Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 80969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“I don’t see the issue here. So what if I’m friends with him?”
“Because he’s dangerous!” Guy exclaims.
“He is not dangerous.” Sadie laughs.
“You can laugh, but how do you know he isn’t? Crazy can be passed down genetically, you know.”
“Stop talking shit, Guy,” Sadie tells him.
“Can you please tell me what in the world you are going on about?” I ask them both.
Guy pins me with a knowing stare. “I’m talking about the fact that River’s mom murdered a policeman. Shot him dead.” He puts two fingers to his chest and mimics the firing of a gun with his thumb.
River’s mom killed a cop.
“Guy!” Sadie chastises. “You really need to stop gossiping about people.”
River’s mom murdered a cop.
“It’s not gossip when it’s factual news,” Guy says to Sadie. He looks back at me, a gleam in his eyes. “Everyone knows that River’s mom murdered her cop husband, River’s stepdad. Shot him dead in the kitchen, and River was there when it happened.”
River was there?
“How old was River when it happened?” I find my voice to ask.
Guy looks up in thought. “Like, eight or nine, I think.”
Jesus. He was just a kid.
“What happened to his mom?” I feel bad, asking these things while River is standing over there, waiting for me. But I also feel compelled to know.
“Charged with first-degree murder and got life in prison. She tried to say it was self-defense, but apparently, that was bullshit. The guy was unarmed, and she shot him with his own gun—his police-issued firearm. And she didn’t have a scratch on her.”
“Is she still in prison?” I’m quaking inside, and I’m not exactly sure why.
“Nope.” He shakes his head. “She got shanked in prison.”
“She got what?”
“Jesus, Guy, you really need to stop watching those damn prison shows,” Sadie says to him. “River’s mom was killed by another prisoner,” she clarifies for me.
“Oh. Right.”
She was killed. In prison.
Poor River.
I know his mom murdered someone—his stepdad—but she was still his mom, and he lost her in such awful circumstances. Her and his stepdad.
And I just can’t believe that River’s stepdad was a cop—that we have that connection. Not that it’s a weird connection. Lots of people are police officers. My husband was one. River’s stepdad was one. But the coincidence just feels too similar.
Not that I killed Neil. But there were times when I wanted to.
God, there were so many times when I imagined doing it. But I never did.
I wonder what happened to make his mom do that to her husband. What drove her to kill him like that?
Or maybe nothing drove her at all, except that she was just a bad person. There are plenty of those in the world.
I just can’t imagine what River’s been through and starting at such a young age.
No wonder he’s so guarded.
I feel like my heart is doubling in size for him. For the pain he must have gone through as a child.
I’m standing here, not entirely sure what to do with this overload of information. It’s not like I can go over there and pretend like I don’t know this.
Yes, that’s exactly what I can do.
If he wanted me to know, he would have told me.
And he’s allowed his secrets. God knows I have mine.
If it were me, I wouldn’t want him to come over and dredge my past up.
I definitely wouldn’t.
No, I’ll keep my thoughts to myself and just carry on like before. Like I know nothing about his mom or stepdad.
“Okay …” I take a step back. “Well, I won’t be long.”
“Take your time,” Sadie says to me.
“Just be careful,” Guy says. “Remember, there’s murderous blood running through his veins. So, if he pulls out a gun, run like hell.”
“Not funny, Guy.” Sadie gives a disappointed shake of her head at him.
“What? It was just a joke!” Guy exclaims.
“It was the least funny joke I’ve ever heard,” I say quietly before I turn on my heel and walk back toward River, who is standing exactly where I left him.
I’m kind of feeling bad that I got him to come tonight.
I thought it would be fun.
But he looks like he’d rather be anywhere but here.
“Ready?” I ask as I reach him.
We start walking further out, a small distance away from the hustle of people. I notice River keeps to my left, partially shielding himself from people. His shoulders are turned in. Like he’s trying to make himself smaller, which is impossible because the man is huge.
I push my hands into my pockets and kick a small rock out of the way. “So, the baby’s the size of a green olive at the moment,” I tell him, measuring the size out with my finger and thumb. Not because he’s ever asked or showed any interest in the development of my baby, but because of a want to say something, anything, and to get him talking. “And it weighs about three grams. I follow this website that charts the baby’s growth in comparison to fruit.”