Free The Butcher's Granddaughter by Michael Lion

jacket off and dropped it on the floor. I stretched until my back gave an audible pop, then fumbled for the mug and opened the fridge. I squinted at the milk and vodka before finally finding the coffee I’d put in the back last night. Or was it tonight? It distantly occurred to me that I didn’t know what day it was. I poured some of the cold coffee in the mug, shut the door, and waited for the light-blindness to pass.
    My silence was making Li uncomfortable. “So where you been?” she almost whispered.
    “I kind of don’t want to talk about it,” I said, trying not to sound mean. “I ran around and did some things for some people. I made a little money. Then I went and talked to an old friend of mine for a while, and now I’m here, glad to see you. Where have you been?”
    “I had dinner with Tanya, over at Canter’s.” She searched my face for a reaction. I didn’t care enough about Tanya to give her one, so she pushed it. “Sometimes I wish you didn’t hate my best friend so bad.” She tried to pout, but her features weren’t immature enough to carry it off.
    “Yeah, well,” I started, and then let it go. When Li didn’t add anything else, I finished, “It ain’t just one way, you know. I really don’t care about her, but she actively hates me.”
    Li nodded dejectedly. “Yeah, I guess. She says some pretty nasty things about you. You almost never mention her.”
    “She’s bad for business.”
    “That’s funny. She said you probably thought that about her.” She paused, considering something. “She thinks you sell out your friends. That you sell stuff people tell you for money.”
    I wandered back and forth through the dimness, sipping the cold coffee until it started to leave a film on my tongue. As I drifted into the kitchen I said, “Some things I do are not nice, Li. You know that. Know this, too: I don’t fuck my friends. Tanya and I don’t like each other and that’s fine. Some people just don’t get along. But if she ever needed me, I wouldn’t even blink. I’d be there. I respect her. I know she doesn’t respect me. And so what?”
    I dumped the tepid coffee into the sink and poured a shot of vodka into the mug. I meant to nurse it, but as soon as the taste was on my lips I sucked it all down in one gulp. I stood at the sink and massaged my neck muscles. Li came up and put her hands over mine and I let her try to knead the knots out of my shoulders. I said, “Thanks.” Then I pulled away from her and stumbled over to the bed. When I closed my eyes, what I saw looked like snow on a broken television.
    I could hear Li rustle softly around the room for a minute or two. I was too tired to wonder what she was doing. When her voice came again it was next to the bed.
    “You all right, Bird? You sound sick.”
    I could feel her standing there. I wasn’t sick, just physically and emotionally raw. I rolled over on my stomach and talked into the pillow. “Look, Li. You can stay here tonight if you want. You can stay here as long as you need to. I’m just tired as hell.”
    She didn’t move. The CD ended, and in the silence I heard her jacket rustle as she bent over and let her hair tickle the back of my neck. I rolled over under her touch and opened my eyes. “Li...”
    Before I could say whatever it was I was going to say, she peeled off her jacket and let it fall to the floor. The pale light from the windows washed over her in a dim splash. She was completely nude. There was nothing to do but stare, so I did.
    She didn’t say a word as she lay down next to me and put her head on my chest. My arms went around her automatically and hugged her gently, as I kissed the top of her head. The soft pressure of her breasts and belly against me was innocently exciting. I was used to girls taking what they wanted and then leaving. Li just silently asked and then waited.
    I moved my hands up the gentle furrow in the middle of her back and she arched, pressing herself into me even harder. I