Read Online Where The Devil Won't Go: A Lucas Peyroux Novel by E.J. Findorff - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: E.J. Findorff
Ads: Link
around. Maybe I’ll see you again after my momma dies.”
“Cozy, this isn’t the time to discuss
that night.”
“When is? When do I get to talk to you?”
“Let’s get through this first and I
promise we’ll talk. Just you and me over a cup of coffee. I promise.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. You’re right, though. I think
you should do this alone, but I’ll wait in my car downstairs in case you need
me.”
“Don’t make me feel bad about wasting
your time. Just go home to your family. Just remember your promise.”
I pretended to acquiesce. “Okay. You have
my number. Call for anything.”
“I will.”
I sat in my car with a beer outside of
the apartment. Cozy’s hug had seeped all the way to my bones, like a hot
shower. I can’t remember the last time Alicia had embraced me in a genuine
moment like that. A nice memory of Alicia sleeping on my chest after watching a
late movie came to mind and I relaxed.
Twenty minutes later, Cozy came out with
the suitcase and spotted me. She waved with no surprise, as if knowing I had
lied about going home. I felt for the girl… Smart, charming, resilient. It
seemed the poor thing couldn’t catch a break.
Chapter 10
Cozy sucked in a breath from her Civic’s
open window while admiring the decaying architecture of a city that had been
built in the middle of nowhere. She learned in school that it had been the only
major port city in the 1700’s. Why hadn’t it ever grown into a major metropolis
like New York or Chicago? It had to be the fault of Southern politicians. She
quickly returned to the curb in front of Haley’s apartment.
Lucas had been kind, but she could smell
bullshit a mile away and knew he was going to wait for her to leave. Moments
later, she skirted through the gate and up the scary steps to contemplate her
sister’s total and utter violation. New Orleans had chewed her up and spit her
out, right into the Mississippi.
When she was ten years old, she had
wandered into the kitchen at three in the morning to get a cup of water, only
to find her father sitting at the table in the dark with his hands around a
tall bottle as if having a conversation with it. His shiny eyes had turned to
her and he said, “I love your sister. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she had squeaked. In that moment,
getting a glass of water suddenly lost all importance. She turned right around
and went back to bed. Just minutes later, she heard Haley’s door open and she
prayed that her sister wasn’t going into the kitchen. She’d been too naive to
realize her sister had probably never left the room.
She picked up the cheap plastic phone,
still connected to the landline. “Hello, Momma? I’m in New Orleans at Haley’s
apartment.”
She rolled her eyes and tapped her foot
as Momma lectured about responsibility, carelessness and lack of respect. She
held the phone away from her ear. “Momma… Momma… Don’t be mad. No, do not send Ash.”
The discussion was one-sided as Cozy
tried to spew halting syllables and broken half-words while her momma was in a
state. In the end, she promised to return first thing in the morning, hung up
and then fell into the lumpy, purple sofa.
Not having eaten since the grits at
breakfast, she found a stack of fast food menus and ordered a pizza. She then
grabbed several trash bags to begin separating the trash from what she might
keep and what might offer a clue as to why her sister died. Haley had to have
made friends. If only she could find the name of one.
One bag ended up stuffed with tacky clothes
Cozy would never wear, and she finally stopped when her fingers shook too much
to continue. She splashed cold water on her face in the bathroom and swallowed
an Ibuprofen tablet from the medicine cabinet. An abrupt buzz from the intercom
made her to jump.
She cautiously approached to press the
speaker button. “Yes?”
“Papa John’s.”
“Upstairs. Apartment B.” She held the
button for a few seconds to let
“Cozy, this isn’t the time to discuss
that night.”
“When is? When do I get to talk to you?”
“Let’s get through this first and I
promise we’ll talk. Just you and me over a cup of coffee. I promise.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. You’re right, though. I think
you should do this alone, but I’ll wait in my car downstairs in case you need
me.”
“Don’t make me feel bad about wasting
your time. Just go home to your family. Just remember your promise.”
I pretended to acquiesce. “Okay. You have
my number. Call for anything.”
“I will.”
I sat in my car with a beer outside of
the apartment. Cozy’s hug had seeped all the way to my bones, like a hot
shower. I can’t remember the last time Alicia had embraced me in a genuine
moment like that. A nice memory of Alicia sleeping on my chest after watching a
late movie came to mind and I relaxed.
Twenty minutes later, Cozy came out with
the suitcase and spotted me. She waved with no surprise, as if knowing I had
lied about going home. I felt for the girl… Smart, charming, resilient. It
seemed the poor thing couldn’t catch a break.
Chapter 10
Cozy sucked in a breath from her Civic’s
open window while admiring the decaying architecture of a city that had been
built in the middle of nowhere. She learned in school that it had been the only
major port city in the 1700’s. Why hadn’t it ever grown into a major metropolis
like New York or Chicago? It had to be the fault of Southern politicians. She
quickly returned to the curb in front of Haley’s apartment.
Lucas had been kind, but she could smell
bullshit a mile away and knew he was going to wait for her to leave. Moments
later, she skirted through the gate and up the scary steps to contemplate her
sister’s total and utter violation. New Orleans had chewed her up and spit her
out, right into the Mississippi.
When she was ten years old, she had
wandered into the kitchen at three in the morning to get a cup of water, only
to find her father sitting at the table in the dark with his hands around a
tall bottle as if having a conversation with it. His shiny eyes had turned to
her and he said, “I love your sister. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she had squeaked. In that moment,
getting a glass of water suddenly lost all importance. She turned right around
and went back to bed. Just minutes later, she heard Haley’s door open and she
prayed that her sister wasn’t going into the kitchen. She’d been too naive to
realize her sister had probably never left the room.
She picked up the cheap plastic phone,
still connected to the landline. “Hello, Momma? I’m in New Orleans at Haley’s
apartment.”
She rolled her eyes and tapped her foot
as Momma lectured about responsibility, carelessness and lack of respect. She
held the phone away from her ear. “Momma… Momma… Don’t be mad. No, do not send Ash.”
The discussion was one-sided as Cozy
tried to spew halting syllables and broken half-words while her momma was in a
state. In the end, she promised to return first thing in the morning, hung up
and then fell into the lumpy, purple sofa.
Not having eaten since the grits at
breakfast, she found a stack of fast food menus and ordered a pizza. She then
grabbed several trash bags to begin separating the trash from what she might
keep and what might offer a clue as to why her sister died. Haley had to have
made friends. If only she could find the name of one.
One bag ended up stuffed with tacky clothes
Cozy would never wear, and she finally stopped when her fingers shook too much
to continue. She splashed cold water on her face in the bathroom and swallowed
an Ibuprofen tablet from the medicine cabinet. An abrupt buzz from the intercom
made her to jump.
She cautiously approached to press the
speaker button. “Yes?”
“Papa John’s.”
“Upstairs. Apartment B.” She held the
button for a few seconds to let
Similar Books
