AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I laid my hand against her hip. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“It doesn’t seem like nothing.”
Grinding the heel of my palm against my eye, I replied, “I’m just thinking about something Patrick said.”
“What did he say?” She snuggled closer, turning her head to kiss my chest.
As I ran my fingers through her hair, I brought light to the questionable comment about my family history and told her about the article I’d found, insinuating my mother had a dirtier record than I was aware of. Ray was sleepy, but she listened, nodding her head softly every now and then to let me know she was still awake.
And then, when I was finished, she suggested in a raspy voice, “The library.”
“Oh, shit.” I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought of checking the library before. “There might be something in the archives.”
“If there was any kind of incident—” She yawned, which only reminded me of how tired I also was, and I yawned myself as she continued, “There might be an article somewhere.”
“Huh …” I slowly nodded. “Yeah, I think I’ll spend some time in there tomorrow after work.”
Ray hummed contentedly. “Good thing I’m the brains and you’re the brawn.”
“Hey”—I laughed, jostling her as I lay back down—“are you calling me stupid?”
“Not at all, Brawny,” she teased, tucking herself back inside my embrace. “Now”—she laid a finger over my lips—“shush and go to sleep with me.”
I kissed the tip of her finger and nestled my chin against her shoulder. Then, before anything else had the chance to keep me awake, I fell soundly asleep to the hush of her breathing.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
DAVID
My first day as assistant manager was a lot like any other day. Except my name tag read a different title, and when I walked into work, Howard told me I could roll my sleeves up if I’d like.
“You’re sure?” I asked, startled by the abrupt change in tune, even as I was already shoving my long sleeves up toward my elbows.
“Soldier, it’s nearly eighty degrees out there today, and it’s only going to get hotter. Wear a T-shirt tomorrow.”
He didn’t even bat an eye at the tattoos blanketing my arms—random works of both decent and amateurish art I’d acquired before and during prison—and I couldn’t tell if he never truly gave a crap about them or if he’d just gotten used to the idea. Either way, I was grateful to finally cool off, even as his wife came walking into the store, surprised to find me showing off my ink.
“Has Howard seen this yet?” Mayor Fischer asked, scowling until her face looked like a pug’s.
“Yeah, he just gave me the okay,” I said, hauling a box of canned peas onto my shoulder and heading in the direction of aisle four.
Connie followed. “Well, you do know that if anyone finds your …artworkoffensive, you will have to cover up again. You understand this, yes? As assistant manager, you have a certain image to uphold, and if you cannot or refuse—”
“Mayor,” I interjected lightly, turning to face her, “I understand.”
Her lips pursed until they resembled a prune as she studied me with wary eyes. Then, she nodded once. “Glad to hear it.” With that, she turned on her heel and walked away like a woman on a mission—as always.
And then the morning dragged by, even as I kept busy sweeping the floor and stocking the shelves and helping Mrs. Montgomery read the labels on four different boxes of salted crackers. All I could think about was getting down to the library on my lunch break and searching through the newspaper articles on file, hoping I could findanyclue about my mother’s history. Wild scenarios filled my head as the time passed, everything from bank robbery to arson to money laundering to grand theft auto, even if none of them made sense.
But then again, not much did.
Because how had I not known? How had I not had any kind of inkling that she might have a police record?
Suddenly, everything—my life, my history, my family—felt like a lie before I even knew what the lie might be, and as soon as the clock chimed lunchtime, I told Howard that I might be a little longer than usual and I’d work later if needbeto make up for it.
“Whatever you need to do,” he said with a friendly smile before I ran out the door and headed down the street to the library to find my girlfriend and whatever secrets lurked in my family’s past.
***
