Page 15 of My Cowboy Freedom
“Pruno?”
“Fermented shit made with dried fruit. It tastes like garbage but it gets the job done.”
“Yuck.” Rock took my hand and turned it so he could look at the thick, barbed-wire band winding around my wrist. “This one seems kind of sad to me.”
“It’s meant to be sad.” Did men on the outside pick up each other’s hands like that? “You—”
“And this one?” Rock lifted my arm out and ran his finger over the skin bearing ’Nando’s crow.
His touch electrified me.Have mercy.
This guy was going to get me killed if I didn’t watch out.
“That one’s my favorite.” Even to my ears, my voice sounded thready. “The crow was my cherry-pop, inkwise. It hurt like a bitch, but ’Nando’s mark kept the other inmates away better than an electrified fence. It was meant for my protection.”
“Protection.” He spoke the word reverently. “I wish I had something like that.”
“Do you need protection?” Instinct, honed inside prison by steel and blood, made me ask. “Someone bothering you?”
Solemnly, he met my gaze and changed the subject. “Did you ever hear the story about how Crow became black?”
It took me a second to catch up. “Weren’t crows always black?”
“Nope. My mom read me a kid’s book about it when I was little.” The light in his eyes was teasing now. Maybe even a little flirtatious.
Oh, son.You aren’t afraid of me at all, are you?“Yeah?”
His tongue peeked out, dabbing the corner of his lip when he smiled.
I shivered.
“Crow used to be rainbow-colored. He had such a beautiful voice everyone loved to hear him sing.”
I held up my hand. “Now, I admit it’s been a while since I heard one, but—”
He ignored me. “Butthenthe very first winter came and all the animals were very cold. They decided to send their friend, the beautiful, musical rainbow Crow to ask the Creator to make it warm again. Instead, the Creator gave Crow the gift of fire.”
“Sounds fair.”
“Sure,” Rock’s smile was genuine. “But Rainbow Crow had to bring the fire such a long way. By the time he got back, he was charred all over. His beautiful voice was burned away. That’s why Crow is no longer colorful, but you can still see hints of the rainbow in his feathers. His song is only a memory.”
“I never heard that story before.” It was a goddamn beautiful story, and now I was even more proud I carried ’Nando’s mark on my arm. It was almost as if Rock laid a blessing on it.
He lowered his lashes. “I loved that book when I was a kid. My mother didn’t want me to check it out because it had the word ‘rainbow’ in the title.”
“Your mom has a problem with rainbows?”
“She does.” Amusement brightened his expression. “But I pitched one hell of a fit in the library and she gave in. Eventually, I got her to buy it for me.”
“She didn’t.” My mother would have taken me to the car at least, if not home to my stepdad for a strapping.
“My parents are all about appearances. I figured I had a fifty-fifty chance I’d get the book if I embarrassed her, and I took it.”
“You manipulative little shit.”
He grinned. “I’d like to get a tattoo someday.”
“What would you get?”
