Read Online Douse (Book One: At the Edge of a Hurricane) by June Hydra - Free Book Online Page B

farmland. They did okay with their house. Except the recession hit
and things changed a lot. They lost a lot. Not land necessarily, but
spirit.”
    “You’re
being too cryptic. Spirit?”
    “They
were such good people before. Then they turned all uber-religious and started
hating anything and everything to the extreme. I still love them though. Sort
of. You know when you have an attachment to someone or something. It’s
hard to let that attachment not chain you.”
    “The
emotions. The feelings,” I say. “Love is a drug and whatnot.”
    “Yeah.
It’s crazy right? The chemicals. You know the situation’s bad but
you can’t leave because your stupid heart won’t let you. You
can’t go forward because of those interactions between your cells. You
can’t make any headway because you’re so caught up in feelings .”
    “I
know,” I say, “I know, totally, completely. Not trying to one-up
you or anything, but my mom and dad were abusive. I know what you mean by being
unable to let go and leave. It’s hard. When you’ve bonded so
closely. Or at least it seems like you’ve bonded.”
    Bishop
props his chin on my head. He traces the outline of my earlobe, listening to my
words spill forth, listening to me .
    “How
long did the abuse go on?”
    “Too
long. Years. It wasn’t until I was around seventeen or eighteen that I
got my independence. The most evil thing, I think, is when parents use their
financial advantage to chain you. They’ll dangle incentives over your
head, threatening to cut you off, until you just decide to cut the cord
yourself. It’s easier like that, running free without their interference
now. But God, was leaving just—”
    “Painful.”
    “Painful,
painful, painful. Utterly spirit destroying. I had none after I’d left. I
had to work for everything myself. Ground up. Multiple jobs, lots of noodles,
sometimes no noodles at all and exams in the mornings.”
    “We
have a lot in common,” Bishop whispers. He bites on my ear, and I squirm
from the shock of his teeth. “We have a ton in common,” he says,
his voice echoing throughout my head.
    “I
agree. Everybody has something in common. But you and me…we probably
share more than we know or let on.”
    “That’s
where the fun lies. Discovering what’s new about a person.”
    “Surprises,”
I say. “They’re the best.”
    He
slips down the bedside, resting his head on my shoulder now. I stroke his fine
beard stubble and run my hand across his lips, touching the supple skin there
and the indentation under his nostrils.
    As
we mumble and drift off to sleep, I wonder about tomorrow and the next day. An
infinite array of days to pass with one another. New discoveries. Daylight and
moonbeams.
    Bishop
and I.

CHAPTER 8
    “Now
remember, in China, they have a different culture. You knew that though? You
have had to. The Chinese are everywhere and very distinct people. Hey, Violet?
Wake up. You’re speaking with cli-ents, you have to be awake,
girl.”
    Caddy
snaps his fingers. I swat them away and keep my dull head firmly pinned to the
headrest.
    “What
time did you sleep at?”
    “Two,”
I say. “Or one. Somewhere around the morning.”
    “Oo-oh.
He must’ve been good in bed then.”
    “Shut
up.”
    Caddy’s
briefcase sits on his lap, and he peruses for today’s dossier. Chinese
kids, three of them, from the mainland, not Hong Kong. Those are the details
swimming in my head right now.
    “Here
we are,” Caddy says. Papers fill drift onto my lap and I straighten them
out, filing them between my legs. Caddy snaps his fingers again. “Hello.
Business girl, we have people waiting outside with their money.”
    I
didn’t even notice the passenger door opening. Caddy’s standing
outside on the asphalt, wringing his hands, whining like a mosquito.
    “They
don’t take many breaks in China you know.”
    “Whatever,”
I say. “It’s not like we’ve ever botched a job with
internationals.”
    International
jobs are