Read RANSOM for Free Online Page A

close my mouth several times before words can come out. “Lynkin said not to hurt me,” I point out.
       “He said to try not to hurt you, and I am trying very fucking hard.”
       “Yeah, I can see. Look I wasn’t trying to piss you off. It’s just me. I am brutally honest.”
       “You mean you’re such a heartless bitch that you don’t care who you hurt?” she asks.
       “Some would say so.”
       “I say so.”
       I let out a laugh because she sounds just like Amanda. “So does my best friend, Amanda. She is always telling me to cool it on the honesty.”
       “I like her already!” she states.
        I slide down the wall to the floor and fold my arms around my knees. “Yeah, she is pretty awesome.”
     

     
    Lynkin
     
    The trip to the bar is a blank. I don’t remember getting in the car or any of the turns it took to get here. But here I am, sitting on this hard-as-hell stool with shots of Jack in front of me. It’s five o’clock on a Sunday and I am here, but I am not the only one. The town nut job, Merle, is here, too. That doesn’t make me feel any better.
       I take one shot, then another, and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. I look over the place that I worked all through college. It hasn’t changed much at all in the two years I have been away. Away working my ass off for a good life, and now it is all gone. I slam my fist hard against the top of the bar. Whiskey comes splashing out of the shot glasses that I haven’t downed yet. I’m not going there. I came here to forget, even if just for a little while. Down goes another shot.
       “Boy, you look like you are about to cause some trouble.” I jerk my head only to find crazy Merle standing next to me. “I’ll be damned, it’s Lynkin Conner!” he slurs as he throws his hands in the air, nearly knocking himself over, but luckily there is a stool behind him that he just sits down on.
       “Hello, Merle,” I grind out.
       “What are you beating up on this sad bar top for?” he asks and leans over inspecting the spot where my knuckles put an indention in the old wood. “What’d it ever do to you?”
       “Not a damn thing.” I don’t give him any more than that. I know if I give him an inch, he will run a mile with it and I am not in the mood to deal with his shit right now.
       “ Ya know, drinking doesn’t solve your problems, don’t ya, son?”
       “Yes, I am aware, sir,” I reply.
      “Then what are you doing?” he asks seriously.
       “To be honest, I’m not sure what I am doing anymore, sir,” I say honestly.
       He lets out a laugh. “Sir. You are the only person that has ever called me that in this town.” He looks distant for a minute then continues, “I will give you the best advice I ever received in my life.”
       He pats me once on the back and that’s when I know I might as well give in. He isn’t leaving me alone with my alcohol. “What’s that old man?”
       “Forget it!” he exclaims.
       I shake my head at him and laugh. “Real good advice.”
       “Well that is just scratching the surface of the advice, son.”
       “Ok, then elaborate on it, please.”
       “The things that piss you off or get you down, they are the proverbial shit in your life. Just drop it and move on, because it’s not worth the time you will lose stressing over it. Life is short. Make it worthwhile, because you only get one shot at it,” he explains.
       I know he means well, but this is the kind of thing I have heard my whole life. Life is short, live it while you’re young. Mistakes are just lessons to learn from. Blah, blah, blah. “I hear you.” Is all I say to him and turn back to wave down the bartender on shift.
       “No, you don’t. It’s ok though, because you will soon enough,” he says with a pat to my back. Then, he stands up and walks out of the bar. Well, more like staggers out.
       The bartender wipes the counter off and places