Read Online The Fourteen Day Soul Detox by Rita Stradling - Free Book Online Page B

expanded with
her labored breaths. Her jaw hung open, giving her pretty young face
an even younger expression.
    Shifting into park, I heaved out a
breath.
    “ A frog he would a wooing go,
m-m, m-m. Whether his mother would let him or no, m-m, m-m , ”
the song played on my speaker until I used shaky fingers to turn it
off.
    The woman straightened up, hand going
to her mouth.
    I rolled down my window. “I am so
sorry! Are you okay?” I called out to her.
    “Oh my god,” she said under
her breath. “I thought I was going to die.”
    “I’m so sorry,” I
repeated. “I should have been paying better attention. Are you
okay?”
    She nodded, though I saw that her arms
were trembling. With quick steps, she jogged to the other side of the
road. She turned back to me, staring for a minute. “Thank you…
for stopping in time. Be more careful next time, okay?”
    “I… I will. I’m so
sorry,” I said.
    She nodded, walking at first but then
jogging away down the sidewalk.
    A loud honk made me jump and woke me
from staring after the girl.
    I looked back at Sarah. “Baby,
are you okay? Are you hurt?”
    “I want a glass of milk,”
she said.
    The car behind me honked again. Taking
a deep steadying breath, I shifted the car back into drive. I drove
five miles under the speed limit all the way home, never once letting
my concentration waver from the road.
    My hand shook as I shifted into park
after pulling into my assigned parking spot. I heard Sarah’s
seatbelt click off and a moment later she climbed over the central
divider.
    “Mom, I want some milk. Can we
watch the artistic women’s beam final from the North Greenwich
arena at the London Olympics?” she asked.
    “Yeah, angel,” I said in a
whisper.
    Opening the car door, I let her out
behind me. We walked down the path that led to our little duplex. My
neighbor Clarke stepped out of his apartment as we approached. A big
hairy head appeared over the small fence that ran around the front of
his apartment.
    “Buster!” Sarah said,
moving toward the sheep dog.
    Glancing over at Clarke, I pulled her
away and in front of me. “Not right now, angel,” I
whispered.
    Clarke put an elbow on the fence,
leaning over. His sport’s jersey was so white it reflected the
sunlight. “Hey Jamie, hey Sarah,” he called out.
    “Hey Clarke,” I said waving
while I pushed Sarah toward our door.
    “Hey Jamie, were you putting up
pictures earlier or something?” The grin Clarke gave me made me
cringe a little. He ran his hand over the short stubble over his
strong jaw, his eyes glinting with amusement.
    “Um, no,” I said, turning
away but narrowing my eyes in thought.
    “By the front door,” he
said.
    I felt my face go hot and heard Clarke
start laughing.
    “Now that’s a noise I won’t
complain about,” he said.
    “Come on Sarah,” I said in
a low voice, again pushing her toward the house.
    “Oh come on, Jamie, don’t
be like that. I was just joking,” he said, still chuckling. He
raised a beer and took a long drink. He pulled down the beer,
pointing it at me. “I love that my neighbors are so…
    happy. You ever need
help putting up pictures, just knock on my door. I’d be happy
to be… neighborly.”
    “No thanks,” I said as I
managed to unlock my front door and push it open.
    Locking both my bottom and my top lock,
I turned away from the door and squeezed my eyes shut tight.
    “Mom, can we watch the artistic
women’s beam final from the North Greenwich arena at the London
Olympics?”
    “Yeah, sweetheart,” I said.
Grabbing my laptop from the living room, I set it on the table and
pulled up my YouTube Olympics playlist. Scrolling down, I selected
the 2012 artistic bar final.
    After pouring Sarah a glass of milk, I
grabbed my phone and walked out of the room.
    I sat on my bed and dialed Susan.
    “Hey bitch,” she answered
on the second ring.
    “Hey,” I said, before
swallowing.
    “What’s the matter?”
she asked.
    “I almost hit a kid with my