Hollow Bones by Erica Wright

Author:Erica Wright [Wright, Erica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House
Published: 2024-04-10T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-THREE

A clown costume. Essa didn’t think it was possible to be more humiliated. All she wanted was to wash off the stench of dead animal that had seeped into her pores then forget the day had ever happened. Instead, she needed to see her brother.

She kept a bottle of saline solution in her purse, but she hated to blow her nose in the car. It seemed unsanitary. She tried to focus on the roads. The temperature hovered around thirty degrees outside, and black ice could form, especially over the bridges.

When she made it home, she threw the necropsy notes on to her kitchen table, hoping she’d have time to type them before morning. Dr Kester had sent her home early after Karl had insisted on taking over during the final dissection, his restless footsteps distracting everyone.

Essa didn’t normally leave early or take work home. I don’t normally get called a clown at work either, she thought before scrubbing off the day’s germs from her hands and heading back into the night. She stopped and picked up a pizza from the gas station, not knowing what else to bring and not having a lot of options this side of town. Charlene’s served potato skins, but they would be cold by the time she arrived.

Essa saw the ‘Open’ sign illuminated, so she pulled around back, not wanting to take any parking spaces from Juliet’s paying customers. She ran a hand over her long braid. Maybe she could hack it off herself, take a knife to the base of her skull. She’d never bothered much with her hair before, but she knew the length wasn’t in style. Had it ever been? A clown costume.

After she knocked, her brother opened the door carrying a beer. His eyes were dark, and he squinted at her from inside. For a moment, she worried he might be high. But her brother didn’t touch drugs, and she didn’t believe he could have changed that much since they’d lived together. Of course, he’d never drunk much either. For a moment, his face lit up with hope, but something in Essa’s expression must have told him that she’d failed him.

‘All right,’ he said. ‘You tried, I guess.’

‘I tried,’ she said.

Clyde didn’t say anything, and for a terrible minute, Essa thought he might not let her in. Then he walked away, and Essa followed, hurrying to close the door behind her and keep the heat inside.

‘I say anybody bringin’ food is welcome.’

Essa turned toward Wash, who had his boots up on Juliet’s clean kitchen table.

‘Hey, Wash. Harry.’

The twins nodded in response, and Essa looked around the previously spotless kitchen. The counters were littered with cans and bottles, and it smelled rank, as if nobody there had showered in days. If this was a celebration, it was a sad one.

‘I didn’t mean to interrupt.’

‘You ain’t interrupting. We’re taking all your brother’s money is all. He ain’t gonna need it.’

Wash winked at her, but it was forced. He put down his cards and counted the chips in front of him.

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