You're Always in the Last Place You Look by T.N. Gates Read Free Book Online Page B

your father...” She started pawing through the box, embarrassed to be talking about her past indiscretions, as she called them. “Do you have enough to eat?”
    “Yes. I’ve been hauling myself for over a year now and I haven’t starved yet.” I scooped the box away from her, and kicked the screen door open.
    The second we were inside the trailer Lily blurted, “Your mom was a slut. I mean, for back then.”
    “That’s my mom you’re talking about.” I opened the cabinet next to the convection oven, and shoved in a box of granola bars, and a bag of Doritos. I turned to find Lily’s plump lips non-existent as she tried not to bust up laughing. “All right, she might have been...liberal, but I don’t think she slept with any of them. Just from how they talk, I get the impression Dad was her first.” I crammed several packs of beef jerky into a drawer. “Why are we talking about my parent’s sex life?”
    Lily shrugged, slipping past me on her way to the bathroom with the TP and towel. “You’re the one talking about it.”  She opened the door and wrinkled her nose, waving the folded towel in front of her face. “Didn’t you dump this last time?”
    “No, it was only a third full. There’s a bottle of chemicals behind the toilet.”
    “I’m not touching that thing.” She tossed the towel and TP in the sink, then closed the door firmly, making mock gagging sounds. She came up behind me, and wrapped her arms around my waist. “I’d rather talk about yours.”
    I glanced over my shoulder at her. “My what?”
    “Your sex life.”
    “Oh. Well, I don’t have one, so why don’t we talk about yours instead?”
    “My point exactly. What’s happening with Mr. Hotness?”
    “Zane? Nothing. He wasn’t at school today.” When the bell rang, and Zane wasn’t sitting next to me, I had fallen into an odd funk. Not that I missed our sparkling conversations, but I had missed his presence. At first I was worried about him, then I noticed Chuck was missing too, and decided they must be off getting high somewhere.
    “How does he just skip like that and not get in trouble?”
    Making sure everything was packed into the fridge, I clicked it closed, then turned to her. “He’s kinda been through a lot. I don’t think anyone knows what to do with him, so I think they’re just letting him work through it.”
    “It’s so sad about his family.” She shuddered, hugging herself. “I bet he doesn’t sleep much.”
    I hadn’t thought about the possibility of nightmares—or even daymares considering how he had been when I found him at Creeksbend. Lily’s simple observation could be the explanation behind his absences, why he sometimes slept in class, even his pot use—because, honestly, who wanted to remember nightmares like that?
    “Probably not,” I said quietly.
    *
    After clipping up AJ’s haybag, I slid his grain pan under the panel. Gator gave me his best abused horse look, trying to tell me all about his rotten life. I knew better however, and didn’t fall under his charms—to often anyway. I scratched his neck, pulling the contraband out of my back pocket.
    “Shhh, don’t tell your dad,” I whispered to Gator as I fed him a carrot.
    “I didn’t think horses could tattle.”
    I turned, and bumped right into Zane. “What are you doing here?” Taking a quick step back, I hit the panel behind me, making it rattle.
    He reached out to touch Gator’s nose, and the gelding snorted and backed away. “Obviously nothing as illicit as what you’re doing.”
    “I...it’s just...Tye doesn’t believe in giving treats.” Why am I explaining myself to him ? I frowned. “What are you doing here?” I asked again.
    He glanced over his shoulder. “I came to watch Chuck toss a cow and ride a bull. He didn’t stay on the bull very long.”
    I chuckled, then cleared my throat remembering Chuck would probably beat me to a bloody pulp if he heard I had laughed at him. “Wrestle a