Read Online Cut Too Deep by KJ Bell - Free Book Online Page B

play. Hadley squatted beside the barre and began a series of arabesque to warm up.
    Halfway through the song, banging on the door overcame the music. When Hadley looked out the peephole, Mrs. St. Armont’s stretched face made her look more aggravated than usual.
    Before the door fully opened, Hadley’s angry neighbor shouted to turn the music down, her perfect English wrapped in a thick Creole accent. The tiny speaker Hadley plugged into her iPod didn’t exactly blast the music. She’d played it much louder.
    “I mean it! Turn that song off!” the irate woman ordered, pushing her way inside.
    After her initial shock over the woman storming into her apartment, Hadley crossed the room to her iPod and turned it off. Mrs. St. Armont sat on the couch, staring at the wall. Tears streamed down the old woman’s cheeks like raindrops. Her ashy and delicate fingers trembled in her lap.
    Hadley had no idea what to say. The soul before her appeared fragile and vulnerable, which wasn’t typical. The two women had never talked, but even after her husband died, Mrs. St Armont appeared unbreakable. Hadley often wondered if her neighbor ever truly grieved her loss.
    Mrs. St. Armont’s head finally moved, and she looked over at Hadley. The sad expression on the woman’s face made it hard for Hadley to smile as it mirrored a well-known pain, one of loss and sorrow.
    “He was my best friend. I miss him dearly.”
    Hadley nodded understandingly and sat next to her sad neighbor. She didn’t know how to offer comfort to a friend, let alone a stranger. Should she hug her, or pat her knee, and offer some kind words? Let’s face it, affection and Hadley weren’t exactly on friendly terms. Mrs. St. Armont ended up patting Hadley’s knee. Hadley rested her hand on top of her neighbors, noticing the contrasting colors of their skin.
    “I’m very sorry for your loss.”
    What a generic thing to say , she thought, but being in unfamiliar territory, Hadley could think of nothing else. She hardly knew this woman, but she did feel for her.
    “Thank you, dear.” Mrs. St. Armont swiped a stray tear from her cheek. “He liked you.”
    Hadley’s body stiffened with the woman’s words. She assumed she misunderstood them. Mr. St. Armont never spoke to her, although he always smiled when she would see him at the mailbox or in the laundry facility. Her heart ached. She kind of missed the old guy and his kind eyes. Before Hadley could argue, her neighbor continued. “He used to say to me that we needed to keep an eye on you, that you’d had a tough road, but were a good girl. He would say you were a girl that had lost her way. I used to think he was crazy, but since he died, I’ve watched you, and he was right. What happened to you, dear? Where is your mum?”
    Mrs. St. Armont’s words brought on a rash of unwelcomed emotions that burned her skin. Her initial reaction, laced with anger made her want to shout at the woman to butt out, but she knew lashing out was wrong. Mrs. St. Armont wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt her. Hadley’s aggravation centered on the fact that apparently no matter how much she tried to hide her past, it was more transparent than she thought.
    “Why would you think something happened to me?”
    “It’s easy to see a girl who’s missing a mother’s love.” Mrs. St. Armont’s lips pressed flat. Her expression turned to one Hadley hadn’t seen since she was a small child, one of an understanding parent. “Did she pass away?”
    “Yes.” Hadley smiled at her neighbor’s sincerity. “I was very young.”
    “Ah…and papas don’t provide the same kind of love. I’m sorry for your loss too, dear.”
    When a hand squeezed Hadley’s, she startled. Comfort and reassurance were completely foreign to her. No, ‘Papas’ definitely didn’t offer ‘the same kind of love’, especially her papa . Hadley swallowed the enormous lump in her throat and forced an awkward smile. She wasn’t about to share her