Throwaway by Heather Huffman Read Free Book Online Page A

apologize,” Harmony’s
hands shook as she applied an ice pack to Jessie’s newest bruise.
“I really hate that man.”
    “Don’t waste the energy.”
    “Someone should just shoot him. Then you’d be
free.”
    “I’m not going to shoot him… and you aren’t
either,” she added when Harmony got a determined gleam in her
eye.
    “What if he gets himself shot with some of
the crap he’s into now?”
    “One can always hope, huh?” Jessie
smiled.
    “What are you going to do about Gabe?”
    “Avoid him like the plague,” Jessie answered
without a moment’s hesitation.
    “But you’re crazy about him. I can tell you
are.”
    “I’ve survived this long without a man; it
won’t hurt me to walk away from this one now.”
    “Don’t you ever wish for another life? Have
you ever even thought about going back to school or getting a new
job or running away to suburbia and raising a couple of kids?”
Harmony’s speech was an impassioned one, full of all the zeal and
innocence of youth.
    “I took some classes at the community college
once—botany. I wanted to try my hand at landscape design. It’s
actually why I picked the flat across the street from the Garden
Center. But Spence made me quit after a semester. I think he
worried I’d get it in my head to leave or something.”
    “He sucks.”
    “Yes, he does. But I don’t think I’d even
know what to do with a family and all that crap. I wouldn’t know
how to act.”
    “I bet you’d figure it out. You’re a good
person.”
    Jessie didn’t bother answering that one. She
just patted Harmony’s hand and went to get a bubble bath. Her face
was throbbing and Jessie wondered if maybe Spence had broken her
cheekbone this time. She wouldn’t be working for a few nights now.
As much as she wanted to go listen to Danny play—his lively Irish
folk music would inevitably lift her mood—she should probably hide
from the world for a couple of days.
    A glance in the mirror confirmed her
suspicion; one whole side of her face was swelling. She frowned and
sank back into the bubbles. After her bath she’d ask Harmony to fix
her up with some takeout so she could pile up on the couch, stuff
her face, and watch sappy movies on Lifetime. Spence could just
live with less income this week. Served him right.
    True to her resolve, she didn’t step out of
her apartment before Saturday night. Spence had shown up to scream
at her, but backed off when he saw her puffy face. Since the blow
hadn’t been reciprocated, his suspicions seemed to be ebbing. Now
he would feel slightly remorseful for his actions and would be
looking for a way to make it up to her.
    She did change her mind about watching
Lifetime when she fell asleep on the couch the first evening and
spent a restless night dreaming about Gabe. The second night she
relegated herself to mindless reality shows, only to be haunted by
Gabe again in her sleep. It was frustrating her to no end that she
couldn’t seem to get him out of her head. The growing need to see
him only strengthened her resolve to not.
    She was tired and unsettled by the time she
finally returned to work on Saturday night. So it really shouldn’t
have surprised her when the very first car she got in turned out to
belong to a cop.
    She cursed herself mentally for being stupid
the entire ride to the police station. It wasn’t the first time
she’d been picked up, but it was the first time in the past decade.
She held her head high amid the disdainful looks that so easily
dismissed her humanity.
    The cop who brought her in dumped her in an
interrogation room and left. She was grateful to be alone. Even if
there was someone behind the mirror, she could pretend they weren’t
there. She wanted to hide her face in her hands, to close her eyes
and will this rotten world away. Instead, she sat ramrod straight
and waited for the show to begin.
    Given the fact that Gabe was a cop, she
really shouldn’t have been surprised when he burst through the
door.