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He almost looked around, the words felt so real.
“I need to go. I want to talk to you some more though.” He put a hand on Rodney’s shoulder, and to his surprise, Rodney allowed it. Maybe Rodney had a little bit more respect for him than what he let on. Or maybe he just was so desperate for an adult to take interest in and care about him that anyone would do.
Whichever it was, Griff would take it.
“Where are you going?” Rodney asked, and Griff almost thought that there was a little bit of fear in his eyes, like he didn’t want to be alone.
“I think I need to take a ride to Chicago.”
“I see.” Although it was clear that Rodney didn’t see.
“I know it’s warmer than it usually is,” he said, thinking it was kind of unbelievable that it was the first week in December. But they had those types of days, few and far between in the winter, where the temperatures were unseasonably warm. “But the temps are supposed to drop, and there’s a storm moving in. Make sure you’re home, okay? It’s supposed to be a bad one.”
He heard they were going to get more snow than they usually got this early in the season, if the winds blew just right, with the cold front that was coming out of Canada.
Still, it would be warm enough for him to ride his bike to Chicago, and he shouldn’t have too much trouble getting back, although by nine or so, the temps would be dropping. They were supposed to drop fast. So he couldn’t spend a whole lot of time there, but he’d have enough time to at least get a few sentences out to Chi. Whether she believed him, whether she didn’t, that was going to be up to the Lord.
Chapter 5
Chi looked around the room, crowded with people laughing and mingling. The laughter sounded fake, the mingling forced. There was lots of makeup, lots of updos that probably took hours to create, dresses that cost more money than she’d seen in her entire life, men with suave smiles and calculating eyes.
She didn’t belong here.
It was unseasonably warm outside, and the maintenance people at the big, swanky building must have had trouble keeping up, because sweat dripped down the small of her back and down her temple as well. She tried to unobtrusively brush it away, praying she wasn’t messing up her makeup.
This was the world she wanted to belong to. These were the people she wanted to have accept her. They all seemed so confident and put together. Fake, yes, but obviously they had money and prestige, and that gave them a leg up in the world.
She wanted that for herself. For her children. For the rest of her life, she wanted to be able to give the people she loved what they wanted, because of her position and power.
Where was James?
Her pink dress felt out of place amidst all the darker colors. Blacks and navy blues and reds. There were some whites and creams, but nothing pink and frilly like what she had on.
It was a dress she’d bought to go to the last wedding she attended, several years ago. Thankfully it still fit. And even more thankfully, it was warm outside, so she didn’t freeze in it. It looked like spring and said high school prom.
But hopefully no one noticed. Surely they weren’t surveying the room, looking for a dress that was completely out of place.
