Read Online Crazy Horse's Girlfriend (9781940430447) by Erika T. Wurth - Free Book Online

walked out again and into the living room, where things were thundering.
    â€œLet’s try another apartment,” Mike said.
    â€œOK,” I answered and we walked through the growing throng of people and out the door. In the hallway, we could see that the door to the apartment beside the one where we were partying was wide open. I shrugged and Mike took my hand, leading me inside. There was an old couch in there, by a window. We walked over to it; putting our jackets down onto the couch, dust billowing up and into the air as we sat. I looked around. The windows in this apartment were all broken out, pieces of glass on the floor everywhere, including the window above us. Cold air was rushing in and I shivered.
    â€œDon’t these kinds of places make you feel lonely?” Mike asked.
    â€œYeah,” I said, taking a swig from the bottle we’d brought and grimacing. I handed it to Mike and he did the same and then set the bottle down on the floor.
    â€œThis whole town makes me feel lonely.”
    â€œHmmm.”
    He stood up and looked out of the window. “I feel like that a lot, though.”
    â€œMe too.”
    â€œI’ve never said that to anyone,” he said, looking at me with a puzzled expression on his face.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThat things make me feel lonely,” he said, sitting back down.
    We were silent for a while, trading the bottle back and forth.
    â€œI think we think too much,” I said and he laughed. “You know what I think about? The toys.”
    â€œToys?”
    â€œYeah, look at all of the toys in the apartment we were just in. How many kids lived in these awful apartments. You know, this wasn’t abandoned when I was a kid. There were people living here. And it wasn’t in much better shape than it is now.”
    Mike nodded. “I guess I forget how lucky I have it,” he said, looking down at his shoes.
    â€œMe too. Well, at least better than these people had it.”
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œMy parents struggle. But my mom teaches at the elementary school and my dad, he’s a mechanic. But he drinks.”
    â€œDon’t we all,” he said. “My parents drink. My mom drinks merlot. Only merlot. A lot of merlot. My dad drinks only single malt scotch. Alone. In his office. Which is maybe why my mother drinks.”
    I looked at him curiously. “What does your mom do?”
    â€œMy dad makes enough, so she doesn’t have to work. She goes to church. That’s her thing. Not mine. I told her a few years back that I wasn’t going to go with her anymore. My dad doesn’t. Why should I have to?”
    â€œAnd you’re an only child?”
    â€œYeah… I was adopted when I was two months old. From Colombia.” He picked the bottle up from the floor, looked at it thoughtfully and took a quick drink, wiping his mouth after.
    â€œAh. Yes. I think Julia said something about that.”
    Mike looked uneasy.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œShe asked what tribe I was.”
    â€œWell, you look Indian,” I said.
    â€œHuh. I guess I’ve… never given it much thought,” he said, drinking and shifting uncomfortably on the couch, particles of dust coming up and reflecting in the candlelight.
    â€œYou know, Jake was adopted.”
    â€œOhhh,” Mike said, “that makes sense.”
    â€œPeople are always curious about him. They never believe he’s my cousin. They always think he’s my boyfriend. Then they get worried for me.”
    â€œNice,” Mike said sarcastically.
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œPeople are fucking stupid sometimes.”
    â€œThey really are.”
    â€œSo, Jake said something about Native American Church. That his parents and your mom used to go there, but they don’t anymore. In California, I remember meeting a couple of Indians at a party once that talked about it. Do you go?”
    â€œWhen I can. There’s one in Denver and I took