Greener Pastures - A Sensual Interracial BWWM Romance Short Story from Steam Books by Steam Books, Stacey Allure Read Free Book Online Page B

it, even! I have the car, it’s sitting right there with a tank of gas in it and everything. I even have the school parking pass. Everything will be fine; I can just take the car…”
    “Trina,” Gramma told her. “If you get caught driving without a license you’re gonna get yourself into some big trouble that you really don’t need right now.”
    “Yeah, but Gramma, I’m not gonna get caught—”
    “You have your whole life ahead of you, child.  Don’t start it off like this, by cheating.  You have to live honestly.”
    Gramma was a sweet woman, but underneath the warm southern exterior Trina could tell there was an old battle axe underneath.  Gramma was old and set in her ways and mindful of authority.  If it weren’t for their recent record on civil rights Trina figured Gramma would probably vote Republican.
    “I…” Trina started.
    She let the word hang there for a second, that awful oxygen pumping seemingly getting louder in the vacuum of any other sound.
    Trina finally continued.  “I guess you’re right.”
    Trina’s gaze lowered and she distracted herself by petting the fluffy Pomeranian dog Gramma had named Annie.  Trina liked the dog, who was given to Gramma by Uncle Marvin a few years ago to help keep her company after Gramps died, but at this moment she was mostly petting her to give her hands something to do and give her something else to look at so she wouldn’t have to face what she was sure was a judgmental glare of Gramma.
    Gramma’s expression softened, though, and she reached over to the stand and picked up the remote to the TV, turning it on. “You’ll do just fine, Trina,” she assured her.  “You’re used to walking and getting on buses in the city.  It’s no different here in town.  You can handle that for a week or two.”
    Trina nodded as Gramma flipped the channels until she found her favorite game show.  That was Gramma’s life right now, sitting on the couch, having the machine give her oxygen, watching game shows and soap operas on TV, only getting up to feed the dog or herself.
    “I’m going to go to my room,” Trina told her as she got up from the sofa.
    Trina closed the door behind her and pulled out her iPad, a graduation gift from her Aunt in Atlanta, and booted it up.  She mooched off the next-door neighbor’s unsecured wireless network—Gramma wasn’t subscribed to any internet service herself—and she logged in online to see what her friends from high school were up to.
    She smiled but sighed as she scrolled through the various photos and status updates.  Some of her friends had stayed in Chicago, some of them had moved to other cities like Houston or Atlanta, but they all seemed to be having a blast, making the most of life.
    …while Trina was here in Nowheresville, Kentucky.  Population: her.
    Trina tried her best to shake off the feeling.  She was starting school!  It was a whole new life.  She’d be surrounded by like-minded young people.  She’d make friends.  Trina convinced herself she would make the best of this situation.
    ~ ~ ~
    Rain.
    Why did it have to be raining?
    It was 7:00 in the morning, Trina had gotten dressed and gathered her supplies in her backpack, and she was staring at the window.
    It was pouring.
    Why did it have to be now?  It was just her luck, though.  Well, not really.  It rained all the time here; it was how the place got to be so damn green in the first place.  But it really made an awful impression on her first day of school.
    Trina put on her rain coat—Gramma and Uncle Marvin made sure that was one of the first things she bought when she had arrived—and opened up her umbrella as she opened the front door and stepped out.  Surprisingly she realized as she went on her way, the air wasn’t cold, not like it would be if it were raining this early in the morning in Chicago.
    The pitter-patter of the raindrops falling on her umbrella was the dominant sound as Trina walked alongside the driveway,