Shelter by Ashley John Read Free Book Online Page B

to admit, he was looking forward to his mom’s chicken as he sat at the table. Caden had never been able to find a chicken takeout in New York who could make it like his mom.
    “I’ve just dropped off George’s prescription for you,” Caden said, “should be ready later today.”
    “I’ll head to the doctor’s office later,” she nodded as she slowly started to lower each wing into the boiling oil, “how’s Doctor James?”
    He knew she meant Ellie but he didn’t know why she was asking, “She’s fine.”
    Caden almost stopped there but he took it as an opportunity to find out more about Elias before their next meeting. His mom hadn’t told him much but he got the idea she knew more than she was letting him know.
    “Did you know the mayor had a son?” he asked.
    “She does?” Bruce wrinkled his forehead as he sipped a glass of orange juice, “I thought she just had that yuppie daughter?”
    “Yuppie?”
    “Head so far up her own butthole that she’s coming out the other side. She’s come into the bar a couple of times with her husband and she always acts like she’s better than everyone.”
    “That’s no way to talk about our town’s best doctor, Bruce, is it?” their mom winked over her shoulder, seeming to agree with him, “And yes, I knew she had a son. Not many do though.”
    Caden poured himself a glass of orange juice, just like he would have done when they had been around that very table as kids. Bruce would always snatch up the bottle first, because in his words, he was the oldest and he deserved it more.
    “Why’s she kept him so quiet?” Caden asked.
    She carried on cooking, straining the chicken out of the oil before laying it on a sheet of paper towels. Caden knew she was avoiding his question. Whenever she didn’t want to answer something she would always pretend like she didn’t hear while she thought of how she could steer the conversation in another direction.
    “Chicken!” she dumped the huge plate in the middle of the table, “Be careful, it’s still hot.”
    Just like when they were kids, Bruce dived in and burned his fingers as Caden sat back and let it cool. He stared at his mom but she was diving in too, even though she was usually the last to grab any chicken. She was either really hungry or uncomfortable with what Caden had asked.
    Deciding it would be better to wait until they were alone, he waited for Bruce to eat his chicken. As predicted, he kissed their mom goodbye, patted Caden on the back with a promise to hang out soon and headed straight back to his bar. They all knew he never trusted anybody to look after his baby for too long.
    His mom glanced awkwardly to him before busying herself with clearing away the dishes.
    “Mom, Elias. What do you know?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “If I want to help him it does.”
    Carefully placing the dishes into the sink, she washed her grease covered fingers and turned around, folding her arms awkwardly across her green blouse covered chest. Caden knew what he was doing. His mom cared too much about the people her charity helped so she wouldn’t ignore Caden’s plea.
    “This was the reason I wanted you to take Elias,” she sighed, “I know too much about him and his family.”
    “What do you know?”
    Pulling up a chair, she leaned her arms on the table and started picking at her nails. A quick glance to the chicken shaped clock over the stove let Caden know he only had twenty minutes if he wanted to get to Elias’ five minutes early.
    “When you were a baby, I used to volunteer at the hospital. They usually put me in the maternity ward because I’m kind to folks. Most of the time, I’d try and reassure the ladies because I knew what they’d been through. You couldn’t have been out of diapers at this time. One night, in the early hours, the mayor came in wearing a huge black coat. Well, she wasn't the mayor back then but she worked at the town hall. She was still really important even back then. I was more