“Who is that?”
Kevin smiled. It was a sad smile. “He is the big boss. He introduced my momma to my father years ago.”
“Why are you telling me this? Don’t you have some baseball practice to go to?” I wondered, trying to hide the envy in my voice.
This kid had it all.
I only had the shirt on my back and the torn-up jeans on my legs. Both were stolen from Goodwill last Christmas.
“I just wanted to warn you…Mr. Romano doesn’t like strays.”
Thirty minutes later, I was upstairs on the first level of this giant house. Mr. Matthews was rich…I mean rich. He had people who just wait around to drive him to places.
I wished I could drive. Then I could just drive him around.
Mr. Matthews told me that once a day I was allowed to come upstairs to get food. I didn’t get food at night. Just in the middle of the day. I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone. I had to wait by the back door until one of the kitchen people brought me a plate. Once I was done eating, I had to wash my plate and put it on the counter. It was the same plate every day. I was grateful for it, because most of the time, I had to eat off the ground.
A plate was a nice change.
Today, I had three hard boiled eggs and bread with peanut butter. It was so good. I ate it all within two minutes.
A new record for me.
“Slow down there, sweetie,” a soft voice said.
I froze.
I stopped chewing my food and stared straight ahead as a woman came into view. She was pretty. Broken, but pretty. She had the face of a model but her eyes—I'd seen eyes like that before. Down in the “sex alleys”
All those women have the same eyes.
Soulless.
I nodded slowly and swallowed down the last bite quickly.
“Where did you come from?”
Nothing. I could say nothing. All I could do was stare.
She had dark hair, like Kevin and Ian. Her eyes were a deeper green, but I knew this was their mother. She was dressed in shiny pajamas, a deep purple with white flowers on them. Her hair was a mess. She must have just woken up. It was one in the afternoon. She had dark spots under her eyes.
I think that happened to everyone when their soul died. It hadn’t happened to me yet.
I kept checking every day.
“I don’t care about that, Cal!”
We both jumped at the male voice from down the hall. Probably Mr. Matthews’ office. He did his work there. When he needed me to do something, that was where I went for instructions.
“The devil is here,” the woman whispered, her voice shaking. I looked back at her.
“Who?” I slapped my hand over my mouth. Shit. I wasn't supposed to talk to her.
She raised a single hand, her finger pointing down the hall. “The devil is here. Don’t make any deals with him, or he will own you. Forever.”
I fell to my knees. Bloody and aching. Romano’s harsh breaths filled the room as blood dripped down from my nose. My lesson was nearly over.
“How was Boston?”
