Dead Of Winter (The Rift Book II) by Robert J. Duperre, Jesse David Young Read Free Book Online Page B

have to be alone any more. We got our memories, and we got each other, man. Shit, things’ve happened to all of us that wasn’t so good. We’ve seen each other at our absolute fucking worst . And what’d we do? We helped pull through, that’s what. We’re still alive, fellas . And fuck it all if it ain’t gonna stay that way.”
    “ Correctamundo ! ” shouted Hector.
    “Damn straight!” continued the mullet man. “And actually, I’m a bit jealous of you, Lou. You talk about your dad and I wish that was me. I woulda killed to have someone in my life like that. The piece o’ shit that got my mom pregnant was one of the nastiest fuckers you’d ever meet. He was a drunk, and my mom loved him more than anyone in the world, me included. He’d beat her up and make a mess of her face then turn on me. He put me in the hospital at least twenty times before I finished grade school. That bastard never took me to a game. He never took me anywhere . Hell, I woulda taken a how was your day kiddo? and been happier than a pig in shit. I wanted him to love me. To acknowledge me. But I didn’t get none of that.”
    Luis frowned. “I’m sorry, Larry.”
    “You see, I accept that. I want you to feel my pain.” He stopped pacing. “I want you to know that there’s been good shit in our lives. You know why? ‘Cause I’ve been happy, too. We all gotta remember that. When I met my ex-wife, I thought I’d died and gone to the big pig roast in the sky. Of course, we did end up in a bad divorce after five years and I wouldn’t trust the bitch to kill herself with a garden hose in her tailpipe, but at the time, I was happier than anyone.”
    “I have something to say,” Stan said. His lips were clenched in a sullen expression, yet a mischievous glint appeared in his unremarkable eyes.
    “Oh yeah?” said Larry. “What’s that?”
    “Fuck you.”
    Horace laughed along with everyone else at the deadpan nature of his delivery.
    “But seriously, guys,” Stan said, finishing off a laugh that didn’t seem quite sincere. “Larry’s right. When Kirsten died that morning in the diner, I was devastated. I wanted to kill myself right then and there. Heck, sometimes I still do. She was my life. I’ll never meet anyone like her again. And the way things are looking right now, I don’t think any of us will even see another woman again. Ever. But hey, I’ve come to grips with that a bit. I don’t think I’ll totally get over it, but at least when I’m asleep and I remember the way she looked and the way she smelled, I don’t have the urge to put a pistol in my mouth and pull the trigger. At least not all the time.”
    He cleared his throat and continued. “I know I have to go on…for her. She’d want me to live. I owe that to her. I’m the one who survived this whole mess. I have to make the best of it while I still can.” He smiled. “I have you guys to thank for that.”
    “I know exactly what you’re saying!” exclaimed Hector. He rubbed his hands in front of the fire with a far-away look in his eyes. “I mean, no use crying over things we can’t control, right?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Yep, and the thing is, I been pissed off for years. Look at me. I was a short, fat kid…but I was a fucking great soccer player. I was a frigging god in high school. I never paid no attention in class, though, and didn’t do no homework. All I wanted to do was kick that ball. My folks, they wanted me to be the first Conseca to go to college. They figured I’d get in on a scholarship or something. Didn’t happen. My grades fucking sucked and my parents basically disowned me. They told me to go away and not come back ‘till I got my shit together. I hated them so much for that. My padre told me I was a lazy fuck! Can you believe that?”
    Everyone, excluding Horace, nodded.
    “Yeah, fucking hilarious guys. But you’re right. I was.”
    “You know, Hec ,” interjected Dennis, “everyone goes through that sort of shit. It’s