Histories of the Void Garden, Book 1: Pyre of Dreams by Damian Huntley Read Free Book Online Page A

the
assassination of a president, you’d be hog tied and hooded by
now.”
    David laughed,
and inhaled awkwardly, “Shut up Han, they don’t do that.”
    “Oh, I’ve seen
the photos”
    David sat up
and glared at her seriously, “I can’t go back to work.”
    Hannah shook
her head and rolled her eyes, “Of course you can … get over
yourself.”
    David’s mouth
fell open, “Get over myself? You think this is me being embarrassed
to show my face at work? No Han, I mean, I literally can’t go back
to work … Carlton told me I couldn’t even go to the office to talk
to him.”
    Hannah laughed,
her hands covering her mouth, “Shut up!”
    No answer.
    “Shut up!”
    Still no
answer.
    “Oh god David …
you’re Lee Harvey Oswald.”
    He stood up
quickly and walked over to the window facing the back yard, hands
shaking as he filled the carafe with water from the tap. Coffee
would help. Coffee always helped.
    “Oh come on
David, it’s funny because it’s true.”
    David slumped
to the floor with his back against the kitchen cabinets, sobbing,
breaths coming in short, ragged, heaving bursts. Hannah finished
her brother’s half-assed attempt at setting off the coffee, then
slumped to the floor beside him. Sure, this was a big deal, but she
felt like David could at least try to make it easy for her to
sympathize with him. He was such a pussy sometimes, which was fine
… he’d had to deal with a lot of stuff growing up that she had been
too young to even acknowledge rationally, but she’d told him, so
many times that she felt cold, and kind of nauseated when men cried
near her.
    “Hell David,
what’s the worst that could happen?”
    David’s sobbing
ceased momentarily, and he lifted his chin from its resting place
on his knees, “ … fucking shit, I don’t know Han. Maybe, life in
prison … Death penalty?”
    Hannah clamped
her teeth around her knuckle, and took a slow breath to steady her
nerves, “So, I’ll get to keep Spiff, and she’ll grow up a little
bit maladjusted, which, let’s be honest, was definitely on the
cards for her anyway.”
    David started
laughing, but this seemed to have little effect on the flow of
tears, so Hannah dug deep, and draped an arm over her brother’s
shoulder. “Seriously Dave, this is only one of the worst things
imaginable, definitely not the worst. You’re allowed to feel a
little sorry for yourself, but now you need to pick your sorry ass
up off the floor, and put on a happy show for Stephanie, or I swear
to god, I’m going to beat the living shit out of you.”
    With the sound
of tiny feet slapping on the hardwood floor of the kitchen,
Stephanie came running from the den with her hands behind her back,
“Aunt Han, what’s a sphincta?”
    David’s smile
was crooked, but presentable, “What are you watching
Stephanie?”
    “Wayne’s
world.”
    David laughed a
little and coughed, “A sphincter is what stops you from drowning in
the bath when you let one go.”
    Hannah slapped
the back of David’s head playfully, “Don’t listen to your dad
Spiff. Let’s look it up okay?” Hannah pushed with her feet, sliding
her back up the cabinet, and took Stephanie’s hand as she walked
her back into the den.
    David got up
off the floor, and poured himself a coffee. He was glad to be home.
He looked out at the back yard and saw the twisted limping
swing-set that longed for attention. He would fix it. Manual labor
would take his mind off everything.
     
    West stood up from the
couch, glancing around the room, as if one of the porcelain bulls,
or china fishermen might have the answer to Charlene’s question.
What had he given her? Charlene’s fingers stroked the skin of her
neck carefully, tracing a tentative line towards her chest. He knew
that she must be feeling better, and in the long run, that would be
all that would matter to her. He looked back at the porcelain bull,
before finally deciding that so far as demonstrative props went,
this would have to