Page 10 of Creepy
“Um...yeah, with that funny principle...can’t remember his name,” he began.“Old man, gray hair, white suit...handlebar mustache.”
Fuck.Yeah, Mr.Rhodes passed for Colonel Sanders.Troy was telling the truth.“How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight, just turned.”
“Well, you must’ve known my brother Joey Landry then.”
He thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers.“Red-headed kid, real wild child.Oh, yes.That would make you Innocent.Little Innocent Landry.”
I rolled my eyes.“Everyone calls me Sissy.”
“I remember you.You were going into sixth grade when I was going into the eighth.But there’s something else.You look so familiar.Are you on television?”
Ugh.I had been during my last breakup.I changed the subject.“Why’d you move if your parents still lived here?”
“I moved over to Alexandria to go to the Christian Academy.They offered me a basketball scholarship I couldn’t refuse.I stayed with my aunt who lived there most nights.Then another high school in Tennessee recruited me...Wait, were you the one who took my keys, my beer?”
Reaching in my pocket, I fished out the key on the Camaro keychain and handed it through the crack.Without a word, I did the same with the Suburbans’ keys.
Now wise to my plans, he acknowledged, “You were going to take the car today.”
“Yeah, I planned to,” I admitted, a little of my aggravation coming through.
“Sorry about that.”He laughed, pocketing the keys.“You all alone?You okay?”
“No,” I answered, automatically.
His kind eyes filled with worry, and his body stiffened.
“I mean.I’m not alone.”I never liked to lie.I’d never had it in me, so the word had been self-defense, a reflex that was smarter than I was.Besides, I didn’t know him from Adam.Suddenly, I felt like a woman alone with a man three times her size.“There are loads of people in this town,” I added for good measure.
“Oh, great.”He smiled, his eyes glistening with hope.
That was adorable.And I wasn’t being sarcastic.Under his dark beard, there was a gentleness I found instantly charming.
“Where did you come from again, Florida?”
“Yeah, luckily, I was in a bubble.”
“A bubble?”
“I guess you definitely don’t know me.”
“I’m sorry.I barely remember anyone from school who was older than me.”
“No, I mean from the NBA.”
That explained the height.“I don’t follow sports,” I said, carefully so as to not hurt his feelings.
He laughed in disbelief as I found people always reacted to the fact.I didn’t like sports, but you’d think I told them I ate puppies for dinner.“You’re serious?”
I nodded.“Guilty.”
“Are you sure?I played for the Miami Heat for five years.”
“Positive.Puppy eater here.”
“What?”
