Page 124 of Wandering in Darkness
“Didwe enjoy it?” Grayson asks.
“Absolutely not. But hey, we got there in the end.”
“Somehow.”
“Somehow is right.”
“This lovey-dovey shit is disgusting. Let’s go,” Arthur says.
“You’re the one who asked!”
“And I regretted it immediately,” he grumbles as he heads over to the golf cart. “Hurry up.”
“I’m coming!”
I hastily get into the golf cart and Grayson gets in the back.
“You two are meant for each other. Both slow as molasses.”
“You know, I could just like… push you off this golf cart out in some random field. Take away your Life Alert… no one would find you,” I threaten.
“I’m not wearing no damn Life Alert!”
“You will be when I’m done with you.”
“You just think you’re all tough because your boyfriend is here, dontcha?” he asks.
“Maybe a little bit,” I tease.
“Well, you’re not.”
“I hear ya,” I say as I reach the field we use for shooting.
He huffs about something. “You live around here, Grayson?”
“I rent a place about three hours from here. I haven’t bought a house yet since I didn’t know where I wanted to settle down… I have a lot to figure out still,” Grayson admits.
“You shouldn’t be renting! Wasting your money, you hear me? I try to tell Cal over here the same thing. He’s just throwing money away!”
“I… don’t have money at this point to buy a house,” I say.
“What the hell did you do with it all?”
I hesitate before saying, “I gave it away… to the families affected by what I did.”
“You need to stop trying to make yourself suffer, you hear me?” Arthur asks. “If you want to suffer, I can make you suffer and you won’t have to spend a dime!”
“I was thinking of buying a place near Cal’s current apartment. And then I can help Cal with whatever plans he has for his future.” Grayson hesitates and turns to me. “I know you once talked about social work, but with the new business, I’m not sure if that’s still something you’re interested in.”
I stare at him as I realize that when I made the shot that killed Eddie, that bullet shattered everything. All plans for my future, all confidence I had in myself, all care I had for myself.
It was all gone.
But that doesn’t mean it has to stay gone.
“I really wanted to be able to help people and I’m finally getting to. But I have considered some classes to help me become more specialized in some areas.”
“I’ll give you some money. If starting this detective agency is really what you want, I’ll give you some money toward it. Or if you plan to take classes to help out with it, I’ll give you the money … if you off my ex-wife,” Arthur says.
