Anonymity Read Online Free PDF

A tangle of old-fashioned watches wrapped her wrists.
    Lorelei liked the girl's style and the man seemed nice enough. Still, she didn't have anything to say to them.
    “I don't like to eat alone.” Fiona sat on the grass without waiting for an invitation.
    “I got to go do something. I'll talk to you later,” Steve said and walked away.
    “I haven't seen you on The Drag before,” Fiona said.
    Lorelei hoped this girl wouldn't be an annoying motor-mouth. She decided to guide the conversation. “What's The Drag exactly?”
    Fiona motioned with her fork. “This part of Guadalupe. The shopping strip down this side. See that tower? That's where that crazy dude picked off all those people with a rifle back in the sixties. Stood up there and killed like a dozen people or something, people just walking along The Drag. Real whack job. They said he had some major brain tumor or something.”
    “That's convenient.”
    Fiona looked at her quizzically. “What do you mean?”
    “Just that people would think that's a legit reason for going postal. Some mega tumor would mean being crazy wasn't your fault.”
    “Like a free pass to off a few people?” She grinned. “I like it. You're all right.”
    “Where does everybody hang out around here?”
    “Different places. Some people hang in the alley back here because it's close to the drop-in. There are some parks around. Most of us walk down to Pease Park on Shoal Creek. People squat down there.”
    “Don't the cops run you off?”
    “Not so much. Not as long as nobody steals anything or tears anything up. They're pretty cool usually.” She took a bite of her food and chewed. “Usually.”
    “What's the shelter like?”
    She shrugged. “Not many beds. Hard to get into. They only want the kids who are,” she made quotation marks in the air, “transitioning.”
    “What's that mean?”
    “Getting your GED. Getting a job. Getting clean. Getting ready to go home. Getting off the streets.”
    “Oh.”
    “So, what's your story?”
    “None of the above.”
    “Where'd you stay last night?”
    She didn't want to talk about herself. Time to go.
    She stood up and gathered her things.
    “Hey, where you going?” Fiona asked.
    “Is there a trash can around?” she asked, holding up her paper plate and cup.
    “Just leave it here. I'll get it for you. Where are you going?”
    “I don't know. Maybe I'll go check out that Shoal Creek place.”
    “That's cool. I'll go with you.”
    “No thanks. I've got something to do first.” She needed to shoplift some clothes and find a bathroom where she could clean up and change. Afterward, she'd have to hide for a few days, just a precaution in case anybody happened to see her pinch the clothes. She couldn't afford to get picked up. You get busted, you go home.
    “Will I see you back here?” Fiona asked.
    Lorelei heard her, but walked away as if the question hadn't registered.
    “Hey,” Fiona called after her. “You didn't even tell me your name.”

Emily
    EMILY TAPPED the postcard for the dating site on the bar and considered the canoodling couple on the front. She had dug the postcard out of the trash a few days ago and carried it around in her pack, feeling its energy as if it were a tarot card that could foretell her future.
    Maybe her mother was right. Maybe she did have a crummy people filter. But a dating website seemed so, well, so desperate. She slipped the card into a pocket and reached up to ring an old dinner bell above her head. One clang. Two.
    “Last call for alcohol!” she yelled into the crowd on the other side of the bar. Saturdays were always hopping at Group Therapy. She liked the fast pace of busy nights, the heft of liquor bottles, the rattle of ice, the crack of opened beer. Men would smile and flirt. The tip jar filled. She enjoyed her different roles—DJ, psychologist, peacekeeper.
    Emily cut the music and the mumbling, laughing crowd began to move. Emily kept her head down and her back turned to the