“Gerald?” Chase asked. “Was he your age?”
I snorted. “Yes. He was twenty at the time. Anyway, we’d been seeing each other for a few weeks, and I thought things were going well. I met him at a sit-in for better meat byproduct substitutes at a fast food restaurant.”
“He was protesting with you?” Chase asked.
I pursed my lips together. “Well, no. He was there eating, but we hit it off.”
Lance chuckled but kept on eating.
“Anyway, like I said, I thought things were going well. Then, out of the blue right before Thanksgiving, he tells me he wants to cook a turkey. And it’s not even a frozen one. He wants to go to this farm, choose a poor little guy,killit, and take him home from there for me to prepare!”
“Ah,” Chase said. “I’m beginning to see.”
“So, of course I vetoed that idea immediately. We got into a huge fight and broke up.” I laughed remembering that night. “To make sure he couldn’t do what he planned, I sneaked onto the turkey farm late that night and let all the turkeys loose.”
“And all you got was a trespassing violation?” Chase asked.
“Well, it was my second cousins farm,” I said. “At the time he didn’t know it was me doing the releasing. He’d already called 911. But when I told himwhyI was doing it, he totally understood. Unfortunately, by the time everything got straightened out, I’d already spent two days behind bars.”
“Young love,” Lance said.
“Hush,” I said.
“You have quite a few of these little skirmishes on your record,” Chase said.
I grinned. “Please! Those are just the ones I got caught doing.”
Chapter 10
“Rise and shine,” Chase hollered through the closed bedroom door.
I groaned, even though I had no right to be tired. It had rained all day yesterday, so we made it a true lazy Sunday by reading, playing card games, and watching movies. I’d done nothing active. Which was probably why I was so tired. It had been a couple days since I’d done any yoga, and my body was stiff and telling me it needed release.
“Coming.” I threw back the covers, grabbed my crutch, padded over to the door, and peered out groggily. “How long before we leave?”
His eyes fell to my chest and he chuckled. “Nice.”
I looked down at my pajamas and laughed with him. The hem of my t-shirt almost reached the bottom of my shorts, and the words “Talk Nerdy to Me” were splashed across my chest.
“Gift from my mom,” I said.
Still smiling, he turned to leave. “Half an hour, Martin.”
“I’ll be ready,” I called out to his retreating form.
With five minutes to spare, I shuffled into the kitchen.
“I have hot water ready,” Chase said, “in case you want to bring tea with you.”
I sat down at a barstool. “Thanks.”
“If you’re having breakfast, you better hurry.”
“I’m going to pass today,” I said. “Too nervous.”
He gave me a pointed look but didn’t argue. “What kind of tea do you want?”
He read me the choices I had, and I picked a grapefruit and strawberry concoction, hoping it would perk me up.
