Monochrome by H.M. Jones Read Free Book Online Page A

that puffed out unattractively at the knees. She would’ve laughed at herself, if the situation were not so tense.
    “Slow down, Ishmael! I want to know what happened back there.”
    She caught up to him and grasped his coat sleeve. He shrugged her hand away.
    “It doesn’t concern you.”
    She stepped in front of him. “I think it does.”
    He tried to hide his face from her, but she noticed his cheek was twice its normal size. She reached towards him. “That’s bad. Let me see it.”
    He flinched away from her touch and stared off into the trees. “It’s fine. He just went too far. Trying to tell me how to do my job…”
    He paced back and forth. “I know how to do my fucking job! I’ve been doing it for…” He paused, glared at the trees, searched them, and then broke out in laughter.
    Abigail backed away from him, wondering if the punch he’d endured scrambled his head.
    “What’s so funny?”
    He swung around, a maniacal gleam in his black eyes. “I don’t know how long I’ve been doing this job. But I do know how many people I’ve kept here, away from their families, their friends, their chance at happiness…”
    He paused and walked closer to her, his fists shaking. She backed away from his intensity. He lowered his voice. “Do you want to know how many people I’ve kept here, chained, to this awful place?”
    She shook her head, a little afraid of his tone and demeanor. “Ishmael, you didn’t…”
    He interrupted her, seething. “You don’t know anything about it. ” He stopped his own train of thought and shook his head slowly, evening his tone. “Twelve. That’s how many. Twelve have stayed here instead of moving on. Stayed here because of me.”
    Abigail wanted to ask him to explain to her what he felt she didn’t understand, but she saw this was not the best time for it. Besides, she wasn’t sure she wanted an honest answer. She’d only known him for a couple of hours, and he’d completely turned her idea of him upside down.
    She thought, hours ago, he was uncaring, maybe even lazy. She was mistaken. He was clearly erratic and passionate, though he tried to play at apathy. And that meant he was dangerous. She needed to make sure he knew she was dangerous, too.
    She moved to stand in front of him and roughly pushed his shoulder, to reel his attention away from the trees. He gazed at her, surprised, but listening.
    She put her hands on her hips, the definition of a brick wall. “Luckily, my staying here isn’t up to you. You can’t fail me because I don’t depend on you. It’s my choice, you said. And I’ve chosen to leave.”
    She was inches away from him now. His eyes were stuck to his shoes. “Look at me,” she demanded in her best scolding mom voice.
    He lifted his head and focused his black eyes on her green. She felt a chill move through her body, but she continued. “I’ve already made the choice to go back to my husband and child, and nothing you say or do will change that. Once I make a decision, I follow through. Okay?”
    He stalked past her. “Don’t let me hold you back then.” He motioned her ahead with a mocking swoop of his arm. She noticed the shirt under his coat changed to coal black.
    She started to walk but paused at his side. “Ishmael, I don’t care what happened before. I’m not them. This time will be different. I will get home.”
    She noticed his face soften. She walked ahead but shot back. “And don’t fight on my behalf. This place is unvarying enough without you getting punched in the face. Your face was one of the only things not blue here, and now look at it!”
    She heard Ishmael snort to himself, and shuffle his feet behind her. “And don’t drag your feet. It’ll take us forever to get to the border if you do, and it’s bad for your shoes.”
    She walked backwards, motioning in big circles with her arms for him to hurry.
    His grin almost touched his eyes. “You’re a dork. I’m leading a dork,” he muttered. She nodded in