Thin Luck

Chapter 2

Just as I left the room, I spotted a dent in the back of the door. That dent wasn't there when we moved in. Nick's temper blew up again. What was it that Kyle had done? Babies cry and wake up in the middle of the night. Had Nick lost his temper over that? Maybe he was interrupted while writing? If Kyle had made Nick so angry, why did he take him from me? Why not just leave us both behind? But that wasn't Nick's way. His anger would flare up then dissipate. There was a matching fist-sized dent in our bedroom that had been patched over. He had been angry with me for a comment I made about his writing. We both won that argument. I didn't have to read any of his sloppy works in progress, and he didn't have to listen to my witty observations on his prose.

There was nothing left of my life, such as it was, in this house. I thought about where to go. My brother's house was more than two miles away, a distance I couldn't cover in the rain with the heels I had on. I left the house and walked a few blocks before I took them off. Within the next block, I stepped on a sharp branch. I lifted my leg to look at the damage. The bottom of my heel was covered in dirt and oozing blood I could barely see in the light of the street lamp.

I spotted a pair of gardening boots just inside a little glass greenhouse behind the house at the next corner. The door was locked. I picked up a rock and smashed the window next to the knob. The crack of the glass was loud enough to make my heart beat harder in my chest. I wondered who might be watching me. Could I be sent back to prison for stealing something so insignificant? According to the paperwork I'd signed the day before, probably yes. The moment I reached my hand into the void I realized I could have punched in the screen just above the glass instead. What kind of dumbass locked the greenhouse anyway? I looked back at the house. I knew this particular neighbor. He was the kind that thought he hid his porn collection when he might as well use it to plaster the siding on his house.

Again I set off towards my twin brother's house, in the rain, now wearing my newly acquired rubber boots. They were a few sizes too large, and smelled horrible, but protected my feet from further shrubbery damage. My limp was pronounced.

The lights were on at Justin's house. A warm glow emanated from the kitchen. The smell of oregano, parsley, and the memory of my brother's tomato sauce brought my stomach back to attention.

I knocked on the door.

"I'll get it," Justin's thundering voice could be heard through the thick rounded wooden door. When he opened the door, his face dropped. "Oh, you."

"Yeah. Me." I stood staring at him, and he stared at me back. I looked over my shoulder, then back at Justin. "Aren't you going to let me in?"

He opened the door a little wider for me to step through. When the door shut behind me, he asked, "What do you want?"

"Nick left."

"Good for him."

"I'm serious."

"So am I," he said. "I can't figure out why you even care. That guy is such a douche."

"Because he took Kyle."

"Too bad for Kyle," he said, but then pushed out his hand. "Never mind, I don't want to get involved with you two." He looked down at my boots, then back up my full form. "God, you look like something the cat dragged in," he said. "What are you even doing out of jail?"

"Prison."

"Prison-whatever. Why are you out of prison?" he asked. "Did you escape?"

"Who is it, honey?" His wife, Susan, walked into the entryway and stared at me for a second. "Oh," she said with palpable disgust. "I'll be upstairs." I heard whispers and a door slam. My nephews were hidden away.