I wish you all a wonderful New Year! Here is this week’s section from Part Two of Soul Cages (PG-13).
Soul Cages
L. M. May
Copyright © 2011 by L. M. May
Published by Osuna Publishing
This story is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, dialogue, and locales are either drawn from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, and locales is entirely coincidental.
Part Two. Broken Masks
27
I was on my way to the kitchen to get a glass of water when I heard Mom say in the dining room, “I wish you could talk sense into my daughter.”
John paused in ripping open a box. “Mrs. Hawthorn, can I offer some advice?”
Mom hesitated, then said, “Sure.”
“I think Marian’s being pushed too hard. Let her leave First Beginnings if she needs to.”
“But Gena—”
“With all due respect, ma’am, no one is perfect. Mom and Dad and Mr. Bauer and the teachers harassed Sydney too much. It only made things worse.”
“I see.” Mom’s voice was cold.
“No, you don’t.” Now John sounded cold as well.
“There’s much you don’t know about my daughter, young man. Besides, Marian isn’t Sydney.”
“That’s not the point.”
I backed up, then made as much noise as possible as I headed for the kitchen. This effectively silenced them.
John followed me into the kitchen. “Need any boxes from the garage?”
From the corner of my eye I saw Mom stalk past, then the home office door slammed. Muffled noises hinted that Mom was calling someone on her cell phone. Gena, no doubt. Great, just great, just what we don’t need.
I said, “No, thanks. We got the last of my boxes out yesterday.” I filled up a glass with tap water and sipped at it.
John got a glass from the cabinet. “I had an argument with your mom about letting you out of First Beginnings. Had the same argument with my parents at lunch. None of them are taking it well.”
“Does this mean you’re off the hook for changing my mind?”
“No.” He filled his glass with water from the faucet. “I was told to ‘stop being soft-hearted on errancy.’ Dad insists your soul is in jeopardy if he lets you leave.” He gulped the water down.
My face felt hot.
John put his glass in the dishwasher. “Your secrets are none of my business. Sydney got shit nonstop once they found out about Donovan. It’s not happening again.”
I didn’t know what to say. It made me uncomfortable that he was putting himself between me and First Beginnings, probably due to lingering guilt over Sydney.
Finally, I said, “Mom expects you to drive me and Henry to the park at four. Do you want to go?”
John frowned. “Let me guess. They want me to keep an eye on you.”
“Yeah.”
“Sure, I’ll go.” He took my empty glass from me, and put it in the dishwasher. “Would Henry enjoy a trip to the zoo?”
“He’d love it, as long as people don’t crowd too close together.”
“A work day would be best then. I could take you two next week if you want.”
The thought of getting out of the house, of going somewhere fun, made me grin.
He smiled back. “How about next Tuesday around eight-thirty?”
“Sounds good to me.”
His smiled drained away. “Can I borrow your cell phone? I have to call your dad. And then I have to call mine.”
I handed my cell phone over. “Dad’s office number is ‘Dad’ under Contacts.”
John stared in the direction of the home office. Mom’s muffled tones had stopped. “I’ll make the calls out back, then come help with your boxes.” The back door and bars had been unlocked earlier, so he was able to go out into the backyard.
I realized he didn’t want Mom overhearing him in the middle of a call.
************** End of Part Two. 27. *****************
If you are reading this after January 6, 2014, you should be able to click here to go to the main information page of Soul Cages to find Part Two. 28.
Soul Cages is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Smashwords, iBookstore, Kobo, and other e-bookstores. A print edition is now available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and through independent bookstores either in stock or through order (ISBN-13 is 978-0615870465). Links can change over time, so click here to go to the main page for Soul Cages if any links don’t work.
See you in 2014 :D, L.M.
Filed under: L. M. May, News, Soul Cages, Story Samples
