AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mary emerged, and the little girl pulled back, disappearing behind the corner. Mary shook her head. “Go ahead into the office,” she said, encouraging me. “I left the pictures on the desk. I’ll see what she needs.” She walked down the hallway, disappearing after the girl. There were murmurs, mostly Mary, and it sounded like she was disciplining the young girl to be patient and wait and not to go down the hall unless it was an emergency.
I joined Marc inside the small office. It, too, was very sparsely furnished. A simple desk sat in the middle of the room, with a single computer on it. There was a file cabinet, and a chair in front of the desk. The walls were dingy and bare.
The desk contained a tablet. Marc was swiping through a photo album on the illuminated screen. He curled his fingers at me. “Come take a look.”
I hovered over his shoulder, looking through the array of pictures, some girls, but mostly boys. One I recognized as the girl from down the hallway.
None looked like Wil.
Disappointed, I nudged Marc aside, going through each picture one by one. There weren’t many. Some were marked as having been taken in, but then left. One looked sort of like Wil, but his hair was too long, and the glasses weren’t his. Plus, the jawline wasn’t right.
“No,” I said, pointing to the look-a-like. “I can see why you’d think this one might be him but...”
“What about him?” he asked, pointing to another boy, who had a similar haircut and glasses but didn’t resemble Wil anywhere else.
I shook my head, feeling some relief. Part of it was I couldn’t imagine Wil living in a place like this. No that it might have been horrible, but that it didn’t seem all that comfortable from my perspective.
The other part was that I didn’t have to confront him yet. I preferred the idea of him approaching me when he was ready. It was torture to think of what I’d say to him if I did run into him again.
I was going to explain to Marc that I appreciated his help, when a phone rang. I looked at Marc expectantly.
Marc took his phone out, looked at it and then shook his head. “Not mine. Must be yours.”
I blinked, surprised. I wasn’t used to having one. I took it out, noticed an unknown number, but answered it just in case. “Hello?”
“Kayli-Bayli!” cried a shrill voice, male. Sort of. “God, tell me you’ve got a nice club or casino in this town.”
I had a flash of a memory: a dark-skinned, bubble-butt crossdresser in yellow spandex and a blue halter. “Future?”
“Did you forget your old friend already?” she asked. “Look, I’ve got a favor to ask you.”
I looked at Marc, who shrugged. I wasn’t sure if he could hear, but I must have looked confused. “How did you know this number?”
“I asked your boyfriend,” she said, and left it at that, leaving me to wonder who she meant. “I need you to meet me at the pier. The one off of...where are we?” she asked to someone on her end. There was a voice, but I couldn’t understand what was being said. She came back. “Palm Island?”
“Isle of Palms?” I asked. “You’re in town?”
“Sure,” she said. “There’s a pier here, and you have to come see this boat. It’s striking. I’d almost give up my boobs for one of these. Maybe if I show my boobs to enough guys I could afford it.”
I checked the window; it was dark outside and the wind was sweeping through the nearby trees. “You want me to go right now?”
“It won’t take five minutes. After everything I did in Florida to help you out, could you come hang out with me for a bit?”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“You’ll see,” she said and then hung up.
I made a face as I put the phone down.
“Something bad?” Marc asked.
I shrugged and then put the phone away. “Future is calling in a favor. She’s in town.”
Marc stared blankly at me for a minute, and then his eyes widened and his mouth popped open as he seemed to remember who I was talking about. “Oh my god. She’s back? Tell me we don’t have to. What favor? What...” He pressed a palm to his cheek, rubbing. “Wow.”
I was feeling the same way. I couldn’t guess the sort of favor Future would ask, but I had a feeling it was going to be something beyond my wildest imagination.
