King of Nod by Fad Scott

Author:Fad, Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: River Grove Books
Published: 2023-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

Indiscretions

OCTOBER 1997

Familiarity breeds contempt. And children.

—Mark Twain

THE BELL ABOVE THE OFFICE DOOR jingled alive. Boo Taylor stepped inside the air-conditioned Taylor Dufette Realty office, where a plump woman with short, curly hair greeted him with a smile. The woman introduced herself as Debbie Giegerman and offered to find Gussie Ransome for him when he asked.

He stood alone in the waiting room for several minutes, glancing through a brochure of rental properties. He tried to guess locations by the photographs.

Then he saw her, flipping a red-gold waterfall casually away from her face. She was framed in the window of a door, and he caught the moment her eyes first caught him, when the brightness within blinked on like two green lights on a Christmas tree. She came through the door. Billowy white blouse, dark skirt with a wide belt, very professional. She was leveling her green lights upon him. She seemed anxious, but not surprised to see him.

“Wade told me what happened,” she said, her voice hushed. “Your fingers, Boo. How could that be?”

He placed the brochure back on the table. It was hard to keep from staring at her.

“I tried to call you,” he said.

“So I hear. You didn’t actually say . . . that to Murphy. Did you?”

“What did I say to Murphy? I don’t remember.”

“Not anything I’m gonna repeat. Murphy was furious.”

“Sounds like Murphy’s gotten very sensitive.”

She stepped forward, reaching out a hand for him. “Boo, are you okay? I can’t believe what Wade told me.”

Her hand was on his forearm.

“I didn’t want to bother you at work,” he said.

“Don’t worry about that.”

“Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry about lunch. It’s not what—”

“Boo, stop.” She took another step forward and looked around self-consciously. Debbie Giegerman had returned to her seat behind the reception desk and was pretending not to listen. Gently, Gussie steered him deeper into the waiting area.

“You don’t have to apologize,” she said in a low voice. “Not any more than I do.”

“You never got your lobster.”

“I never got a lot of things. I’m used to it. Boo, how could your fingers . . . ? Are you all right?”

“Wade didn’t tell you the rest of it, did he?”

“What’s the rest of it?”

“What was written on the mirror. In that house. He didn’t tell you?”

“No. Boo, what are you talkin about?”

He noticed the thin web of scars at her cheek, hidden in the shadow of her hair. “Look, Gussie, I don’t want you thinking I blame you for happened back when we were dumb teenagers. That’s not what I meant. And that’s not how I feel.”

“It’s not?”

“No. Looking back, I blame Wade for letting you borrow his car. And letting you buy spray paint.”

“You blame Wade.”

“And your complete lack of a sense of humor.”

“Boo Taylor, you need to learn to quit while you’re ahead.” She said that with a smile. For a moment, it seemed she wanted to say something else but couldn’t.

“Okay, I quit,” he told her. “I don’t want to, but I will.

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