Down On My Knees by Victor McGlothin Read Free Book Online

this and be done with it. Everything you’ve said about him may be true, but I don’t mix business with pleasure, no matter how enticing. More importantly, I already have one son, and I’m not in the practice of raising some other woman’s for her. Thank you, and do close the door on your way out.”
    Grace held the stack of Internet articles above the wastepaper basket, working up the strength to chuck them. When she felt Marcia standing outside her door peeking through the blinds, the strength she needed prevailed. As the pages of Allen’s exploits hit the bottom of the trash pail, so did his chances of having Grace play the Big-Sister-Mama-Lover-Friendrole in his or any other man’s true-to-life after-dinnertheater. She was becoming more determined to land the starring role as The Only Woman in a deserving man’s production of Happily Ever After. Anything else was unacceptable.

5
    Boys to Men
    I t was six-thirty when Grace arrived at John Quinn High School. Rain was falling like sifted flour. She collected a handful of reports from the leather satchel lying on the front passenger seat. When it didn’t appear the storm would subsideanytime soon, she winced at the thought of getting drenched before making it to the back door of the gymnasium.While searching frantically for her umbrella, Grace ran across a plastic poncho stuffed under the backseat. She’d purchased it months before for just such an occasion, hoping that she’d never actually have to use it. But there it was, still folded neatly in its clear package. After wrestling the ponchoover her head, she opened the car door and set out to brave the elements. She felt like a wet dog striding over puddlesin the uneven parking lot. If she hadn’t clutched the reportstightly against her chest, they would have taken flight in the gusting wind. Turning back never crossed her mind because her child was inside, preparing for his first high-schoolbasketball game. Getting caught in a downpour wasn’t enough to deter her from being there, for it would have been catastrophic had she missed his shining moment.
    Once inside, Grace shed her plastic shawl, then shook droplets of water from her hands and hair. A short jaunt to the ladies’ room served as a rest haven, as she patted herself dry as best she could with a pile of paper towels. Since no one really attended freshmen ball games, she took comfort in knowing the crowd would be sparse. Parents who dared to fight the traffic and flash flooding wouldn’t give a rat’s behindabout her tattered appearance, she reasoned, while exitingthe gloomy little room where graffiti detailed the names and sexual prowess of boys who rated far too experienced for their age, according to the girls eager to share it. Grace smiled when she didn’t see André’s name scribbled among others. There were far too many Kwans and Shuns mixed in to tell them apart.
    A heftily built white man with oily skin and thick, dark hair smiled cordially at Grace as she passed through the gym doors. “That’ll be three dollars, ma’am,” he informed her. “Gotta charge something if the refs are gonna get paid.” His full belly pressed against the open cash box, which rested on a rickety card table, and his breath smelled like a pack of menthol cigarettes.
    â€œCan’t have a sporting event without officials,” Grace agreed, digging through her purse for small bills. “Can you break a twenty?”
    â€œYep, but I’ll have to wait until halftime when the snack bar opens,” the man huffed, nearly out of breath.
    â€œTell you what, keep the whole thing. My son’s playing tonight, and it’ll be worth every penny.” The stubby doorkeeperdidn’t respond to Grace’s comment. Instead, he noddedhis thick head back and forth like nothing she would ever say or do mattered to him, then he went back to droolingover the group of cheerleaders