Today's Promises (Promises #2)(11)

“I do know,” I say, since I do. “But that’s what I meant when I originally told you I was against this job over there. One damn afternoon in that crappy town and you’re already stressed to the max.”

Around the piece of gum he’s chomping on—spearmint, by the smell of it—Flynn says the same thing he’s maintained from the start. “We need the money, Jaynie.”

“I don’t know if it’s worth this grief,” I counter. “Maybe you should turn down this particular job. You can look for work in other places. You already know how much I absolutely hate the idea of you spending any time at all over in that evil town.”

“It’s not the town that hurt us,” he replies. “Plus, I won’t be working in Forsaken, not technically. It’s just that the interview was there.” He draws a breath, and then releases it slowly, like he’s calming himself. “Like I told you already, the job itself is on the outskirts of town. It’s almost completely outside the city limits.”

“I know you said all that, but…”

“What?”

“Bad things seem to happen all around that place. It’s like there should be some kind of a sign.” I make air quotes. “‘Stay away’, it should read. And also, ‘oh, by the way, give yourself a one-mile radius, just to be sure.’”

I’m kidding, of course. Well, sort of.

Flynn, determined to make our lives better at all costs, insists, “This is a good job, Jaynie. It’s a full-time, steady gig. One with better-than-decent pay.”

When he can’t look me in the eye, though, I suspect something more is at play here.

That prompts me to ask, “Are you sure nothing else happened over there today?”

“Oh, yeah, there was one thing,” Flynn says, as nonchalant as ever. “I did run in to an old buddy. It happened when I came out of the job center.”

Aha!

There’s only one old friend Flynn could possibly have run in to, so it’s with confidence that I say, “Crick, right?”

“Yep.” He nods. “He drove right by me, and I waved him down. We ended up talking, and then grabbing a quick lunch.”

I’ve yet to meet Crick, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to. He was a good friend to Flynn during the months he was stuck in Forsaken.

Seeing Crick wouldn’t upset Flynn, though—not like this—so I press, “Did you guys go anywhere else? Besides to lunch, that is?”

Flynn schools his features to an expression that reveals nothing, making it hard for me to discern whether he’s telling the truth. Especially when he says, “No. We just ate lunch together. Then we went our separate ways.”

Hmm… “You plan to keep in touch?”

“Yeah, I’m sure we will.” Flynn shrugs. “We exchanged digits, plus I’m bound to see him around.”

“Ugh.” I topple to my side and plant my face in a pillow.

“What now?”

“The same thing as before,” I say, sighing. “I still just can’t believe you’re going to be spending so much time in and around that freaking town.”

I peek up, and find Flynn scrubbing a hand down his face.

“Jaynie, please, stop,” he whispers. “What choice do we have? I mean, really?” He gestures around our small place. At the bare wooden floor, the tiny closet in the corner, the small, outdated attached bath. “Do you want to live in this little room forever? Do you want to take the bus for the next five years?”

“No,” I mutter.

“Okay then. Case closed.”

Accepting that this is our only real option, I say, “You have to promise me one thing, then. Can you at least do that?”

Reaching down and tucking a wayward lock of hair behind my ear, he says, “Anything, babe.”

“Promise me you’ll stay far, far away from the Lowry property.”

Flynn has to look away when he says, “Okay, yeah, sure.”

Crap. I know then and there that something bad definitely happened in Forsaken this afternoon. However, I can’t keep questioning him. Not now, not after all the emotional upheaval of this goddamn day.

What I need is a break…and maybe a candy bar.

“Hey,” I say as I scoot to the edge of the bed. “I think I’m going to take a quick shower before we go to sleep.”

Flynn seems completely distracted when he replies, “Yeah, okay, Jaynie.”

He doesn’t try to stop me, even though he has to see the guilt on my face. Still, he just lets me go to the bathroom, where he knows I’m about to pig out.

I know for a fact, then and there, that the promise he just made, the one to stay away from the Lowry property, is destined, if it hasn’t already, to become what so many of our promises end up to be—simply another one of tomorrow’s lies.





Flynn



I can’t bring myself to share with Jaynie everything that happened during the time I spent over in Forsaken today. I want to tell her, I do. But I can’t, not just yet.

See, that promise I just made to stay off the Lowry property? Well, it’s already been broken. In fact, it’s the events that occurred this afternoon that have me craving a smoke, to the point now that I may lose my goddamn mind.