Free A Gray Life: a novel by Red Harvey Page B

couldn’t think of what to ask. Then, “What…did you study?”
    “Theology.”
    Ashley had heard of the word, but she could have been confusing the meaning with anthropology. “What is that?”
    “It’s the study of religion.”
    “Were you gonna be a nun?”
    Juniper thought that funnier than anything. “Maybe. I’m not sure what I thought I could do with my degree. Most of my life, I’ve been lost.” She looked at Ashley hard, and she was afraid she had done something wrong. “I’m still lost, but at least I get my bills paid.”
    “All done!” Christopher announced.
    Ashley was glad for the interruption from the very adult conversation. Her new friend was talking about life as if she understood it, and Ashley did not understand. She didn’t understand why her grandparents hired help had murdered them. She didn’t understand why a group of men had come into her house, killing her father and abducting his girlfriend. She didn’t understand why she kept meeting mean, ugly people, and she didn’t know how Juniper (a non-ugly, non-mean person) fit into it all.
    Ashley got up and walked to Christopher’s workstation. From underneath his desk, he pulled out a tray of new leather wallets.
    “Pick one.”
    She grabbed the pink zebra one.
    “Hey! That’s my favorite one.” A smile sh owed off Christopher’s dimples.
    Ashley could imagine what sort of a friend he was to Juniper.
    He handed her a set of papers and a warm rectangular piece of plastic. It was a driver’s license, freshly printed. Her birthday was off by four years, but if the plastic card said she was sixteen, then she was sixteen.
    “You can check in with that ID without a parent.” Juniper told her. “But you’ll still need a parent to call in and confirm. That I can do.”
    “My mom died when I was born.”
    “They won’t know that.” Juniper said.
    Ashley blinked. Christopher looked uncomfortable. He mumbled words resembling “I’m sorry”, while Juniper stood waiting for a reply. Another roar in Ashley’s ears came and went, and then Juniper’s face changed, like someone had just whispered an answer to her.
    “Nevermind.”
    Ashley crossed her arms over her middle. She wanted to cry, just to cry, but she didn’t want the strangers to see it. The embarrassment of nearly crying made her want to cry all the more.
    “I’ll do it.” Christopher said.
    She choked down her tears. Slowly, she nodded.
    ****
    September 10 th
    It happened in the middle of my dream.
    Mom and Dad were bickering over the fuel economy of SUV’s versus sedans. Even though sedans were less of a gas guzzler, my dad pushed for an SUV. The back and forth between them comforted me. My parents were with me, and I was safe.
    In the end, Dad convinced Mom to test-drive his car of choice. We all piled in and strapped our seat belts on. The window pane beside me was clear, shiny, and new. A single hairline scratch stood out among the perfection. With a life of its own, the scratch branched out, spreading and creating a noise as it went. Soon, the once perfect pane of glass was a cracked mess waiting to give way.
    Mom saw the damage and screamed. Her lungs were powerful, and I could’ve sworn her scream is what shattered the glass.
    I woke up. G lass had broken outside of my dream world, but I wasn’t sure where. Darkness held the basement. A month ago the street lights had stopped working, and The Man had hooked up a generator to his house/prison. The switch for the basement lamp was on the ten feet from me, an ocean of space in the dark.
    I squinted my eyes and forced my eyes to adjust. Through a gray haze, I could see the small window was completely open. The smell of fresh air was pouring in, and it was driving me crazy. I wanted to get out, get more air, free air. My mind wasn’t moving forward. If anything, I assumed someone had escaped from the basement, and I was happy for them. It never occurred to me something could have come inside.
    I was the only