Read Online The Guardian by Keisha Orphey - Free Book Online

your arm?”  he gestured at the cast on her left arm.
                Resignedly she responded, “I fell down the stairs.”  Everything about her response said she’d been told to tell that story.
            Philip took a quick glance at the houses along the other side of the street.  He knew there were only three two story homes on this block; his and the two on the opposite end, but those were brand new construction and still on the market.  “But there’s no stairs in any of those houses.”
            She paused a moment, then said innocently: “Can you keep a secret, mister?”
                “Sure,” he responded guilessly.  Tell me the truth, so I can beat the sonofabitch’s ass that did this to you.
                On the verge of tears now, her little face was blushed and perspiring from the heat, she said, “They’re coming, ya’ know.  Comin’ like bats outta hell -- ” With her free hand, she swiped at fly away strands of hair.
            Philip’s eyebrows furrowed, “Who’s coming? The man who hurt you?”
                “Alisa!” a woman’s voice called, echoing in the near distance.
                Startled, she gasped a quick wisp of breath.  Philip wanted to yank the little girl from the bike to safety. Alisa was her name.  And what a beautiful name it was.   He thought of Sierra and how vulnerable she was at just two-years old.  The idea of someone hurting her made his skin crawl.  How could anyone hurt a defenseless child?   Allowing Alisa to heed to her mother’s calling was the last thing Philip wanted to do, but he had no choice and it was nearly two o’clock. Christopher would be out of school soon.  Clark County was on a track system; students attended classes year-round.  He wondered now what track Alisa was on because all five tracks were in class this entire week.
                Before he could ask, Alisa’d hopped back on her pink Baja and pivoted the bicycle toward the voice.  The cast didn’t falter her agility.  Pink and white streamers flapped in the desert wind.    He watched her peddle quickly up the street, around the bend in the road, and onto the driveway of the first house on the block.   He could see the glittering iridescent streamers dangling carelessly in the wind and held onto the sight of them as she and her bicycle disappeared inside.
                That was the first time he saw Alisa and knew it wouldn’t be the last.
            Back inside, Philip cased the tucked off area that would serve as the dining room.  He’d stacked the U-Haul branded boxes filled with nonessential items they’d collected over the last seven years.  He had promised to unpack a few after feeding Mason and Sierra their lunch, pick Christopher up from school and take all three kids to the park while Dawn slept, then return home and start dinner.  Later, he’d sit back with a beer on their uncomfortable sofa, download 50 Cent’s newest CD and read Lake Charles’ American Press to find out if anyone he’d known had passed away or been arrested, and read about the plans for the new casino breaking ground, as if Lake Charles needed another casino.
            Philip noted several in his path in the small room:  Kitchen, Boys Room…Dawn’s Stuff.  Why’d she have such a big box all her own?  He knew he’d have to start with this one.  It was just as packed as any other, but it had been taped to keep prying eyes out…especially his eyes.  She’d held on to all of her memories.  Photo albums of past boyfriends and the cars she’d owned over the years.  He thought of a youthful Dawn, with her fire-red Mitsubishi 3000GT and her long flowing auburn hair and tiny waist, qualities that made her more appealing when they first met.  But those were only immature thoughts of an