Born Blue by Han Nolan

Author:Han Nolan [Nolan, Han]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Chapter Twenty-Four

I WOKE UP CLOSE to noon, squinting in the sunlight coming through the two windows. I sat up and saw Jaz standing over me, with my clothes in his hands. He handed them to me and I put them on, staying under the blanket I had over me till I finished dressing. When I moved, I could feel my every bone and muscle were deep sore, and my head so tender, it felt like it made of glass and been shattered with a hammer.

Jaz bent over and reached for my hand. He helped me up and we tiptoed on out of the sour-smelling room filled with all the sleeping bodies. I looked back at the spot where I were sleeping and saw the body that been laying next to me. Couldn't see his face. Couldn't see nothin' but a lumpy, body-filled blanket.

"We need some coffee," Jaz said, when we got to His Girl, Shirl.

"Do we?" I said. I felt so sick, didn't want nothin' in me—nothin'!

He opened the door for me and I said I needed to lay down. He took out my backpack and laundry bag and let me crawl in the back. I curled up in a tight fist, hugging my knees close and hard, and closed my eyes to keep the sun from hurting them.

Jaz drove real slow for me and said he were sorry 'bout my hangover. He said, "Some wild night, huh?" And he said it like he weren't sure.

I said, "Don't remember nothin' 'bout last night." My voice were flat soundin', no music in it.

"You don't remember?" His voice still sounded unsure.

"I said I don't remember nothin'. Don't remember nothin' at all, so don't be talkin' 'bout it. Just get me that coffee."

I squinted up at him, at the back of his head, and I seen that his head be flat in the back. It look like he got no skull at all back there, just a hard plate covered in skin and hair. Seeing it flat like that, seeing his thick neck rising straight up out of his shirt, same width as his head, like his neck and the back of his head be one and the same thing, made me want to puke. I quick sat up and told him to stop the car 'cause I gotta puke.

I just made it out the door in time. Jaz waited in the car for me, and I were glad he didn't come out to hold my head or nothing or I woulda puked more.

I were finally ready to get back in the car, but then we heard a police car siren and Jaz said, "Shit!" and the car pulled up behind him with its lights flashing.

I stayed standing at the side of the road, kinda bent over at the waist, not feeling like it safe yet to stand straight.

The policeman got out his car and strut over to Shirl, with Jaz sittin' inside. He were 'bout to speak, then he saw me and

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