Frannie and Tru by Karen Hattrup Read Free Book Online

be here. I’d done something very bad by coming to this place, and now I was paying for it.
    It was intermission and the room was quieter, music from the radio playing faintly out of a distant speaker. Tru had wandered off. Sparrow was talking to her coworker, some guy who was messing with the sound equipment. I was parked against the back wall, alone.
    The man tried again.
    â€œYou look awfully young to be in here, but I won’t tell anybody.”
    I refused to look at him. I was sure if I said nothing, he would creep away, go back to whatever hole he’d crawled out of.
    â€œI love redheads, you know. Always have.”
    He leaned against the wall next to me and lifted a strand of my hair . My face and palms got hot and sweaty. I thought the word help , over and over again, but couldn’t say it. I couldn’t say athing, my voice paralyzed. The strand of hair was still in his grip, and he started to wind it around his finger, tighter and tighter.
    â€œYou live around here, right? I feel like I’ve seen you. Walking around. Maybe by the park?”
    And then Tru was there, suddenly, fiercely. He put his hand against the wall, so that his arm was between me and the man, who dropped my hair. A beer sloshed in Tru’s other hand, and anger radiated from his whole body. I sensed it from the strain in his neck, the thrust of his chin.
    â€œSeriously?” he asked, and I flinched at how loud his voice was. “Thanks but no thanks, pervert.”
    The guy put his hands in the air like Tru had waved a gun, then slowly backed away. Tru held his position, and I held mine, tucked behind him, Tru’s eyes trailing the man as he snaked away through the crowd. He seemed ready to yell something after him, but then Sparrow was there, looking angry and grabbing us each by a wrist. She pulled us toward the back door.
    â€œThat’s it for tonight. No scenes allowed. I do work here, you know.”
    As we hurried toward the exit, she let go of us and plucked the beer from Tru’s hand. None of us had the little plastic bracelets for people over twenty-one, of course, so where and how he’d gotten the drink I had no idea, but now Sparrow left it on the bar as we hustled out the back entrance and into the alley.
    The door shut with a slam, and the three of us were left in the stagnant summer air, the streetlamp giving off a dim light. We stood in a circle and looked at one another.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Tru said to Sparrow. “Seriously, I am. But some old guy was hitting on Frannie. He was touching her fucking hair.”
    â€œOh god,” Sparrow said. “I didn’t see! Are you okay?”
    I wasn’t sure how to answer, because I wasn’t sure if I was okay. I didn’t want to overreact, but my hands were a little shaky. Everything had happened so fast. I hadn’t had time to think.
    I almost told them all of it, but then I couldn’t imagine standing there and repeating the words he’d said. About how I looked young, how he liked redheads. There was a lump in my throat, but I forced it down.
    â€œIt’s fine,” I finally said, and my voice came out steady. I even managed a casual shrug.
    â€œAre you sure?” Sparrow asked.
    I nodded, and she patted me on the shoulder, mumbled something about how men were repulsive.
    â€œHey, hey,” Tru said with a grin. “Not all men. But I am sorry, Frannie. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”
    He turned ever so slightly away from us, and I heard a click and an inhale. The lighter was gone before I even saw it.
    Sparrow smiled and motioned for us to walk down the dark alley. I stayed two steps behind, watching the two of them pass the joint back and forth as Sparrow told Tru and me about her summer plans.
    She was staying with her aunt Regina and her cousin Devon, working at Siren for spending money and taking graphic designcourses at MICA, prepping for when she’d start her undergrad