Only the Strong by Jabari Asim

Author:Jabari Asim [Asim, Jabari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781572847521
Publisher: Agate Publishing

LUTHER NOEL WAS A SIMPLE MAN. Warmhearted and plainspoken, he had little interest in finery. Each morning he stepped into one of his two pairs of overalls, the daily wardrobe of every dirt farmer in his part of Kentucky. His boots were scuffed and his knuckles were rough and battered. “I’ve got no use for shine,” he had been fond of saying to Artinces, his only child. “You and your mama are all the sparkle I need.”

In his view, it would have been downright foolish to waste his precious pennies on baubles. “Why a diamond’s worth more than a turnip is a mystery to me, Pepper Pot,” he’d said more than once. “They both come out of the same dirt.” The starched white shirt he wore under his overalls to Sunday meeting was his one concession to propriety.

Artinces had considerably more resources, yet she still couldn’t help feeling improper whenever she purchased a little something to help discard the tensions of the day. She counted jewelry, lingerie, and rare books among her guilty pleasures.

And, despite her father’s resonant voice echoing in her brain, she was especially drawn to dazzlement. Some people and things happened to reflect light in a way that caught her eye. A polished grand piano, gold bracelets, Harry Belafonte. Her attraction to radiance probably accounted for her fearlessness when she first encountered Ananias Goode.

On that day, she had just locked the back door of her office and removed the key when she heard a voice. “Hey, good looking.”

She turned and saw a man leaning against the fence, faint rays of sunlight framing his head like a crown. He had an elegant topcoat draped across one shoulder. Underneath it, a beautiful pinstriped suit showed a luminous weave of navy and gray. His hat was angled rakishly over one brow. The man looked immense, dangerous, golden. And he seemed to know it.

“You got what I need,” he said. “I’m sure of it.”

Artinces was still wearing her lab coat. She slipped her hand into her pocket. “Mister, all I have is a scalpel and I know how to use it.”

“I know. That’s why I’m here.”

“That makes no sense at all. I’m warning you. Take one step and I’ll slash you to ribbons.”

He smiled. Slowly, he pulled open his suit jacket to reveal a red circle just to the right of his tie.

“How about that?” he said. “Somebody beat you to it.”

Artinces spun around so quickly that at first Goode thought she had failed to take notice of his injury. But she was only unlocking her door. She swung it open, then turned and looked expectantly at Goode. The sun was just over his shoulder, forcing her to squint.

“Well? Come on,” she urged.

In her examination room, Goode hung his coat and hat carefully on the coatrack before settling onto the exam table. If he was in pain, he didn’t show it. Artinces scrubbed her hands at the sink, put on latex gloves and laid out an array of instruments. After helping Goode ease out of his shirt, she went to work.

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