Elpida by C. Kennedy

Author:C. Kennedy [Kennedy, C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: young adult
ISBN: 978-1-63533-374-9
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Published: 2017-05-30T04:00:00+00:00

“WHAT DO you think?” Jake asked as they walked to their cars.

“It’s hard for me to believe Rich would do that to Tony.”

Jake stopped and looked at Michael. “Not everybody has the friendship we do.”

Michael squinted in the afternoon sun. “I get that, bro. I get the whole ‘people aren’t in our shoes’ gig. But you can’t go around…. Look. It’s beyond bad for business. It’s over the top. It’s criminal.”

“Not like we haven’t faced a hell of a lot of criminal shit in the past two months.”

Michael blew a long breath as Detective Davis’s warning words filled his mind. “This needs to stop.”

“For reals,” Jake agreed.

Michael mouthed a silent swear word.

“Sophia left a message while we were in with Smitty. I’ll call you if her convo with Ariel didn’t go the right direction.”

“And the hits just keep on comin’. That’s the last thing Christy needs right now.”

“You go, I’ll go, and we’ll connect.”

“You got it.” Michael headed to his car. “Jake?”

Jake turned back to him.

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Always being there.”

“Back at you.” He held his phone up. “Check it.”

Michael nodded and climbed into his car. He fastened the seat belt, started the car, and dialed Christy. “Hey, babe. I’m on my way,” he greeted when Christy answered the phone.

“Please be slow with Thimi. He is very afraid.”

“Okay. Any other pointers?”

Christy’s voice dropped to a near whisper, and Michael almost couldn’t hear him. “Keep the voice low. He will be afraid of your size. He may vomit or make the bathroom in the pants.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

“This is the big adventure for him to meet you. He does not understand how a person can love… the people like us.”

An invisible band tightened around Michael’s heart, and it ached the way it always did when he thought about Christy’s past. Now it ached for Thimi too. The abuse they had suffered had charred their souls and reduced them to human rubble in their minds. “There’s nothing wrong with you. I’ll tell him that, okay?”

“Thimi is the little bit stubborn and may not believe you.”

Though Michael sensed that Christy felt this first meeting to be dire, he detected a note of happiness in Christy’s voice. “That’s okay. I’ll keep repeating it until he believes me.”

“Thank you, Michael. I miss you.”

“Miss you too, babe. I’ll see you in twenty.”

Michael hit the CD button and began to tap the steering wheel to the rhythm of blink-182’s “I Miss You.” He pulled out of the parking lot, and the security SUV filled his rearview mirror. Funny, he hadn’t seen security follow them to Smitty’s bar.

He remembered how frightened Christy had been when they’d first met and decided no matter how laid-back he was, Thimi would be terrified of him. He thought hard and tried to figure out how to break the ice, then decided on the universal language of children: candy. He stopped by a convenience mart, and security pulled in behind him. Tad rolled down the window. “Just going to grab something,” Michael called as he headed into the store.

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