This Glittering World by T. Greenwood

Author:T. Greenwood [Greenwood, T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-7582-6801-3
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2011-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

At work on Wednesday night, Ben tried to imagine what a life living in Phoenix would be like. He thought about getting up every morning and putting on a suit and tie. He thought about the sun beating down on him as he made his way to his sedan. (The truck did not fit into this picture at all.) He thought about car lots, about the barren desert beyond. Golf with Frank on Saturdays. Sara. The baby.

But no matter how hard he tried, he could not imagine the baby. He had dreamed about it once, about Sara in the hospital, holding the new baby in her arms. But when he looked down to see its face, there was nothing there; it was just a blanket wadded up into a swaddled mess of flannel.

He saw himself and Sara piling into a minivan and driving across the desert to Disneyland. He imagined backyard barbeques, sitting in the bleachers at soccer games in the scorching heat. He imagined the sweaty auditoriums of dance recitals and piano recitals. He dreamed of hot metal swing sets and blistering monkey bars. But he couldn’t imagine the child. It was like the vapors rising off of hot pavement. Distorted, unreal.

“Hey,” Hippo said, coming out of the kitchen with a fresh basket of hot French fries. “Want some?”

“Not hungry,” Ben said.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Ben said. He still hadn’t told Hippo about Sara being pregnant.

“Hey,” Hippo said. “I was just thinking about that kid you asked me about, the one you found. You said his name was Ricky, right?”

“Yeah,” Ben said, snapping out of his reverie.

“Remember he used to play pool with this other kid from the rez sometimes?”

Ben tried to remember. Ricky was always shooting pool. He couldn’t remember him hanging out with anyone in particular. He didn’t remember him having any friends. Shadi hadn’t mentioned any friends.

“I only remember because the other kid had a tattoo of an eagle on his arm, and I asked him where he got it. I thought maybe Emily did it; it looked like her work.”

“And?”

“Well, he came in the other day and I asked him if he remembered seeing Ricky on Halloween night. At first he looked spooked, but then he said that he did see him on Halloween. He ran into him at the Monte V Ricky came in with some frat guy who talked them both into going to some party. He said he thought they might be trying to hustle another fraternity, and they wanted him and Ricky to be their ringers. I don’t know if that helps at all,” Hippo said.

“Jesus,” Ben said. “That proves that he was there. There must have been a fight at the house. Was he there with Ricky?”

“I don’t know. You know how those rez kids are. Super quiet.”

“Do you remember his name?”

“He calls himself Lucky,” he said. “He washes dishes at Beaver Street too. I think that’s how he and Ricky knew each other.”

“Listen,” Ben said."Is there any way you can cover the end of my shift?”

“I think I can handle it.

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