I'll Sing for my Dinner by BR Kingsolver Read Free Book Online Page A

her.”
    Remembering Cecily sleeping with that damned knife clutched in her hand, I said, “Don’t sell Cecily short. I have a suspicion her claws are bigger than you think. Jared, if anyone ever gets physical with her, step in quickly, but do it carefully. And if you ever decide to spend a night at home, be careful. The girl sleeps with a big-ass knife in her hand.”
    He gave me a shocked look.
    “As a matter of fact, I think she’s wearing it right now, on a thong around her neck.”
    “You’re kidding me.”
    “No, I’m not. Have you noticed that she never wears low-cut dresses or anything without a collar? When she’s asleep, treat her like a combat vet. I don’t know where she’s been, but wherever it was, she didn’t feel safe.”
    He watched the two women chatting as if they were old friends.
    “So instead of the cougar and the lamb ...”
    “I think you’re looking at the cougar and the lynx. I may be wrong. Cecily might crumple in a confrontation, but I don’t think so. She’s smart, and although we haven’t seen it, I have a feeling she could shred someone with her tongue.”
    I watched Jeri and Cecily. They sat there and talked almost all night. When Jeri got ready to leave, she walked over to me, put her arms around my neck, and kissed me again.
    “You know, Jake, I think you’re a fool for not wanting me in your bed tonight. I’m really not as crazy as you think I am.”
    Stepping away from me, she said, “But you’re not only a fool, but a damned fool and a mean one for keeping that little girl around and not giving her what she wants. Either send her packing, or tell her you love her. Don’t torture her. The Jake I know would never be as cruel as you’re being to her.”
    Then she walked out and didn’t look back.
    I remembered that conversation with Jared a couple of weeks later when a drunk started heckling Cecily on stage. I was hurrying toward him when she stopped singing.
    “Oh, my,” she said. “You must be the guy people have been telling me about. Are you the guy who fell in the pig trough and got his balls chewed off? Is that why you want to pick on a girl?”
    The audience laughed him out of the bar. I only had to steer a little bit.
    “I’m terribly sorry about that,” I heard Cecily say as I shoved the drunk out of the door. “Some people can’t hold their liquor very well. And you know what happens then, don’t you? They open their mouths and let everyone know how smart they are. It’s usually a disappointment. Does anyone have a request?”
    ~~~
    Chapter 6
Cecily
     
    I had a conversation with one of Jared’s girlfriends at the bar one night. Jake told me that Jared and Karen had been on and off for about two years. I went to get a glass of fruit juice on my break and sat down next to her at the bar. Kathy took my order and brought my juice.
    “How’s it going?” I asked Karen. She looked kind of down.
    “Hell, Cecily, I don’t know.”
    “What’s the matter?” I was still somewhat surprised that women here liked me. I never had girlfriends, but Jeri, Karen, and a couple of other regulars at the bar, along with Kathy and the waitresses, seemed to accept me and treat me like I belonged in Greeley, Colorado. I never felt that people treated me like an outsider.
    “I’m just getting tired of Jared treating me like an afterthought,” she said. “I know he’s allergic to commitment, but sometimes, I think I should stop being a fool and move on.”
    “Do you love him?” To me, the question wasn’t a formality. A woman might stay with a man for a lot of reasons.
    “Yeah, I do. I know I’m a damned fool, because he obviously isn’t in love with me, but every time I break it off, I end up running back to him.”
    I asked what to me was the most important question, and I watched her face carefully, “How does he treat you?”
    “He treats me like a queen when he’s with me. He never forgets my birthday. Even when I broke up with him, he still bought