Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“I believe ya do, Mrs. Florence. I’m a natural born killer but people don’t think men like me are capable of such things, and that’s just how I like it. I guess I’d be scared if I honestly believed I had someone to answer to. I’m agnostic, but the fact that you can do what you’re doin’, playin’ with all our heads like this, makes me feel mighty strange. You know I love very few people in this world… and Axel and Legend are two of ’em. You know you can use them to break me down, so here we are. I’m onto you, Mrs. Florence. I will fight you because if I dig up the past, and it’s not to my likin’, all hell is going to break loose! Somethin’ is goin’ on. I’m crazy, but not stupid!
“Regardless of that, you get to watch us, some way, somehow… knowin’ our every move and thought. Don’t seem quite fair, if ya ask me.” He drew on the cigarette, then blew smoky loops. “I think we should know what moves you used to make, too. What promises did you make, Mrs. Florence? Why didn’t you ever have any kids of your own? Why were you the only Black teacher at our school at that time, huh? What made you stay and set up roots here? We barely saw your husband … only knew he existed through you.
“So many questions I have. And I’m going to get those answers. See now, I’m a reporter. Back when I was hittin’ the pavement and workin’ for that news station in Atlanta, I knew what it felt like to chase a story. Now, I talk about cold cases. Got my own successful column. I have a fan base. Ain’t that funny? Ironic, huh? I’m going to find out about ya, Mrs. Florence. All of it.” He narrowed his eyes as his anger grew in his gut. He tasted his rage, acidic and sharp, frothing at the back of his throat. “You want me to open my mouth and talk?
“Well then, I want you to spill your guts too. The dead can talk. You’re proof of that. It’s only right that the livin’ be allowed to be silent. Speak no evil! It’s only fair!”
He picked up the lighter, hopped onto his feet, and threw it across the room.
“You want me to keep that damn promise? Well, I want to find out exactly who I was tellin’ my secrets to. I was silent with the world, but I spoke to you. You were like some beautiful Black angel. I could barely look at you without grinnin’… I was too enamored with you to say terrible things, so I spoke no evil. But now, I need to see what’s under that halo of yours, and those white feathers, too.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed. “I ain’t Axel or Legend, beloved. They love easily. I don’t love at all. I done lost the best parts of me. All three of y’all are in the ground. My heart died the day they put my mama in that grave. I lost my humanity when I stood over your body in that casket, and my tears dropped on your blouse. Any hope for me yesterday is lost today. The last shred of decency in me, my aunt took with her. I ain’t got no gatekeeper. I’m just out here—alone. Unleashed onto the unsuspecting world. So give me your best shot, Mrs. Florence. I ain’t got shit else to lose…”
…A few days later
I’m glad I got here early. Look at all of these people.
Azure parked her car across the street from the small brick home, the windows with bright yellow curtains and an American flag waving out front. It was a cool gray day, and the advertisement said there was a garage sale right there in Portland. She’d made the twenty-seven-minute trip over from Fairdale. Every few months or so, she’d spend an entire weekend searching online and in the local coffee shop papers for nearby garage and estate sales, looking for hidden gems and deals. She’d been in a state of decoration since moving into her new apartment.
She got out of the car and zipped up her caramel leather jacket trimmed with ivory fur around the collar, as there was a nip in the autumn air. As she made her way across the street, ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,’ by Journey, was playing on a radio.
People were smiling and chattering amongst themselves, picking up trinkets, plastic flowers, and floral raincoats.
“Hi! Good mornin’!” A handsome man with dark hair stated, waving his hand. The way he looked at her and kept waving long after he finished speaking made Azure think something may have been going on with him. Perhaps he had a learning disability, or was on the autism spectrum.