“Hello?” says a woman’s voice.
Church girl. Here.
Is there no end to my suffering...
As if I am being prodded by a hot poker, I force myself to open the door fully. This despite the fact Morgan is already edging it open herself.
“Hi, Morgan,” I say, tired.
“Jack! Good afternoon. Looks like your door has seen better days.” Her eyes dart around the disastrous front room, then fix on my face. “I didn’t see you at church this morning.”
“I don’t go to church.”
“Right. Well, we have an evening service on Sundays. Want to attend tonight?”
I sigh as if the request is killing me.
“Bye-bye now, Morgan.” I fling the door shut, but it bounces off the busted frame and creaks open about five inches.
Fuck me.
I stare at the beam of sunlight streaming in through the gap. I know Morgan is probably staring at the same nothingness that poorly separates us.
“Jack?” she says sweetly. “Can I help you fix your door?”
I stand there silently, hoping she’ll go away.
“Hello? How did it break? When? Did you break it? Is that your phone on the floor? Is it an iPhone?”
So many questions. Too many.
I open the door, but this time, I lean on it, feeling too tired to care.
“We were robbed last night. I’m about to go buy a new one. Yes, that’s my phone. No, it’s an Android. No, you can’t help. No, I won’t ever go to your church. Please, don’t ask me one more question.”
She clutches her hands together and presses her lips into a line. I can tell there’s a hurricane of thoughts swirling in that dumb head.
“We can take my truck,” she says and holds up her keys. “It’s Daddy’s, but he won’t mind. It’ll be hard to get a door to fit in your car.”
That’s true.
“And we can talk about your brother.”
Damn. She’s good.
I glance past her shoulder. In the driveway is some special edition truck, white and fully loaded. It shines in the sunlight. Probably worth a small fortune. I steal the keys from her hand.
“I’m driving then,” I say.
Her face lights up like I just complimented her or something. What’s with this girl?
“Tommy is coming with us.” I call him and he walks to my side. “Good with that?” I ask.
“Absolutely. God loves company, and I do, too.” She smiles at Tommy.
“None of that shit, either. No religious talk.”
Her forehead scrunches as she looks up at me.
