Don't Leave Me (30 page)
Authors: James Scott Bell
The auditorium was packed.
Chuck Samson, sitting in the back row, had Wendy Tower on one side of him and his brother Stan on the other. He looked again at the program. It had a whale on the front, a drawing, and the whale was singing.
“It looks like opening night box office will be boffo,” Wendy said. Then added, “Why are you looking at me that way?”
“Remind me to tell you about Boffo the Clown,” Chuck said.
“This I’ve got to hear,” Wendy said.
“Oh yes, you do,” Chuck said. “How about at dinner tomorrow? The two of us?”
She smiled. “I can go for that.”
Stan leaned over to Chuck and whispered, “Are you going to hold her hand?”
Chuck gave his brother a gentle rap on the leg.
Stan giggled.
It was the way Stan used to giggle, at home, when he and Julia and Chuck had lived for a few brief months of happiness. Thinking of Julia then brought the same dull ache to his stomach, but it was not as bad now, not like when he’d first seen her in federal custody. He had gone to visit her once more, just before they shipped her off for a short prison run. She’d cooperated with the feds and her deal gave her two to four years.
He told her then the hardest thing he’d ever had to tell anyone, that she couldn’t be part of their lives anymore. That he would pray for her safety and her health and her ability to start a new life on her own. She looked hurt, even stunned. Maybe she’d hoped for too much.
Which stunned him, too.
He left her something, cleared with the detention unit. A paperback edition of the sonnets of Edna St. Vincent Millay.
He had looked up that one she mentioned. The one that started
This door you might not open, and you did; So enter now, and see for what slight thing you are betrayed.
He’d read the whole thing several times, and two other lines jumped out at him.
This door you might not open, and you did; So enter now, and see for what slight thing you are betrayed.
He’d read the whole thing several times, and two other lines jumped out at him.
One was about the room that was uncovered behind the door. It held nothing. It was only “cobwebbed and comfortless.”
That was the room in Chuck’s mind where memories of Julia were shelved now.
And at the end, the poet says she seeks another place.
Both of them, Chuck and Julia, would not dance together again. They each had to find another place.
And for Chuck, it was right here, right now, at this school with the new name, next to his brother, and next to Wendy Tower.
The lights came down. The curtains parted and the crude set, made up to look something like a ship, appeared in all its handmade glory. The quest for the white whale was about to begin.
Chuck reached for Wendy’s hand.
This novel would not have been possible, in its present form at least, without the incredible help of some very cool people, including: Cindy Bell, Emily Bell, Mike Berrier, Rich Bullock, C. J. Darlington, Teddi Deppner, Jennifer Lindsay, Richard Mabry, Carrie Padgett, Mark Young.
We authors are helped most by word-of-mouth. If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Even if it's only a line or two, it would be very much appreciated.
For a complete list of my fiction and writing books, please visit my website and consider signing up for my free update newsletter (it's on the left side of my homepage). I will not share your info with anyone for any reason, and won't stuff your mailbox, either. I only update when there's a new title or special deal for my readers to know about. Thanks again.
JAMES SCOTT BELL is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers,
Plot & Structure,
and numerous thrillers, including
Deceived,
Try Dying,
and
Watch Your Back.
His novella
One More Lie
was the first self-published work to be nominated for an International Thriller Writers Award. Under the pen name K. Bennett, he is also the author of the Mallory Caine zombie legal thriller series, which begins with
Pay Me in Flesh.
He served as the fiction columnist for Writer’s Digest magazine and has written highly popular craft books for Writer’s Digest Books, including:
Revision & Self-Editing for Publication, The Art of War for Writers,
and
Conflict & Suspense.
Plot & Structure,
and numerous thrillers, including
Deceived,
Try Dying,
and
Watch Your Back.
His novella
One More Lie
was the first self-published work to be nominated for an International Thriller Writers Award. Under the pen name K. Bennett, he is also the author of the Mallory Caine zombie legal thriller series, which begins with
Pay Me in Flesh.
He served as the fiction columnist for Writer’s Digest magazine and has written highly popular craft books for Writer’s Digest Books, including:
Revision & Self-Editing for Publication, The Art of War for Writers,
and
Conflict & Suspense.
Jim has taught writing at Pepperdine University and at numerous writers conferences in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where he studied writing with Raymond Carver. He graduated with honors from the University of Southern California Law Center, and has written over 300 articles and numerous books for the legal profession. He has had three feature screenplays optioned and is on the faculty of Act One, the Hollywood screenwriting program.
A former trial lawyer, Jim now writes and speaks full time. He appeared as an expert commentator on
Good Morning America,
CBS radio, and in
Newsweek
magazine during the O. J. Simpson murder trial. He lives in Los Angeles.
Good Morning America,
CBS radio, and in
Newsweek
magazine during the O. J. Simpson murder trial. He lives in Los Angeles.
For more see his website at
www.JamesScottBell.com
www.JamesScottBell.com
He blogs about writing and other subjects every Sunday at
www.killzoneauthors.blogspot.com
www.killzoneauthors.blogspot.com
Other books
A Week at the Lake by Wendy Wax
The Oligarchs by David Hoffman
Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh
El hundimiento del Titán by Morgan Robertson
Movimientos religiosos modernos by Alberto Cardín
When All Hell Breaks Loose by Lundin, Cody
By the Horns by Rachael Slate
Her Ladyship's Girl by Anwyn Moyle
Their Ex's Redrock Dawn (Texas Alpha Biker) by Shirl Anders
Water Witch by Deborah LeBlanc