Slash (Novella I) by Kevin Anthony Read Free Book Online Page A

easier to spot her on the streets. He parked and made a stop at the soup kitchen.
    The one-storey building was crammed with long lunch tables, a buffet area, and a small kitchen. A few homeless dined on hot soup, bread rolls, and fruit cups. He approached the buffet and used his wrapped right hand to gently knock against the stainless steel top. A young brunette server with various face piercings exited the back kitchen.
    “ Hey Ford.” She slipped on a white apron. “Are you coming in today?”
    Ford shook his head as he explained, “Not today Tara, but instead I’m trying to find my mom. She’s gone missing.”
    Tara pouted. “Aw, I’ll do my best to help. What’s her name again?”
    “ Valarie.”
    Tara tugged at a strand of her hair. “Valarie…sharp tongue, dark hair like mine?”
    “ Yeah, have you seen her around lately?”
    “ No, I’m sorry.”
    Ford rested his head against the buffet top and sighed heavily.
    “ Maybe…”
    He quickly raised his head. “Maybe what,” He eagerly responded.
    “ She usually hangs around that chicken place up the block.”
    Ford snapped his fingers. “Thanks for the info. I promise next time we work together that I’ll mop.”
    Tara laughed as stirred some soup in a warming tray. “No you won’t and good luck finding your mom.”
    Ford left the building and walked down the block toward the chicken restaurant. The majority of the buildings in the area were defaced with graffiti and the parking meters and streetlights had signs attached that revealed they were out of order.
    He spotted Lu jogging down the cracked sidewalk toward him. “You jog,” He said.
    She approached him, jogging in place. “I have a black dress to squeeze in. It’s a date night.”
    She wore skimpy red shorts and a sweat drenched, white tank top.
    “ I think you’re too skinny to have to squeeze into anything.”
    “ Thanks, I think. So, what are you doing in my part of town? Are you buying crack Ford?”
    “ No,” He quickly responded. “I’m looking for my mom.”
    Lu checked her watch. “I would help, but I have to go. I’ll see you tonight, right?”
    “ Tonight?” He motioned at himself. “Have you booked me on some weird double date?”
    “ No,” She laughed. “I’m stopping by the group meeting first, are you going to be there?
    “ It depends on how I feel.”
    “ You have to; it’s sort of a memorial for Miriam. If the roles were reversed Mariam would be front and center.”
    “ In that case, see you there.”
    Lu kissed him the cheek and jogged away.
    His mind immediately refocused back on his search for his mother. A few blocks down, he arrived at the rundown chicken restaurant. The alley of the restaurant was blocked off by a fence. As he approached, he noticed a hole, cut into the chain-linked fence, making it possible for him to slip through.
    He ventured down the alley that was arm’s length wide. The enclosed space was warm, the burnt grease scented air thick, and the ground below his feet scattered with bits of broken glass. A cough up ahead prompted him to increase his pace. Ford discovered a bone thin man with dingy flesh. The man held in tattered book in his hand as he stood posted against the wall, smoking and reading. His beady, blue eyes glanced away from the pages of his tattered book as he stared at Ford. He eyed him up and down before returning to his reading.
    Ford pointed at him. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
    “ Listen,” The raspy voiced man snapped. “I’m not sucking or licking anything today.”
    “ Ew, no…people actually reque-“
    “ -And I’m not letting you put anything in me. I have enough smokes to last me the day, come back tomorrow.”
    “ I’m not here for anything,” Ford explained. “I’m looking for my mother.”
    “ I’m a little busy here. I’m reading a good book.”
    Ford bit down on his bottom lip, redirecting his frustration. “Please, only a few questions.”
    The man shut his book and sat it on