A Good and Useful Hurt by Aric Davis

Author:Aric Davis [Davis, Aric]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: AmazonEncore
Published: 2012-02-21T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Mike and Deb drank two more beers in the tattoo shop before going outside and then up the iron staircase on the back of the building to get to the apartment. Mike unlocked the door and let Deb enter first. She set down her bag on the coffee table and began unbuttoning her coat.

“So is he going to tell you?”

“He’s going to tell me something. Better not be quitting—summer’s just around the bend.”

“He wouldn’t quit on you. I think he’d rather lose an arm.”

“I just have a bad feeling about this.”

Deb walked into the kitchen and opened the bathroom door. On the floor was Sid. Deb walked gingerly around her. Like she can fucking see her, thought Mike. She closed the door, and as always, Mike waited for the screams. They didn’t come, so he put the bottles in the fridge and sat at the kitchen table and drank his beer. A few minutes later she came out. Mike didn’t look at the bathroom and, mercifully, she closed the door behind her.

She sat next to him at the table. “What are you thinking about? You look like somebody just walked over your grave.”

“Nothing. Just a weird day.” He drank from the bottle.

“Then it’s not nothing. It’s OK to have a weird day, especially when that day includes injecting a dead kid into his father.”

“What do you think about the war?”

“I don’t like that so many people are getting killed.”

“No, I mean what do you think about the war.”

“I just told you. The reasons for it are immaterial—I hate that people, people on both sides, are dying. It makes me sad to see all the flags at half-mast and know that some poor kid, who ought to be driving around like an idiot trying to get a piece of ass, is dead.”

“They need to get you on CNN.”

“I don’t think I’ve got the face for TV.”

“Don’t think the networks are ready for a girl with a tattooed face?”

“No, not yet anyways. I’ll need to get a job at a local station first. Work my way up.”

“That seems reasonable. Get yourself on a major in what, six months?”

“I hope I don’t have to wait that long—I have laundry to do.”

“That’s tough. Big career squashed before it even gets going. You want a beer?”

“Sure thing.”

“’Kay.”

Mike opened the two beers with his key chain and passed one to Deb.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“So I was thinking, and you can say no if you think it’s a terrible idea—”

“I’m not breaking in anywhere.”

“You’re a butt. I want to take a trip. With you. I think it’d be fun.”

“I’d love to go on a trip with you. Do you think the inmates can handle the asylum?”

“We’d only be gone for a couple of days. There’s a piercing conference in Vegas, and I’ve always wanted to go. Good networking, and the whole thing would be a write-off.”

“I’ve never been to Vegas.”

“Did you ever want to?”

“I did—I mean I do. I’d love to go to Vegas with you. When’s your conference?”

“In about six weeks.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.