Dead of Night (Charlaine Harris) by Charlaine Harris

Author:Charlaine Harris
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2013-11-04T16:00:00+00:00

11

Strange that Danny had brought up his mother, Sean thought a few moments later, as they neared the entrance to Louis Armstrong Park off North Rampart. Because Sean’s most vivid memory of her had happened inside the gates of that very park.

Shaded by live oaks and weeping willows, the lush enclave had once been a place where tourists could stop and catch their breath after the hustle and bustle of the crowds in the French Quarter. Named for the famed jazz musician, it was also known for Congo Square, an area where slaves had once been allowed to stroll on Sunday afternoons.

To Sean, though, the park would always be the place where, at twelve years old, he’d caught his mother with her lover.

That he had seen her at all that day was one of those coincidences he had looked back on later and wondered if some strange radar had led him to that exact place at that exact point in time.

Mostly, though, he’d blamed it on Donnie St. Germain. It had been Donnie’s idea that he and Sean skip the second day of the new school year because the classes and schedules were still so chaotic no one would miss them. Sean hadn’t exactly resisted the plan. In fact he’d thought it was a pretty damn good idea. He and Donnie hid out until after the first bell and then took off on their bikes for a day of forbidden adventure, ending up that afternoon in the French Quarter.

They’d sat in Jackson Square for the longest time, eating snow cones as they watched the street musicians perform for the tourists. And then tiring of the circuslike atmosphere, they’d begun an exploration of the Quarter’s alleyways, where the homeless and the drunk lay sleeping on flattened cardboard boxes in the sweltering heat.

Somewhere along the way, they found a half-empty pack of Marlboros and, cigarettes dangling from their lips, they pushed their bikes along the colonnaded sidewalks of Bourbon Street, gawking at the transvestites, peeking through the darkened doorways of the strip clubs, grinning because they thought they were a couple of badasses who’d pulled a fast one.

Eventually, they made their way to North Rampart where they spent some time watching a tattoo artist through a shop window. Sean had turned—he didn’t even know why—and caught a glimpse of his mother entering the park across the street. It never even occurred to him that he might be mistaken. He just knew it was her.

His first inclination was to slip inside the tattoo parlor before she saw him, but he didn’t have to worry about that. She was too preoccupied by the man who waited on the other side of the gate. He was tall, handsome and well-dressed. Not the kind of guy who worked in the refineries like Sean’s dad, but someone who probably had a cushy office job downtown.

When Sean’s mother walked up to him, the man put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. A moment later, they disappeared into the park.

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