Dray by Tess Oliver Read Free Book Online Page B

as I reached the door.
    I stopped and looked back at her. Sometimes it seemed like she was in bed so much, she was beginning to dissolve into the sheets and pillows. She was thinner every time I came, but she still lit up the room. “I will, Nana. Take care.”
    I reached my car and realized the shock of the broken bone had worn off and my hand was throbbing painfully again. I slid into the seat, pulled out my phone and dialed.
    “Hello, Dray?”
    “Hey Mom.”
    “Sweetheart, it is very late here. Did you forget the time difference?” The bitchiness in her tone nearly made me hang up.
    “Yeah, I know. Didn’t mean to wake you but I needed to let you know—” Once again the words caught in my throat.
    “What is it Dray? Are you all right?”
    “Dad died.”
    The silence was long enough that I looked at my phone to see if was still connected.
    A tiny sound came through the speaker. “Sorry to just blurt it out, Mom. I didn’t know how else to say it. The doctor thinks it was his heart.”
    She sniffled through the phone. “How are you doing, Sweetheart?”
    “I don’t know, Mom. I’m O.K. I guess.” My words broke. “He called me earlier to tell me he didn’t feel well, but I didn’t hear the message until it was too late.” Even in death, the man had succeeded in fucking with my head.
    “Dray, Sweetheart, I’ll be on the first available flight home.”
    The weight of the day felt like a lead blanket on my chest, and my hand hurt so badly I wanted to smack it against something to deaden the pain again. “See you when you get home, Mom.”
    The drive home seemed endless, and the hypnotic rhythm of the brake lights on the traffic jammed freeway nearly put me to sleep. It felt as if I’d lived three lives in the past forty eight hours, three long-ass, shitty lives.
    Aside from the rattling of ropes and pulleys, the boat marina was quiet beneath the moonless sky. I held my hand against my stomach as I plodded along the wood planks of the dock. I’d been in such a daze, I hadn’t noticed that the lights were on in the cabin of the houseboat.
    I stepped onto the deck and opened the door. Nix stood up from the couch with a six pack of beer in each hand. “Figured you might need some of this.”
    I swallowed hard and nodded. He put the beer on the table, walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “Looking at your face and the way that hand is wrapped, I’d guess it’s been a pretty fucked up day.”
    An unexpected laugh spurted from my mouth. “Let’s just put it this way, after the last two days, I’m going to need both of those six packs.” I held up my wrapped hand. “And when I’m drunk enough, I want you to get a knife and cut off this hand. It hurts like fucking hell.”
    We plopped down on the couch, and we each picked up a can. I dropped my head back and drank until the ache in my throat had been replaced by the smoothing sensation of beer. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and lifted up the can. “Here’s to my old man, worst fucking father a kid could ask for.”
    Nix clanged his beer can against mine. “Here’s to the shit-fest we call life.” He took a swig and then lifted it again. “Oh, and here’s to my first experience as a surgeon.” He looked at my wrapped hand. “I don’t think there’s anything sharper than a butter knife in that galley.”
    I shrugged and took another drink. “As I told you, I’m going to be really drunk, so you can just hack away.”
    We sat in silence for awhile and then I lifted my can again. “Here’s to the people in my life who matter.” I looked over at him, and he pressed his can against mine. “Thanks for coming, Nix.”

Chapter 7
    Dray
    A California rainstorm was about as rare as people saying nice things about my dad, but both happened on the same August day. Dark, ominous clouds, heavy with warm summer rain, hung low over the gravesite. And even though there was no sunlight beaming down, the world seemed to brighten