Flutter by L. E. Green

one here in your shoulder went straight in and out. This one on your thigh, I removed it for you. I’m no doctor, but I’ve been shot a few times my damn self.” He pointed to a few scars on his stomach. “Do you remember what happened? Are you from Boston?”
    Abigail shook her head.
    “Where are you from kid? What’s your name?”
    Abigail seemed lost; she was torn. Who is this man? Can I trust him? Her instinct told her to trust no one, but her body reminded her she was too weak to have any options. She had no choice but to let Frankie take her away and have his way with her.
    “When you’re ready to talk, let me know. Against my better judgment… you can stay here until you figure things out. I need an extra hand around anyway. I’ll pay you. It’s up to you. Do what you want; just don’t bring trouble over here. You look like you’re gonna be a handful.” Frank turned his back to leave the room. “When you get the strength, wash up and come down for dinner. That food over there is stale.” Frankie picked up the stale sandwich and left the room. Immediately after Frankie stepped out, Larry peered into the room and stared Abigail up and down before he turned away and closed the door. Abigail met his eyes confidently.
    Larry was obviously uncomfortable with the idea of Abigail staying at the pub. Larry asked Frankie, “What the hell are you thinking?”
    Frankie answered, “I don’t know. I felt it was the right thing to do.”
    “You can’t just bring wounded runaways around here. You know we have enough heat already. You know nothing about her!”
    “Well she’s here now! What do you want me to do? You want me to toss her out back out on the streets?” Frankie was upset. 
    “Yes! Give her a sandwich or something if it makes you feel better and send her ass out the back door. Figure it out, but she needs to go. I’m not trying to be mean. Maybe if someone wasn’t trying to kill her, I wouldn’t care so much. You have to think about what you’re doing.”
    “I know. I have. She stays.” Frankie walked away.
    “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Larry said as he followed Frankie back to the bar.
    Abigail’s ears were tight on that conversation. She heard the whole thing and figured she would have to keep her eyes on Larry. However, she knew he had a point. They didn’t know her or anything about her. She hoped to leave before she overstayed her welcome. She also didn’t remember much about how she arrived in the alley and didn’t want to bring this man or his place additional trouble. It seemed they were having problems of their own.
    Abby had a small bag strapped over her shoulder when Frankie picked her up. Neither he nor Roger had gone through her stuff. He hung the bag from the edge of the bed. The bag was black leather with a shoulder strap and a flap that covered the opening. She grabbed it and quickly ruffled through it. Her things were intact. She knew there wasn’t a need to do a full investigation of the contents of her purse. There was nothing in there that would spark her memory of what happened. She knew who she was but the events of the past few days eluded her. Actually, the more she thought about her past, the less she recalled. Abigail saw her clothes hanging in the corner on what seemed to be a towel rack. She made an attempt to stand up. Her weak leg gave in. She almost fell but managed to stay on her feet by shifting her body weight to the other leg. Her feet were cold. Where are my shoes?
    Abigail put on some sweat pants, socks and a Red Sox t shirt left at the foot of the bed. Her clothes from the other night were still wet. She felt warm but the pain continued to distract her desire to run. She saw water on the table. She was starving. Her belly ached and growled from the natural need for food. She grabbed the glass of water and downed it. Some of the water missed her mouth and ran down the sides of her face. It was warm but it was refreshing. She didn’t