Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward Read Free Book Online Page A

anxious, and this was the first place
they had visited.
    Christophe narrowed his eyes as he walked to the driver's side door
of the car and fumbled in his pocket for the keys. Here it was seven in
the morning and he already felt like a smoke: he was nervous. He felt like
he'd fumbled and dropped his usual charm and sense of humor as soon as
he stepped into the building. The metal bar of the door handle was cool
in his grip: his fingers faltered on it and slipped away as he heard a high
pierced whistle. At the side of the building, a dark, slim figure lounged
against the brick wall, pulled hard on a cigarette, and waved. Christophe
recognized him: Charles, who'd graduated with their class on Friday, was
taking a break at the side of the dumpsters. He'd twisted his visor to the
side and flipped it upside down so that his afro swelled out of the top like
a small balloon. Christophe walked over to him, and Charles handed him
the cigarette. Christophe took a quick puff and passed it back to Charles,
holding the smoke in his lungs until he could feel the nicotine lap at his
chest like a small wave and settle like foam over his skin. Joshua ambled
over slowly, crouched on his haunches at their side, and shook his head
no at the proffered smoke.
    "Y'all come up here looking for a job, huh?"
    Christophe nodded.
    "Man, they ain't hiring for shit. They upped me to full time. We been
having people come by here all day. They don't want to hire no more
staff-they working the shit out of us." The tip of the cigarette sparkled
red.
    "We got all day to go." Christophe held out his hand. "It's probably
the same at all the fast food places. Might have some luck at the dock `cause
Dunny stepdaddy said they was hiring. They don't accept applications
until Wednesday, though."

    The heat of the day was slithering across the half-empty parking
lot with the ascending sun, and the smell of the warming asphalt filled
Christophe's nose along with the smoke. Joshua watched a blue station
wagon and an old beaten-up red pickup truck swerve past them into the
drive-through lane. Christophe passed the cigarette back to Charles and
nodded at the cars.
    "Breakfast crowd. It ain't really going to let up until after lunch."
Charles' nose widened as he smiled and laughed so that the smoke drifted
out over his teeth grayish white. He had an overbite. "By that time, I
done probably smoked at least two blunts." He tossed the cigarette to the
sidewalk and crushed it beneath the toe of his sneaker. "Otherwise I'd kill
somebody."
    Joshua shook his head and pressed his forehead into his forearms,
which were crossed over his knees.
    "I hear you on that one," Christophe said.
    At Charles' side, the door opened. The gangly assistant manager poked
his head out, then a shoulder. He blinked at the three boys standing and
crouching silently in the shade of the wall. He looked down at the ground
and spoke.
    "Charles?"
    Charles crossed one leg over the other and made a point not to look
at the boy when he replied.
    "What, Larry?"
    "We need you to finish break. Breakfast crowd coming in." He
mumbled his last bit before the door clicked shut. "It's getting busy."
    Charles rubbed his knuckles into his eyes. Next to him on the
sidewalk, Christophe heard Charles whisper beneath his breath, "Tired
of this shit."
    "You know that if I had a blunt already rolled up I'd smoke with you.
But I ain't got nothing today," Christophe said.
    "It's alright. I'm going to roll up one when I take a bathroom break
in about an hour." He swung the door open. "If y'all really want to work
here, y'all should call and ask to speak to Gary in about a week. He
the manager that do all the hiring. Something might open up. See y'all
later."

    From inside the restaurant, Christophe heard the boy with the frog's
voice intoning orders in an endless procession. Charles flipped his hat
over, jammed it down on his head so that his afro parted and fell in wilted
tufts