A Tree Born Crooked by Steph Post Read Free Book Online Page A

of trouble. Probably drinking out at someone’s house, then gonna come in here piss drunk and give me a headache.”
    James moved away from Adelyn. She narrowed her eyes at him and began chewing on her drink straw. James sighed.  
    “Yeah, might as well give me one more. That’s it, though. If he don’t show soon, I’m just gonna leave and he can come find me if he needs to.”
    James watched the amber liquid splash into his glass. Behind Hollis, a woman came out of the back room. She had a stack of receipts in one hand and a bottle of Budweiser in the other. She surveyed the crowd and then disappeared. James had caught just a flash of her.  
    Adelyn was sulking now, stirring her drink around and around with the straw trying to make a little whirlpool. Either she was mad or trying to get James to think she was mad and act like he cared. Fortunately, Adelyn’s friend returned just in time. She was even sloppier than Adelyn and hanging onto a man with a bull neck wearing a tight, black T-shirt. The guy looked bored. The friend smacked her gum and put her arm around James’ neck.
    “I tell you who I am yet? My name’s Trisha. But you get to know me better, honey, and you can call me Trish.”  
    She winked at him and James tried to shrug her arm off.  
    “Hi. Nice to meet you.”
    “So, this is James, huh?”
    “That’s who I am.”
    The woman came out the doorway again and James tried to angle himself so as to look past Adelyn and see the woman’s face, but before he could, she turned around as if she had forgotten something.  
    “Adelyn was telling me ‘bout you, when we was sitting over there. ‘Fore you saw us.”
    Trisha swayed and James seized the opportunity to shift her so that she was leaning fully on the other man.  
    “Well, there ain’t much to tell.”
    Trisha craned her neck awkwardly to look at the man holding her up.  
    “Now, Frank here. It’s Frank, right? He was in the Marines. Can you believe that? I mean, saving lives and shit.”
    Trisha was addressing Adelyn now and James was able to lean further away from the small group. For a brief moment they forgot about him and Adelyn busied herself with stroking the marine’s chest and telling him how brave she thought he was. James kept his eyes on the doorway. He didn’t know why he was so interested in the woman in the back room of the bar. He hadn’t even seen her face, but it was something about the way she moved. Easy, like she was gliding through water and nothing could touch her. At this point, though, he would have been interested in just about anything that didn’t involve his high school ex, a marine, and the drunk girl fawning over him.  
    Adelyn rubbed the man’s arm and purred.  
    “I just think that’s something else. I mean really, you rescuing all them children like that. It just gets me right here, you know? Right in my heart.”
    They were still ignoring him. James waved Hollis over and leaned across the bar to whisper.  
    “I can’t take much more of this. I’m gonna step outside so I can breathe for a second. Just hold my tab, I’ll be right back.”
    Hollis winked at him. James stood up and immediately Adelyn was on him.
    “Where you going?”
    “Just outside. I need some air. I’m not leaving yet.”
    “You want some company?”
    Her eyes were hopeful and for an instant James felt sorry for her.  
    “Nah, I’m good. I’ll be right back.”
    The cool night air washed over James and it was the best thing he had felt in days. What in the hell was he doing back in Crystal Springs? It was the same town, with the same people telling the same stories. The same person, even, telling the same story. James felt sick to his stomach. He should have just lit out last night after hearing that he hadn’t even been invited to Orville’s funeral. He didn’t want to talk to Rabbit. He didn’t want to talk to his mama. He wanted to run away, get out of there as fast as he could, and drive until the sun came up