Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“So, today’s the day.” He shoots me a smile and nods, satisfied. The man is good, through and through. It’s just a shame those corrupt pigs, the idiot jury, and the cunt judge didn’t see him that way.
“Today’s the day.”
“She’s waiting for you.”
“She’s waiting for you, too.”
He smiles again, folding his massive arms across his chest. “You keep her warm for me, okay.”
I grin, wanting to hug the fuck out of my buddy. Finding Lory is going to rock my world but knowing there’s a time coming soon when I’m going to be reunited with both my best friends is what I need for everything to be right.
“I’ll keep her warm, and when you get out, you’ll get a whole ‘no sharing’ week.”
“You better keep that promise,” Rock laughs.
“I will, brother. I will.”
***
I don’t have much to take when I leave, but I’ll take this image of him smiling in my mind. He’s happy that I’m getting out. And happy that he has a good girl waiting for him on the outside. He’ll hold it together until then. I know he will.
The Mexican air is so warm and thick that wearing a shirt is stifling. The bag on my shoulder chaffs, and my back is slick with sweat, but none of it matters. I’ve finally made it to the place Kinkaid told us about with his convoluted story. He better have a sandwich waiting for me after all this!
I can’t find the monument despite having a cellphone with GPS. Maps were never my strong point, and I’m too jacked up to concentrate.
An old woman with gray-streaked dark hair, sun-warmed skin, and a bright red dress passes me, and I ask if she can point me to the Monument to Motherhood. She looks at me quizzically, and for a moment, I wonder if she hasn’t understood me. Frustrated, I rub the back of my neck.
“There,” she points with a smile. “Straight, straight, straight. You see it.” Her accent is thick, but her directions are clear.
“Gracias.” I’m immediately embarrassed by my terrible accent, but she smiles.
“No hay problema.”
I glance at my watch, cursing that I left it so close to get the bus from my last stop. I’ll be late, and who knows how long Kinkaid will wait past three p.m. If I miss him, it’ll be another seven days before there’s another opportunity to find them.
Breaking into a run, I sprint in the direction the woman pointed me in as the hot Mexican sun beats relentlessly against my head. My mouth is so dry, but I push through, frantically looking for this stupid statue.
And suddenly, there it is. A white statue of a mother nursing a baby and embracing a small child. And it isn’t Kinkaid waiting for me, but Lory, bent over a book, her dark hair hanging over one shoulder. I stop short, panting, as I stare at her. She’s filled out a little, making the apples of her cheeks rounder. Her skin carries a tan that helps her blend in with the other people milling around on a Tuesday afternoon. Her white dress is soft, loose, and light, and she’s wearing gold sandals and a shell ankle bracelet that make me so ravenous for her. I grit my teeth.
She’s waiting for me.
Me.
I brush my hands on my shorts and lick my lips. Maybe Lory senses me watching her because her eyes lift.
For a few seconds, which felt much longer, we stared at each other.
Then she runs to me, throwing herself into my arms, and I fucking cry because that’s the man she’s made me. Not big bad tough Hyde who’ll fuck a person up for saying one thing out of turn. But James, a man who has traveled for days to start a new life away from everything he knows. James, who wants to love a girl called Lory and become a baker because she told him it was possible.
James, who doesn’t want the darkness to take hold of him ever again.
24
ROCK
REBIRTH
I’m coming for you, Little Bird. I can’t think of what else to write because getting out of here is making my mind antsy. All I know is that waiting to be with you again has been the sweetest torture.
Keep safe, and I’ll see you soon.
Rock
“Tomorrow,” a gruff, familiar voice says. I look up from the book I’m reading, finding Warden Grady leaning against the bookshelf closest to me. I straighten in my seat, lowering the book to my lap.
“Yes.”
The library isn’t busy, but people are around, so this conversation is awkward.
He nods. “We won’t see you again.”
“You won’t,” I assure him.
“Good. Good.” He presses his lips between his teeth. His watery eyes move around the room. “Sometimes, people pass through our lives for bad, sometimes for good. The journey isn’t always easy… but I think it gets us where we’re supposed to go.”