Read In the Forest of Light and Dark for Free Online Page A

completely, and that’s with includin’ the interest, the processin’ fees and whatever else they can find to pad the bill.
     “THE GODDAMN HOUSE IS ONLY WORTH SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FOR CHRIST SAKE, AND WE STILL OWE EIGHTY-TWO!” He then shouted at me before taking another big sip from the new beer that he’d just popped the top off, swishing it around in his mouth before swallowing. “ Ah, hell… Let them have the goddamn place.”
     “So where will we live?” I then asked hesitantly, my voice starting to break. And, as I waited for him to answer me, I found myself fighting a sob that was beginning to creep up in my throat.
     My Step Daddy Cade then glanced up at me with an ashen look on his face that I had never seen before. It was one of utter disdain and disgust for life. He then let out a sigh and said, “It’s alright, kid… Everythin’s goin’ to be just fine. Your mama and I will figure out somethin’. Don’tcha goes worrying about it. It’s our problem. Not yours. You just worry about gettin’ that money together for the Trans Am. Summer’s half over already, and Ida figured I’d seen you flyin’ around up and down the Gulf in it by now.”
     “Yeah, it’s comin’. I just got a little sidetracked is all,” I said now noticing the clear shakiness in my voice. I then wiped my nose with my wrist after it had been beginning to run. “I just really didn’t plan on losin’ my job at the pizzeria.” I then told him.
     “ Yeah … I know you didn’t, kid.” My step daddy then said to me in a more soothing tone as he sighed once again. “There are alotta crummy people out there.”
     “Look, I gotta go, all right.” I said as I picked up my backpack full of beachwear off of the kitchen table.
     “Sure, kid, sure.” Is all he replied back, and then I watched him pick up the clicker off the coffee table and began going through the channels on the television.
     “Oh, and Cera,”
     “Yeah, Dad,”
     “I mean it. Don’tcha goes worryin’ about any of this. Your mama and I have it under control. You just go about doin’ your thing on findin’ another job so you can get that Trans Am on the road. And, you’ll be needin’ to start thinkin’ about savin’ for college soon too. You only got one more year, ya know.”
     “Yeah, I know.” I said giving him a wan little smile. It was my way of trying to let him know that I would be alright. “I’m gonna head out now and see if I can find somethin’ at Jack’s. I heard they’re hiring.” (Jack’s is a Southern fast-food chain throughout most of Alabama, Mississippi, and I believe possibly in parts of Georgia. They’re your typical burger and fries joint.)
     “Okay, sweetheart, Good luck.”
     “Okay, see ya.” I said, somewhat quietly along with a flicker of a wave as I headed for the door.
     “Oh, and Cera,” My step daddy said, calling out to me again just as I had reached the back door. “You be careful, you hear me? Especially with that, Tucker. I see the way he looks at you. I don’t mind so much that you and your friends are sneaking off into the woods at night to have a couple of beers, but you watch yourself. Seventeen-year-old girls and alcohol don’t mix. It’s a recipe for pregnancy. Just look at what happened to that friend of yours, that Amanda, or your mama for that matter when she had you.”
     “I know, I know.” I said wanting desperately to get the hell out of there and end the conversation.
     “I know you know,” my step daddy then responded and I could tell he was gearing up to go on another one of his tangents. “I’m just sayin’ these boys’ can be pretty slick, is all. I would’ve lied the pants of the Devil to get girls into bed with me when I was your age. So, don’t you go on believin’ any of this guy’s bullshit that he’s in love, or that he’ll be there