Risk (Gentry Boys #2)(69)

“Yeah, kid. I’ll let you know.”

I didn’t have any words of comfort. If I told him how much I cared for his brother it would probably only make him feel worse.

I left him there on the side of the building and walked back to my car, angry with the heat and even with the sunlight. It all seemed like a mistake. It seemed like the world ought to be covered in a cold gray fog.





CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT


CREED



I was just going to heave the thing over the patio wall and leave it there, figuring no one would be interested in stealing it. Truly should have been at work and she’d always said that Stephanie person was hardly ever around.

It must have been my lucky week all around though. No sooner had I managed to jump the wall and haul the thing over with a grunt when the sliding glass door slid open.

“What the f*ck are you doin’?” Stephanie exclaimed, sounding rather like a character from Goodfellas. I glanced at her and noticed she was holding a baseball bat. She looked as if she was considering using it too.

I ignored her and finished lifting the heavy piece over the wall, setting it in the middle of the patio.

“I asked you a question, *!”

“Jesus, I heard you,” I spat, wiping my sweaty face on my shirt.

Stephanie wrinkled her nose and looked down. “What the hell is that?”

“It’s for Truly,” I said quietly. Then I realized Stephanie was still standing there with her bat, looking like she might try to make head cheese out of me. “Why don’t you put that damn thing down, Stephanie? And why are you acting like you’ve never seen me before for f*ck’s sake?”

She glanced at the bat and had enough grace to look slightly embarrassed.

“Sorry,” she grumbled. “Guess I’m a little on edge these days.” She opened the door the rest of the way. “You can come in if you want.”

“Great,” I muttered, but I picked up the object I’d deposited on the porch and carried it through the door with me.

Stephanie had set the bat down and she was now watching me with more curiosity than suspicion. “You brought her an ugly table?”

“No,” I said and unfolded the top, reaching in to pull up the attached machine.

Stephanie looked a bit nonplussed. “It’s a…”

“Sewing machine,” I finished. I ran my hand over the rough black surface. Much of the lettering had worn off but the old lady who sold it to me showed me it was still functional. With some oil and a few basic repairs it would work like new.

Truly’s roommate let out a low whistle and gently touched the wooden base.

“You went to some trouble,” Stephanie commented. She had odd, honey-colored eyes. They assessed me carefully. When she smiled I got the feeling it wasn’t something she did very often. “She’ll love it, Creed.” Then she laughed and the pretty girl hiding underneath her bad attitude came out. “You know buddy, you sure aren’t what you seem at first.”

“Oh yeah? Who is?”

“Me,” she grimaced. “I’m every bit the bitch I appear to be.”

“If you were then you would have knocked me across the kidneys with that stupid bat anyway.”

“Maybe,” she shrugged. She glanced at the door. “She should be back soon. I don’t mind if you want to wait around.”

Dolly had sidled over to rub against my legs. I leaned down and scratched her behind the ears. “She’s not at work today?”

“No. She said she’d be back in a little while.”

“Oh.” I gave Dolly one last pat and stood. “Actually I’ve got some shit I’ve got to return to.”

Stephanie cocked her head. “Well are you gonna call her? Leave a note? Anything?”

I shook my head and ran my fingertips along the surface of the sewing machine. “I just wanted to make sure she got this.” I started for the door.

“I’ll see ya, Creed,” Stephanie called.

It was just something people said to each other, a basic goodbye. I shut the door without answering. I didn’t know if she would see me again.

I went home and sat in the quiet living room. Everyone was out and about, including Declan. When Gabe had first called with the fight details it had seemed so soon. But now the long hours stretching ahead were like a cruel taunt. I knew how to numb it if I wanted to. I could take a quick trip to Derry’s and then spend the night in a black oblivion. Awful things lived in there but at least they made the time pass in such a way that when I resurfaced it would seem like only five minutes had passed instead of ten hours.

I actually hated the shit. Hated the taste of it, the smell of it, the spreading warmth in my chest as it crawled its way through my blood. I got drunk for the first time when I was thirteen. Benton had stowed a six-pack under the sink and then had to go sit in County for a month. Chase was the one who took it but I ended up cracking open four out of the six cans. The three of us were camping out in the desert, as we often did just to get away from the stink of the trailer. Chase and Cord were arguing over constellations or some shit but I just sprawled on my back in the sand and watched the stars move around in unnatural ways as the alcohol messed with my head.

“That’s Orion,” I remembered Cord saying.