks while student-athletes are being kept in the dark for their contributions.For instance, the SEC conference will be earning $55 million over 15 years from a CBS deal, and a 15 year deal with ESPN that cashes out to $1 50 million (â€Å"Winners and Losers† 1). Despite the players being the ones who are generating the audiences, none of these profits from the NCAA or the conferences are being returned back to the students directly. In fact, if we were to try to mathematically calculate the value of how much an athletes room and board fees come out to divided by the amount of time they actually put into being an athlete most are living just above, if not below, the poverty line.For example, a recent study found Duke University basketball players based upon their generated revenue for the school to be worth $1,025,650 . Yet, after calculation (scholarship value / number of hours each puts in) they were found to be living just $732 above the poverty line (â€Å"Research-NCPA† 1). After being worth over one million dollars to their university, they are only rewarded approximately a $200,000 education. Kastel 6 Current college athletes and those from the past are starting to realize this e xploitation more and more especially as profit from television deals and sponsorships become more lucrative.Almost every month the American public is presented with a new story of how a college athlete unfairly received either a monetary reward or a free service because of his athletic talents. We get mad at the young athletes and criticize them for such actions but can we really blame them? They are superstars generating attention, money, and huge popularity to their institutions and they aren’t receiving anything different than the kid slapping together the cymbals after every touchdown.College athletes are taking gifts and money because they are becoming aware of the NCAA’s exploitation and on top of that most of their scholarships don’t even cover their full cost of living. In the perfect world, when watching our favorite college athletes on TV we like to imagine that they came from strong households with parents who paid for their training and had all the o pportunities to be successful. We would like to think the tattooed face of a little girl on our favorite college point guard’s arm is just his little sister not his daughter who he thinks about trying to send enough money too every week.Fact of the matter is, college athletes across the country have a variety of circumstances that consume any opportunities for extra money. Things like coming from broken home families, having children at home, or coming from a low economic neighborhoods cause many student athletes to stress over where their next dollar could come from. Things like clothes, gas, toiletries, amenities, fun activities, extra food for the room, or a meal away from dining hall are all things that Kastel 7 are essential to have money for in college.However, college athletes can only be awarded a scholarship. It bewilders America when we hear of cases of college athletes accepting sums of money under the table in what is becoming an increasingly large black market. H owever, this happens all the time. We only hear about the ones who get caught. Yet, the players aren’t the ones to blame. According to a study conducted by Drexel University Department of Sport Management, the average scholarship shortfall, or what the average student athlete had to spend out of his own pocket in 2010-11, was approximately $3,222 (â€Å"Research-NCPA† 2).When the scholarships we have don’t cover the student-athletes full cost of living how do we expect them to be able to pay for the necessities of living? If a player has been out of gas for three weeks and is out of toiletries can we really blame him from accepting cash in a handshake from a booster? College athletes’ time is consumed by their sports. According to a survey conducted with 21,000 Division I, II, and III athletes, â€Å"Football players in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A) said they spent an average of 44. hours a week on their sport â €” playing games, practicing, training and in the training room — compared with a little less than 40 hours on academics† (qtd. in Wieberg 1). This staggering statistic reveals that college athletes are actually spending more of their time on their sport then their actual school work. It is even more staggering when the NCAA’s bylaw requires that student athletes only spend 20 hours a week on their sport. With these types of time commitments and dedication to their sports, college athletes don’t have time to have a job. This dilemma intensifies the problem of Kastel 8 aving a scholarship shortfall. If there are necessary things to pay for and athletes don’t have the necessary time to work where is the money supposed to come from? College athletes should receive a stipend of $2,500 a semester to ensure that any necessary cost outside of their scholarship can be covered. By introducing this stipend the number of NCAA infractions relating to athlet es taking money will dramatically decrease due to the fact that they won’t need to anymore. One might say that this would anger regular students who do not receive such benefits.However, according to one statistical survey taken by 458 college students, 58% of them believed that college athletes deserved to receive stipends (â€Å"College Students Perceptions† 1). This study demonstrates that not only would regular students not be upset by college athletes receiving the reward they deserve, but in fact they recognize the need for it. By offering something to college athletes (scholarship) which still requires them to spend such a large sum out of their own pockets we are basically tempting them to fall into the illegal activities of the black market and potentially jeopardize their academic futures.Stipends must be rewarded and reform is necessary now. The NCAA cannot expect a player with a hungry child at home to refuse money from a booster, just as it cannot place th e term â€Å"amateurism† around an industry it exploited to be so focused around money. The NCAA suggests that if we were to provide college student athletes with stipends it would take away the â€Å"wholeness† that college sports still represent by replacing their â€Å"amateur† title with that of â€Å"professionalism†. However, college sports which once symbolized the unselfish competitive spirit of America and were Kastel 9 nce run by student led organizations with no influence from school officials or corrupt institutions have already become a capital venture. This is not because of the introduction of a stipend reward system, but rather because the money, operation, and industry the NCAA created around college sports has made it too professional in its financial pursuits to be considered â€Å"amateur†. The term â€Å"amateurism† is no longer fit to represent college sports but rather a propaganda add by the NCAA to allow them to cont inue their exploitive efforts.One of the largest indications of the pursuit of this commercial enterprise is the unbelievable amount of money that college coaches are being paid. In 2010, Alabama coach Nick Saban committed to a contract that would pay him $4 million dollars a season (Low 1). Most FBS Division 1 institutions athletic departments have a hard time generating any profit at all, but the NCAA allows schools to present astonishing contracts to coaches in order to point their team in the right direction. Yet, the NCAA sees a student athlete receiving a small stipend more of a venture towards professionalism than this?Another indication that college sports can no longer be placed under the â€Å"amateur† title is apparent in the evolution of college stadiums. Today the illustration of a new corporate sponsorship is apparent in almost every stadium with things like â€Å"Ohio State University’s new $105 million Schottenstein Center, 110 luxury boxes at Neyland Stadium (University of Tennessee), and the University of Michigan spending $7. 4 million to renovate Michigan Stadium† (qtd. in â€Å"College Student’s Perceptions† 2). The NCAA isn’t keeping the industry around college sports simple with basic venues and humble salaries for their coaches.Instead they Kastel 10 create something that is slowing resembling that of professional sports environments. For these exploitations the NCAA can no longer hold college athletics today to a standard of remaining â€Å"amateurism†. The industry surrounding it has far surpassed that point and it is time we reward our college athletes like the professionals we market them to be. Many people argue that even if the NCAA does come to its senses and passes a law regulating stipends for Division I institutions, Title IX implications would make it almost impossible to implement stipends.Those critics argue that if stipends were approved, Title IX would then regulate all stu dent athletes at the school to receive stipends due to equal opportunity. The sum of money required to be able to provide every student athlete with this, critics say, would be impossible for even successful athletic departments to afford. It is correct that such a reward would be possible for schools to afford. Stipends should only be given to the top three sports that are generating the most revenue. It would create more of an incentive for programs to be successful, and it would reward student athletes of the teams who were having the greatest success.Title IX cannot be applied to the stipend system because it is outdated and needs to be reformed. Title IX was originally created for the racial movement in order to encourage what, at that time, was a change that needed to be enforced (â€Å"In Defense† 1). Today, many schools athletic departments actually lose money by trying to comply with the outdated law. In order to equally match the number of guy to girl scholarships a university might be forced to eliminate a men’s revenue generating sport such as hockey and instead Kastel 11 add a women’s sport that loses money ( â€Å"In Defense† 2).Title IX is outdated and if a stipend system is established, the top 3 revenue generating teams should receive a stipend. Whether the NCAA wants to accept it or not, their exploitive actions in pursuit of commercial profit have eliminated any sense of college sports today seeming â€Å"amateur†. Because of this exploitation it is time for college student athletes to finally receive the proper reward they have deserved for a good amount of time. College athletes should receive stipends because there is a large discrepancy between what college athletes are worth and how much they are given.This is because athletic scholarships do not cover the full cost of living, and also because the operation, money, and industry associated with college athletics is too great to still be titled â€Å"am ateur†. By affording these stipends to college athletes, maybe just maybe, when that athlete walks into the store and sees that jersey with his name on the back he might be financially secure enough with his living expenses to be able to purchase it. Works Cited â€Å"2011-2012 NCAA Division I Manual (August 2011). † NCAA Manual. NCAA. org. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. Branch, Taylor. The Shame of College Sports – Magazine – The Atlantic. † The Atlantic — News and Analysis on Politics, Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and Life – TheAtlantic. com. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. â€Å"College Students' Perceptions On The Payment Of Intercollegiate Student-Athletes – Statistical Data Included – Page 2 | College Student Journal. † Find Articles | News Articles, Magazine Back Issues & Reference Articles on All Topics. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. â€Å"History of Intercollegiate Athletics and the NCAA. † World Scientific P ublishing Co. , 12 May 2009.Web. â€Å"In Defense of Collegiate Athletics: The Case Against Paying Student-Athletes – Garnet And Black Attack. † Garnet And Black Attack – For South Carolina Gamecocks Fans. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. â€Å"Intercollegiate History of the NCAA. † NCAA Public Home Page NCAA. org. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. Low, Chris. â€Å"Nick Saban Commits to Alabama Crimson Tide through 2017 Season – ESPN. † ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. O'Toole, Thomas. â€Å"NCAA Reaches 14-year Deal with CBS/Turner for Men's Basketball Tournament, Which Expands to 68 Teams for Now. News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U. S. & World – USATODAY. com. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. â€Å"Research | National College Players Association. † Home | National College Players Association. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. â€Å"Revenue Vs. Expenses. † NCAA Public Home Page – NCAA. org. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. Wieberg, S teve. â€Å"Study: College Athletes Are Full-time Workers – USATODAY. com. † News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U. S. & World – USATODAY. com. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. â€Å"Winners and Losers In SEC TV Deal. † College Gridiron 365. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 22

22. Meeting at the Palace RIVERA They traded in the Ford at the city motor pool for one that had a Plexiglas divider between the front and rear seats. Cavuto's knees were pressed against the glove compartment, since the seat didn't adjust, but it was worth the trade-off. It turned out the organic dog biscuits that Rivera had bought gave Marvin gas. He now had his own little glass partition in which to exhaust, and the inspectors drank their coffee relatively free of doggy stench. â€Å"I don't sleep well during the day,† Cavuto said. â€Å"Roger that,† said Rivera. â€Å"I feel like I've been up for a week.† He dialed his messages, then looked at his partner. â€Å"Fifteen unplayed messages? Are we out of the service area or something?† â€Å"You turned it off when we were zeroing in on that litter of dangerous kittens.† Rivera tried to drink his coffee while handling the phone and ended up pulling the car over to the curb. â€Å"They're all from the Emperor. Something about a ship down at Pier Nine being full of old vampires.† â€Å"No,† said Cavuto. â€Å"There are no more vampires until I've had two full cups of coffee and a healthy piss. That's my personal rule.† Cavuto keyed the radio and checked into dispatch. They did most of their communications by cell phone these days, but there were still rules. If you were a rolling unit, dispatch needed to know where you were. â€Å"Rivera and Cavuto,† said the dispatcher. â€Å"I have you guys tagged to call if there are any cases of cats attacking humans, is that right?† â€Å"Roger, dispatch.† â€Å"Well, live the dream, Inspector, we have report of a giant cat attacking a man at Baker and Beach. We have a unit on the scene reporting nothing.† Cavuto looked at Rivera. â€Å"That's the Palace of Fine Arts. The Marina is new territory.† â€Å"There might not be anything now. The uniforms don't know to look for clothes with dust and I don't want them to. Tell them we're on the way.† â€Å"Dispatch, we are responding. Tell unit on scene that we'll take care of it. Part of an ongoing investigation of a 5150 making false reports.† Cavuto grinned and looked at his partner. â€Å"Nice improvisation.† â€Å"Yeah, but I think this cat might be out of the bag, Rivera.† â€Å"I hope not.† They rolled up to the great faux stone classical dome, the only building left from the World Exposition of 1911, when San Francisco was trying to show the world that it had recovered from the earthquake of '06. The uniform unit was on the far side of the reflection pool, standing by their squad car. Cavuto waved them on. â€Å"We got this, guys. Thanks.† What there wasn't, was a huge shaved vampire cat attacking a guy. â€Å"You think it's a hoax?† asked Cavuto. â€Å"Pretty outrageous coincidence if it is.† Cavuto got out of the car and let Marvin out, who waited for his leash to be attached, then dragged Cavuto over to a tree by the pond to have a wee. Swans who had settled under the trees for the night stirred and gave Marvin dirty looks. â€Å"Nothing here,† said Cavuto. â€Å"Marvin's not doing his signal thing.† Rivera's phone chirped and he looked at the screen. â€Å"It's Allison Green, the creepy little Goth girl.† â€Å"If she called this in I will put her in Juvi overnight.† â€Å"Rivera,† Rivera said into the phone. â€Å"Turn your sun jackets on right now,† she said. â€Å"Right fucking now, both of you.† Rivera looked at Cavuto. â€Å"Turn on the LEDs on your coat, Nick.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Do it. She's not fucking with us.† Rivera hit the switch on the cuff of his sun jacket and the LEDs came on blindingly bright. A few blocks away they heard a man scream. Marvin barked. â€Å"Oh, trs bon, cop. Byez,† Abby said. The line went dead. â€Å"The fuck was that about?† said Cavuto. ROLF Rolf was actually looking forward to shooting someone. After hundreds of years, you get bored with killing, with hunting. The three of them had gone through cycles of stealthy killing of the unwanted, to outright slaughter of whole villages, to long periods where there was no killing at all. But it had been fifty years since he'd actually had to shoot someone. The change of pace was nice. Of course, it was messy, bodies, waste of good blood, but better that than having policemen running around telling people about them. No matter what kind of debaucheries they had indulged in over the years, and there had been many kinds-these too went in cycles-the one rule they held fast to was â€Å"stay hidden.† And to stay hidden, you couldn't permit yourself to get so bored that you didn't care about living. Well, surviving. Maybe it was just the two cops from last night. Elijah, in a rare moment of lucidity finally admitted that there were only two policemen that he knew of, and because they had taken money from the sale of the old vampire's art collection, they did not want the secret known. Clearly though, they were beyond their depth with the cats. He and Bella had made short work of the smaller cats. They used rapid-fire pellet guns, nearly silent, that fired pellets containing a liquid that destroyed vampire flesh on contact-a heinous, herbal mixture that someone in China had discovered hundreds of years ago. A weak UV light on the front of the weapons held the animals in solid form long enough for the pellets to impact. The pellets would injure a human vampire, but they were devastating to a feline. The Chinese had somehow tuned it to the cats. They had used the mixture to contain every outbreak since its discovery. Rolf remembered firing it from crossbows. Rolf keyed his cell phone, then called the emergency number and reported a man being attacked by a giant cat. Then he set up the bipod on his rifle, zeroed the twenty-power scope in on one of the swans under a eucalyptus tree, and lay down to wait. Seven minutes later the police cruiser arrived. They were both fresh-faced young men with bright pink life auras. From his rooftop, four blocks away, Rolf could just make out the squawking of their radios. They knew nothing. They panned their flashlights under the bushes surrounding the pond, and he watched them shake their heads to one another. Seventeen minutes after the call, the brown unmarked car pulled up and Rolf relaxed into his shooting posture. These were the two from the night before. The big red dog. The dog looked his way, briefly, then dragged the big cop down to a tree by the pond. He put the crosshairs on the thinner cop's face. But no, a headshot was arrogant. He had to make two shots, very quickly, so he would go for the center of their bodies. Shoot the thin cop first, then pan to the big one. A bigger target. Even if his first shot didn't kill him, it would drop him. He waited, waited for them to get clear of the car and the cover. The thin cop was walking toward the other one, then stopped to take a phone call. Rolf put the crosshairs over his heart and began to squeeze the trigger. Then the entire side of his head seemed to explode with pain and he screamed and grabbed at the flames that were shooting out of his empty eye socket. TOMMY â€Å"Are we doing this right?† Tommy asked. They were several blocks behind Rolf, who was moving so smoothly and easily through the Marina district that Tommy would have thought he lived there and was out for his evening jog. Except that no one in the Marina would be wearing a black duster. It would either be cashmere or Gore-Tex, business or fitness. The Marina was a rich, fit neighborhood. â€Å"We're following him,† said Abby. â€Å"How many ways can you do that?† Jody was leading them. She held up a hand for them to stop. The blond vampire had stopped at the corner of a four-story apartment building and was scaling it using just the space between the bricks as handholds. Tommy looked around and spotted a flat-roofed building down the alley. â€Å"That one has a fire escape. We'll be above him, we can watch him.† â€Å"I don't think watching is going to be enough,† Jody said. â€Å"He looks badass,† said Abby. â€Å"He's watching those cops over at the Palace.† â€Å"He won't just shoot a cop,† said Tommy. â€Å"Why would he shoot a cop?† â€Å"Plain clothes unit pulling in,† Jody said. â€Å"It's Rivera and Cavuto.† â€Å"And Marvin,† Abby said. â€Å"He knows they know,† said Tommy. â€Å"We need to go,† Jody said. â€Å"Abby, you have Rivera's number?† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"Call him. Give me that laser thing.† â€Å"The light from their jackets magnified through the scope will work,† Tommy said. â€Å"Let's go.† Jody ran to the edge of the roof and stopped. Abby hopped on her toes. â€Å"Spider-Man it, Countess.† â€Å"No fucking way,† Jody said, looking down just as Tommy ran by her and jumped across the alley to the next building. They were coming across the roof of a building a block away when they saw the side of the vampire's head ignite and heard him scream. He rolled away from the gun, clawing at his face. â€Å"Too far,† Jody said. The final gap between roofs was over a full street, not an alley, and they were a floor lower than the blond vampire. â€Å"Down.† Without thinking, Tommy jumped, then said, â€Å"What the fuck did I just do?† He landed on the balls of his feet and went down to crouch, catching himself just as he was about to drive his knee into the concrete. He looked up. Jody was still on the roof. â€Å"C'mon, Red, I'm not going up there alone.† â€Å"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,† she said, and then landed beside him and rolled. When he saw she wasn't hurt, he said, â€Å"Graceful.† â€Å"He's getting up,† she said, and she pointed at the next building. Tommy knew if he thought about it, he'd never do it, so he just started climbing up the corner of the building as fast as he could. He'd done this before. He didn't remember it, but his body did. Climbing the wall like a cat. Jody was right behind him. As he reached the top of the wall he stopped and looked back. â€Å"Sunglasses,† he whispered so faintly that only someone with vampire hearing would hear. He wedged his right hand between the bricks, then reached into his shirt pocket, flung open the sunglasses, and put them on. He couldn't climb with the laser in his hand. He'd have to clear the top, then grab the weapon out of his pants pocket. Jody had her glasses on, too. She nodded for him to go. He coiled, and sprang to catapult himself over the edge of the wall, but in midair a bright light went off in his head and he felt himself spinning, then a bone-crushing impact on the ground. Something had hit him, probably the rifle butt. He rolled over and looked up the wall. Jody was still clinging there, six feet below the edge, too far to be hit with the rifle. The blond vampire, his face charred, was turning the rifle, working the bolt. He was going to shoot her in the face. â€Å"Jody!† He saw her let go with one hand, reach for the small of her back, then there was another blinding light. He'd lost his sunglasses during the fall. Something splatted beside him on the pavement. He could smell burned flesh, and blood. â€Å"You okay?† she said. He felt a hand on his face. â€Å"I'm kinda blind. And I think I have a couple of broken ribs.† He blinked the blood tears out of his eyes, then saw something dark, circular on the pavement. â€Å"What's that?† â€Å"That's the top of his skull,† Jody said. Footsteps, then Abby was there. â€Å"That was awesome. Gruesome, but awesome. You were amazing, Countess.† â€Å"Not feeling all that amazing.† â€Å"You probably should drink some blood, Tommy. You're kind of fucked up.† He took the plastic blood pack from her and bit into it, draining almost the whole pint in seconds, feeling his bones and skin knitting together. Then Abby snatched it away from him and started drinking herself. â€Å"I feel like death on toast. I probably shouldn't have eaten that pigeon.† MARVIN Marvin ruffed three times fast, â€Å"Biscuit, biscuit, biscuit.† Then, as he pulled Cavuto around the corner and smelled the fourth dead one he ruffed again. â€Å"Another biscuit.† Then, mission accomplished. He sat. â€Å"Marvin!† Abby said. She dropped the empty blood bag and scratched between his ears, then fed him a Gummi bear. Rivera came around the corner with his Glock drawn. Jody stood, reached past the gun, and snagged the battery out of the cop's inside pocket. Abby did the same to Cavuto, who leveled a long orange Super Soaker at her. â€Å"Really, Ass Bear?† she said. â€Å"Really?† She snatched the squirt gun out of his hand and backhanded it a full block down the street where it shattered. â€Å"I have a gun on you, Missy,† said Rivera. â€Å"Biscuit,† Marvin ruffed. Clearly there are three dead people here and part of a fourth, and biscuits are in order. Jody snatched Rivera's Glock out of his hand so quickly he was still in aiming position when she popped the clip out of it. Cavuto started to draw the big Desert Eagle and Abby caught his arm and leaned in close. â€Å"Ninja, please, unless you're going to use that to take your own life out of humiliation for the squirt gun, just let it go.† She turned and looked at Tommy, who was sitting splayed-legged on the sidewalk, holding his ribs. â€Å"This fucking vampy power rocks my deepest dark.† Then back to Cavuto. â€Å"I'd slap you around a little, but I'm feeling kinda nauseous.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Cavuto. â€Å"I get that. That's how I know you're around.† â€Å"So you three are, all, uh, them,† said Rivera. â€Å"Not exactly them,† Tommy said. â€Å"Jody just took the top off the head of one of them.† He pointed at the charred brainpan. â€Å"He was about to take you out with a sniper rifle,† Abby said. â€Å"That's why I called. Thanks for just doing what I said and not being an assbag, by the way.† â€Å"You'll find the rest of him along with the rifle on the roof,† Jody said. â€Å"That's who called in the vampire cat attack?† Cavuto said. Tommy nodded. â€Å"There are at least three of them. Maybe two, now. Very old. They came in that black yacht that's down at Pier Nine. They are cleaning up the mess Elijah left. They must know you guys are hunting Chet and the vampire cats.† â€Å"He must have seen us last night, with the Animals. We thought the cats got Barry.† Tommy climbed to his feet. â€Å"Barry's dead?† â€Å"Sorry,† Rivera said. â€Å"So they know about the Animals, too?† Tommy said, â€Å"The Animals were the ones who took Elijah's art collection and blew up his yacht. Of course, they know about the Animals.† â€Å"We've got to get over there,† Rivera said. â€Å"They'll be hunting the Emperor, too. He's been calling all day about a black ship. I thought it was just more craziness. I don't even know where to start looking for him.† Jody handed Rivera back his gun and the battery to his jacket. â€Å"Wire those back up as soon as you get back in your car. They work.† Marvin let go with a barrage of barking, which translated, â€Å"I have found some dead people and I am going to make a fuss if I don't get a biscuit and the ear-scratch girl is dead and sick.† â€Å"Easy, Marvin,† Abby said. She steadied herself against the big dog and Cavuto caught her by the arm to keep her from falling. â€Å"I really don't feel good.† She crumpled to the sidewalk. Tommy caught her in time to keep her head from hitting the concrete. â€Å"My tail kind of hurts.† Jody snatched Rivera's gun out of his hand again. â€Å"Give Tommy your car keys.† â€Å"What! No!† Jody smacked Rivera's jacket, heard a jingle, then reached in his pocket and took the keys. Rivera stood there like he was five, being dressed by his mother. Jody threw the keys to Tommy. â€Å"Take her to the loft. Foo will still be there. Maybe he can change her back in time.† â€Å"Where are you going?† Tommy said. â€Å"I'm going to the ship. Maybe I can stop one of them there. They're going to come to the loft, so be ready.† â€Å"Not so fast, Red,† said Cavuto. â€Å"You will shut the fuck up!† Jody said. â€Å"You guys are six blocks from the Marina Safeway. The Animals should be at work, or will be there in a few minutes. That's where I went when I wanted to find them, that's where these vampires will go. So shag ass over there and warn them. Wire the batteries back into your jackets on the way there or they'll have you for lunch. Call for another car if you need to, but we just saved your lives and your car is ours.† Rivera smiled. â€Å"I'm okay with that.† Cavuto said, â€Å"You are?† Tommy picked Abby up and held her with one arm while he reached into her messenger bag, took out her phone, and handed it to Jody. â€Å"Call Foo, tell him we're coming.† â€Å"I will. Be careful.† She kissed him. â€Å"Save our minion.† â€Å"Got it,† Tommy said. Marvin whimpered at them as they went away, which translated to, â€Å"I'm worried about the ear-scratching dead girl with the Gummi bears.†

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