Read Online Cha-Ching! by Ali Liebegott - Free Book Online Page A

joked.
    â€œYonkers?”
    â€œIt’s a long story.”
    â€œWhen are you coming to Brooklyn next?”
    In fact, Theo had never left Yonkers since she’d arrived, simply accepting her self-imposed prison.
    â€œMy aunt is going to be gone this weekend. Do you want to come down and stay with me?”
    â€œYou live with your aunt?”
    â€œFor now.”
    â€œI could come down after work Friday. Is it okay if I bring my dog?”
    â€œSure,” Sammy said.
    When Friday came, she packed a small duffel bag and loaded Cary Grant into the truck, following Sammy’s directions carefully. The closer she got to Brooklyn the more alive Theo felt. How was it she’d moved to New York three months ago and never ventured beyond Yonkers? She’d been like a person lost in a snowstorm who tries to survive by burning car tires. When there are no more tires they hike out for help, but they’re found shirtless in the snow, dead from hypothermia. The whole time, had they just turned left instead of right, they would’ve found the ranger station. Theo saw the outline of the Brooklyn Bridge and thought, My help was here all along . She felt suddenly invigorated.
    Sammy’s aunt lived between Bensonhurst and Coney Island on the fourteenth floor in one of a cluster of low- income brick apartment towers. Theo found the right building and led Cary Grant into an elevator that smelled like burning plastic. When the elevator moved, the dog leaned its nervous body against Theo’s leg.
    â€œIt’s okay,” she said.
    Theo located Sammy’s apartment number and rang the doorbell, suddenly nervous.
    â€œHey girl,” Sammy said opening the door.
    â€œHi, girl,” Theo answered, even though they both looked like men.
    Sammy had a fast metabolism that left her with a skeletal frame. Theo hugged her slight body.
    â€œWho’s this?” Sammy said, leaning down to pet the dog.
    â€œCary Grant.”
    â€œNo way!”
    â€œSee her little part?” Theo pointed to the scar.
    â€œ North by Northwest is one of my favorite movies.”
    â€œI’ve never seen it,” Theo said.
    â€œThat’s insane. I own it. We can watch it today.”
    Cary Grant investigated the apartment while Sammy returned to her bowl of Cocoa Puffs.
    â€œWant a bowl?” Sammy asked holding up her cereal.
    â€œNo, I’m good.”
    Theo looked at the family portraits on the living room wall. One showed a young Sammy sitting at the same kitchen table eating cereal.
    â€œLook, you’re eating cereal here too,” Theo said.
    Sammy laughed. “I haven’t done much with my life.”
    â€œDid you grow up in this apartment?”
    â€œPretty much. My aunt and I have shared it since my mom died. But next month I have to find a place because her fiancé is moving in with his kids.”
    â€œWhere will you go?”
    â€œSomewhere in Brooklyn. That’s why I worked on the fishing boat, because I knew I would need a deposit. You should move to Brooklyn.”
    â€œThat would be so amazing.”
    â€œWhatever happens, you can’t stay in Yonkers. There aren’t even gay people there.”
    Theo didn’t want to end up like Randy or Doralina. She remembered how happy she’d been when she saw the Brooklyn Bridge.
    â€œHave you had any good Brooklyn pizza yet?” Sammy asked.
    â€œThis is the first time I’ve even been to Brooklyn.”
    â€œWhat?! There’s this great place: L&B Pizzeria—we could get some squares, they have a spumoni garden. We could watch North by Northwest .”
    Sammy walked over to Cary Grant curled up on the couch.
    â€œIt’s your biggest film, right?” she said to the dog.
    Sammy was traditionally good-looking in that Italian kind of way. She had thick dark hair and brown eyes with a Mediterranean complexion. She was rail thin, all ribs and clavicles. If she cleaned up she could play the