Page 9 of Mother Parker
“It smells like coffee.”
“Yeah, that would be the barley. I swear it’s safe and delicious. I’m not trying to poison you.”
He pursed his lips and took a sip, staring at me the whole time. Gosh, if he kept that up, I’d explode. Or have a fucking orgasm without even touching myself. Both of which would be hella embarrassing.
“So?” I asked when he brought the cup away from his lips.
“It’s okay,” he mumbled and passed the cup back to me. “Thanks-I-guess,but…be careful where you throw your seed.”
I almost lost it, but I restrained myself from laughing out loud. He, on the other hand, seemed entirely oblivious to the double entendre. Or maybe I had an extremely dirty mind. Which was…well, it was a fact. Although I imagined even a blushing virgin would swoon over this not-so-gentle giant.
“Will do,” I said and gave him a captain’s salute as he started to walk away from me. “I’ll be here if you change your mind about lunch,” I shouted after him.
Or dessert.
He stopped for a moment, looking back at me without betraying any thought or emotion. And then it was just me and the Golden Girls waiting for more food.
I walked back to the porch to grab another handful of seeds and started another Instagram Live.
“Sorry about that, Kimchis,” I told my followers. “I think I met the next man who’s gonna break my heart.”
THREE
PARKER
This fucking island!
I hadn’t even been here for more than twenty-four hours, and I already wanted to go home.
But where would I go?
There was no place that I could call home anymore. The one I thought would be my forever home I’d been forced by life and circumstances to sell. I was, in fact, for all intents and purposes, homeless.
And broke.
And broken, most likely.
Fucking Crow-boy and his fucking seeds!
I ran my hand through my hair again to get rid of any remaining bird food and cursed the man. My life. My luck.
I couldn’t believe that stupid man—boy because he couldn’t be older than twenty, surely—was smiling the whole time as if he hadn’t attacked me with his pet crows.
And who kept crows for pets anyway?
Crazy people. That’s who!
I had a feeling this wack wasn’t even the wackiest person that lived here or that I’d encounter while staying here.
I raised my head, looking around at the little suburban-like houses and listening to the creepy silence permeating the street. I didn’t like it one bit. Never mind how the gray sky looked like it was angry at me.
Well, fucking back at you, dickhead sky!
Deep breaths. I took deep breaths. Why did I have to remind myself to do that? I guess because, with my luck, I’d forget to breathe and die, and by the time I realized, it’d be far too late.
I started down the sidewalk when my senses awakened to imminent danger, and I froze on the spot. A car sped past, leaving behind a trail of smoke and my racing heart.
Thank God for my training, or I would have been run over.
