of
Sports Illustrated
from the table and open it up. People have been coming and going since I arrived, and Iâm not sure why I look up when I do.
I spot a woman of about thirty with a small girl in tow moving quickly through the lobby, on her way out of the building. The woman is thin and tall, and wears her blond hair pulled back in a hairclip. Her face is strained and her lips are set. She marches toward the door in a determined way, a way that makes me think that she wonât tolerate any interference.
The little girl has to run to keep up with her. Her long sandy hair is tangled like it hasnât been combed in days. I notice that particularly because it doesnât somehow fit with the trendy denim skirt and jacket she wears, although she does wear two different-colored socks. She holds tightly to the woman with one hand; with the other, she hugs a small unicorn against her chest. She is trotting along so quickly that she stumbles. The unicorn goes flying from her hand and skids across the polished floor. âMom, my unicorn!â
I am close enough that I reach it before her mother realizes what has happened. I hold it out to her.
âOh,â says her mother, stopping. âHannah, say thank you to the young man.â
Hannah smiles shyly. She wraps an arm around the toy and takes it from me. I try to smile back, but itâs all I can do not to blurt out my story, to tell them how verysorry I am, and that if it were in my power, I would do anything to turn things back.
âCome, Hannah.â
I look after them.
âWhat is it?â Jade has returned. She takes the magazine from my hands and sets it on the table.
âThat woman who just left, that was Richard Crossâs wife, with their kid.â
Jade turns to look, but she is too late. âOh, Iâm sorry, Gordie.â
I call a cab. I ride home with Jade and Holly. On the way, I canât shake the image of Richard Crossâs wife and his little girl sitting across from the comatose man. Do they talk to him as he lies there with the machines pumping? Do they tell him what theyâve done that day? Do they fill him in on all the things that have happened since Chase hit him on the head? I am so preoccupied by these thoughts that it is not until after we have dropped Jade and Holly off at their apartment and I have instructed the cab driver to take me home that I realize I have forgotten to tell Jade about my plan to pay off Chaseâs debt.
I pay the driver and get out of the cab. I am walking up our front walk when Chaseâs druggie friend, Ryan, appears from out of the shadows on the other side of the street. He walks toward me.
âHey, Gordie.â His tone is humble.
âWhat are you doing here?â I study his eyes in the dark. They are pretty dull, but I canât be sure he is wasted.
âI came to talk to Chase, but your parents wonât let me see him.â
âAnd youâre surprised? They paid fifty grand to get him home. Do you really think they want to risk losing it all by having him hang out with you?â
He wipes his nose with the back of his handâa druggie habit. Still, he looks down at his feet in a way that makes me thinks he isnât high. He shows no trace of that plastic confidence I am used to seeing in Chase. He looks back at me, and this time, I know he is talking sober. âItâs not like that. You heard about Harris?â
âYeah, I did. That was a pretty nasty way to end up.â
Ryan nods. âIâm scared. I donât want that to happen to me. Iâm going to check into rehab, and Iâm going to stay there as long as it takes.â
âYeah?â
âYeah. I came to talk Chase into coming with me. Thatâs why I wanted to see him, but your dad closed the door as soon as he saw me.â
âHuh, well, even if youâd told Dad why youâd come, he would have done the same thing. Why should he believe you? You
Heidi Betts
Terry Ravenscroft
James Morrow
Issa Rae
Carole Nelson Douglas
Irina Shapiro
Soman Chainani
S. K. Rizzolo
Brenda Adcock
Stephanie Julian