Page 41 of Dark Alleys

“Am I supposed to be impressed?”

“I don’t care what you are, Regan. I want you to stop following me and get out of my life.”

She laughed. “And if I don’t feel like doing that?”

“Then the solution is simple. I’ll have you arrested for stalking a police officer and your ass will be carted off to jail.”

She laughed at me again as I walked away.

My fault for lusting after you, bitch.

Cherrywood. Austin.

On the way to my Aunt Gail’s house, I stopped at Walgreens and bought what I figured I might need to make a bandage like the clinic put on my arm.

Gauze and tape and antiseptic cream. I bought lots of everything because before my arm was completely healed, I might need two or three more clean bandages.

When I got home—to my real home—I plopped the drug store bag on the kitchen table and my laundry bag on the floor next to the laundry room door.

I let out a long, tired breath and sat down for a coffee with my aunt.

She peeked in the bag and nodded. “We can change the bandage after we have our coffee. You look tired, sweetheart.”

“Late night.”

“I heard on the news there was trouble at Festival Beach. Were you there?”

“Yeah. I didn’t get home until late, but the good part was, nobody got shot.”

She smiled. “That is good news and even better news—it wasn’t you.”

“You got that right. My arm hurts bad enough. I don’t need a bullet wound to deal with.”

“There were two squares left after our company yesterday and I saved them for you.”

I laughed. “I love those. About a million calories in each one, I bet.”

She laughed. “A lot of brown sugar and butter. Maybe even some maple syrup too. I’ll make more later in the week.”

After our coffee, Aunt Gail carefully removed the layers of gauze and when she got down to the stiches it got a bit sticky.

My arm was a sickening mess to look at, but it didn’t faze her. She’d been a nurse before she retired and hadn’t lost her skills or her gentle touch.

“I’m going to dampen the gauze with warm water and kind of soak it off, so it doesn’t pull the new skin, dear. It may take a little longer, but you have healed a little and I don’t want to undo that.”

I sat with my arm on the table and let my aunt take all the time she needed. I was in no hurry to go anywhere and this was home. One place I could relax.

“There you go. That should be good for a couple of days, dear. Come back when we need to change it again.”

“I will.”

Montana House. Chestnut Area. Austin.

I left Aunt Gail’s feeling not too bad and drove a few blocks to drop by Montana House to see how Cindy was doing.

She was slow to open the door to a stranger and I realized I should have called to tell her I was coming so she would be expecting me.

Big smile when she saw it was me. “Lukas, come in. I didn’t know who was at the door.”

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