Read Online The Dark: A Collection (Point Horror) by Linda Cargill - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Linda Cargill
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down on Rick's lap, making sure
she was nice and comfortable, and started dabbing at his face. He'd
hit his cheek against the wall when Harry had thrown him off. The
bruises were bleeding.
"That louse!"
Rick muttered about Harry.
Marianna seemed to
love it. She purred and encouraged Ricky to complain. She dabbed his
cheeks and wiped his brow, patting his head and smoothing down his
messed-up, sweaty blond hair. She grabbed her comb from her purse and
tried to tidy his hair, combing the curls into place. Marianna cast
knowing looks at Bianca as if to say, "Didn't I warn you that
Ricky was mine?"
"Let's clear out
of this insane asylum." Harry rushed Bianca out of the employees'
lounge. "I won't be a minute. If anybody gives you trouble, let
out a yell loud enough to wake the dead." He stationed her beside
the men's room.
She stood there while
he went in to change his clothes. She'd never known anybody to
change so fast. Before she had a chance to wonder what would happen
next, now that she was standing in a deserted lobby with the lights
dimmed, Harry was back. He dumped the usher's outfit in front of
the ticket taker's booth, gave it a kick, and took her hand. He led
her out into the Village, the main shopping area of St. Simons
Island. They headed for a parking lot near the pier.
The sultry air sat on
their shoulders and weighed them down as they hurried along the
sidewalk. The leaves of the low-hanging live oak branches brushed
past their cheeks. The twigs and leaves caught in Bianca's hair.
Twice she had to stop to disentangle them.
He helped her into
the passenger side of his old, beat-up, antique 1965 Rambler
Ambassador with its dented front fender and fins. She'd never seen
a car like it before and wondered how it ran after all these years.
The bright aquamarine color was bizarre, unlike anything in a
new-model car. The paint was peeling. The stuffing was coming out of
the seats. It was too old to have seat belts. She was studying the
forty-year-old chrome fittings on the radio and the front dashboard
controls when he slammed the driver's side door shut.
"Can't be too
picky about what you drive when you can't hold down a job." Harry
gunned the motor as he struggled with the key in the ignition.
He grimaced in pain,
an expression he'd been careful to conceal in the movie theater
when everybody had been watching. She took his hand and squeezed it.
She could imagine how bad he felt with Mike on the lam again.
A police car with
flashing lights drove up beside them. "Do you want a police escort
back to your house, Miss Winters?" the policeman asked. "Your
doctor called us again and asked us to find you. Your parents have
been wondering why you weren't home yet."
"You tell her
doctor Bianca doesn't need an escort. She's with me." Harry
thumbed his chest.
"No — no, thank
you, officer! You don't have to go to all that trouble." Bianca
managed a smile. "We're on our way home now."
"It's no trouble
when it's for a heroine like you, Miss Winters. You know, my
daughter in the sixth grade wrote an essay about you. You're the
most inspiring person in her life."
Bianca blushed.
"Really, you don't have to go out of your way."
"All right, but
it's late. Hurry on home." The policeman started to roll up his
window. "I don't want your doctor to have to call us again. My,
he must be dedicated to be worried about you at this hour! But then,
I imagine lots of people would be willing to go out of their way for
you."
Harry backed out on
to the darkened street as the police car drove off. "Mom and I are
used to this. Mom had a good job working as a secretary at the high
school. They fired her as soon as the news got out about Mike's
bank robbery. Couldn't have a secretary who had a son in jail in a
respectable place like a school. Mom lost her state retirement
pension. Tough after twenty years on the job and only ten more to go
until she cashed in."
"How have you
managed to pay the bills?" Bianca was aghast. She'd heard
she was nice and comfortable, and started dabbing at his face. He'd
hit his cheek against the wall when Harry had thrown him off. The
bruises were bleeding.
"That louse!"
Rick muttered about Harry.
Marianna seemed to
love it. She purred and encouraged Ricky to complain. She dabbed his
cheeks and wiped his brow, patting his head and smoothing down his
messed-up, sweaty blond hair. She grabbed her comb from her purse and
tried to tidy his hair, combing the curls into place. Marianna cast
knowing looks at Bianca as if to say, "Didn't I warn you that
Ricky was mine?"
"Let's clear out
of this insane asylum." Harry rushed Bianca out of the employees'
lounge. "I won't be a minute. If anybody gives you trouble, let
out a yell loud enough to wake the dead." He stationed her beside
the men's room.
She stood there while
he went in to change his clothes. She'd never known anybody to
change so fast. Before she had a chance to wonder what would happen
next, now that she was standing in a deserted lobby with the lights
dimmed, Harry was back. He dumped the usher's outfit in front of
the ticket taker's booth, gave it a kick, and took her hand. He led
her out into the Village, the main shopping area of St. Simons
Island. They headed for a parking lot near the pier.
The sultry air sat on
their shoulders and weighed them down as they hurried along the
sidewalk. The leaves of the low-hanging live oak branches brushed
past their cheeks. The twigs and leaves caught in Bianca's hair.
Twice she had to stop to disentangle them.
He helped her into
the passenger side of his old, beat-up, antique 1965 Rambler
Ambassador with its dented front fender and fins. She'd never seen
a car like it before and wondered how it ran after all these years.
The bright aquamarine color was bizarre, unlike anything in a
new-model car. The paint was peeling. The stuffing was coming out of
the seats. It was too old to have seat belts. She was studying the
forty-year-old chrome fittings on the radio and the front dashboard
controls when he slammed the driver's side door shut.
"Can't be too
picky about what you drive when you can't hold down a job." Harry
gunned the motor as he struggled with the key in the ignition.
He grimaced in pain,
an expression he'd been careful to conceal in the movie theater
when everybody had been watching. She took his hand and squeezed it.
She could imagine how bad he felt with Mike on the lam again.
A police car with
flashing lights drove up beside them. "Do you want a police escort
back to your house, Miss Winters?" the policeman asked. "Your
doctor called us again and asked us to find you. Your parents have
been wondering why you weren't home yet."
"You tell her
doctor Bianca doesn't need an escort. She's with me." Harry
thumbed his chest.
"No — no, thank
you, officer! You don't have to go to all that trouble." Bianca
managed a smile. "We're on our way home now."
"It's no trouble
when it's for a heroine like you, Miss Winters. You know, my
daughter in the sixth grade wrote an essay about you. You're the
most inspiring person in her life."
Bianca blushed.
"Really, you don't have to go out of your way."
"All right, but
it's late. Hurry on home." The policeman started to roll up his
window. "I don't want your doctor to have to call us again. My,
he must be dedicated to be worried about you at this hour! But then,
I imagine lots of people would be willing to go out of their way for
you."
Harry backed out on
to the darkened street as the police car drove off. "Mom and I are
used to this. Mom had a good job working as a secretary at the high
school. They fired her as soon as the news got out about Mike's
bank robbery. Couldn't have a secretary who had a son in jail in a
respectable place like a school. Mom lost her state retirement
pension. Tough after twenty years on the job and only ten more to go
until she cashed in."
"How have you
managed to pay the bills?" Bianca was aghast. She'd heard
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