Read Experiment in Terror 04 Lying Season for Free Online Page A
Authors: Karina Halle
keeper. Imagine how skinny you’d get around him! Maybe then you could do a fitness show instead.”
There was no use in saying anything. I swallowed my indignation with the last few gulps of my wine and soon the conversat i on flowed to the local college basketball team and other things, leaving me locked in my head with thoughts that went nowhere.
CHAPTER FOUR
I’d like to say that I escaped my dad’s dinner the other night with no other humiliations or poignant conversations, but that wasn’t the case.
At the end of the night, when everyone had had too much wine and had stuffed themselves to the gills, I was accosted by Uncle Al as I was heading back from the bathroom.
“ Perry,” he said, placing a gentle hand on my arm. “Could I have a word with you?”
I nodded quickly, knowing that there was something on Al’s mind for most of the dinner but not knowing what it was.
He led me past the kitchen and to the backdoor that let out into the staff parking lot, surrounded by overstuffed garbage cans and a few stray cats hanging around. I crossed my arms against the cold and watched as Al stuck a moldy doorstop into the door so it wouldn’t lock behind us.
“ Are we allowed to be back here?” I asked, eyeing a tabby warily.
“ This place is like a second home to me,” Al said jovially.
“ Are you planning to off me?, I jokingly asked. “Because this is looking like a Sopranos set-up.”
“ Nothing like that, I just wanted to give you some advice.” He walked forward a few feet and stopped. The yellow light above the door obscured his face, making him look more and more like a mobster. I knew he was just my Uncle Al but it frightened me how overactive my imagination was these days.
“ Perry…” he started and then trailed off. I couldn’t see his expression in the dark but I could tell his eyes were probably closed and his forehead was scrunched up dramatically. “I worry about you.”
Oh, here we go again.
“ Not in the way your mother worries about you,” he said quickly. “Just…in a fatherly way. I’m sure if Daniel” (my dad) “wasn’t tipsy right now, and wasn’t so bullheaded about you, he’d be telling you the same thing.”
I shivered against the chilly breeze and took a step away from the shadowy garbage bins. “Sorry, it’s freaking freezing out here.”
“ I know, just give me a minute. Just…listen to me. I don’t want you to say anything until I’m done and then we can go inside. You can get all defensive in the warmth.”
I eyed him suspiciously, totally unsure of what he was going to say.
He reached over and pressed his finger into the space above my heart. I looked down at this finger and looked up at him, confused.
“ I think you going to Seattle, you staying with Dex and his girlfriend, I think…”
It’s a bad idea , I thought.
“ I think it’s a good idea,” he finished. I looked at him, surprised. He put more pressure on his finger. He continued, his voice grave, “You’ve got this hole in your heart, Perry. I can see it on your face. You’re so beautiful, bella, you really are, but you look so…sad. You’ve got this hole, I can see it and it is bleeding out slowly. It’s clotted only by hope. This hope, based on maybes and what ifs, is killing you. This pin is small and it moves quietly. You need a knife. Get over it. Face the finality of it all and move on.”
I was speechless. I stepped back a foot so his finger was no longer above this so-called hole in my heart.
“ Are you saying you want my heart to be broken?” I asked incredulously.
“ It will heal. And you’ll be stronger for it. Much stronger. If you go, you’ll get hurt. But it’ll be worth it in the end.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I couldn’t believe it and I didn’t want to believe it. Yeah, I knew that going to Seattle was going to suck in many ways but it was just another thing to “man up” about. I’d get through it. But I
There was no use in saying anything. I swallowed my indignation with the last few gulps of my wine and soon the conversat i on flowed to the local college basketball team and other things, leaving me locked in my head with thoughts that went nowhere.
CHAPTER FOUR
I’d like to say that I escaped my dad’s dinner the other night with no other humiliations or poignant conversations, but that wasn’t the case.
At the end of the night, when everyone had had too much wine and had stuffed themselves to the gills, I was accosted by Uncle Al as I was heading back from the bathroom.
“ Perry,” he said, placing a gentle hand on my arm. “Could I have a word with you?”
I nodded quickly, knowing that there was something on Al’s mind for most of the dinner but not knowing what it was.
He led me past the kitchen and to the backdoor that let out into the staff parking lot, surrounded by overstuffed garbage cans and a few stray cats hanging around. I crossed my arms against the cold and watched as Al stuck a moldy doorstop into the door so it wouldn’t lock behind us.
“ Are we allowed to be back here?” I asked, eyeing a tabby warily.
“ This place is like a second home to me,” Al said jovially.
“ Are you planning to off me?, I jokingly asked. “Because this is looking like a Sopranos set-up.”
“ Nothing like that, I just wanted to give you some advice.” He walked forward a few feet and stopped. The yellow light above the door obscured his face, making him look more and more like a mobster. I knew he was just my Uncle Al but it frightened me how overactive my imagination was these days.
“ Perry…” he started and then trailed off. I couldn’t see his expression in the dark but I could tell his eyes were probably closed and his forehead was scrunched up dramatically. “I worry about you.”
Oh, here we go again.
“ Not in the way your mother worries about you,” he said quickly. “Just…in a fatherly way. I’m sure if Daniel” (my dad) “wasn’t tipsy right now, and wasn’t so bullheaded about you, he’d be telling you the same thing.”
I shivered against the chilly breeze and took a step away from the shadowy garbage bins. “Sorry, it’s freaking freezing out here.”
“ I know, just give me a minute. Just…listen to me. I don’t want you to say anything until I’m done and then we can go inside. You can get all defensive in the warmth.”
I eyed him suspiciously, totally unsure of what he was going to say.
He reached over and pressed his finger into the space above my heart. I looked down at this finger and looked up at him, confused.
“ I think you going to Seattle, you staying with Dex and his girlfriend, I think…”
It’s a bad idea , I thought.
“ I think it’s a good idea,” he finished. I looked at him, surprised. He put more pressure on his finger. He continued, his voice grave, “You’ve got this hole in your heart, Perry. I can see it on your face. You’re so beautiful, bella, you really are, but you look so…sad. You’ve got this hole, I can see it and it is bleeding out slowly. It’s clotted only by hope. This hope, based on maybes and what ifs, is killing you. This pin is small and it moves quietly. You need a knife. Get over it. Face the finality of it all and move on.”
I was speechless. I stepped back a foot so his finger was no longer above this so-called hole in my heart.
“ Are you saying you want my heart to be broken?” I asked incredulously.
“ It will heal. And you’ll be stronger for it. Much stronger. If you go, you’ll get hurt. But it’ll be worth it in the end.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I couldn’t believe it and I didn’t want to believe it. Yeah, I knew that going to Seattle was going to suck in many ways but it was just another thing to “man up” about. I’d get through it. But I