Collateral Read Online Free PDF

toward daylight. I loved the way,
    when he spoke of his mom, his voice got
    all silky. She wanted me to go to college,
    even though money was tight. I was almost
    through my second year when my kid sister
    got sick. Fucking cancer takes the weak,
    like wolves culling antelope. Annie fought
    hard, but not good enough. Between doctors
    and hospitals and the funeral, the savings
    dried up. Two solid years of undergrad
    behind him, Cole was considering work
    in the natural gas fields when a savvy
    recruiter snagged him. Told him he could
    send part of his paychecks to his mother,
    and college could come, paid-for, after
    he fulfilled his commitment. He was still
    considering his options when word came
    that an Iraqi bullet had claimed his cousin
    Eugene, who signed up for the Army while
    he was still in high school. He was barely
    voting age when he deployed. As Cole
    told the story, his body tensed visibly,
    and he squinted around the anger
    that bloomed in his leonine eyes.
    Son of a whore hajji shot Gene square
    in the back, right through his heart.
    I don’t much take after my bastard
    father, except when it comes to revenge.
    Eighteen is too fucking young to die.
    I didn’t say I thought twenty-one was too
    young to die, and it seemed a distinct possibility
    for him, or any soldier, in search of revenge.

NEITHER DID I ASK FOR SPECIFICS
    About his father. I didn’t know him well enough,
    nor had I consumed nearly enough alcohol. Later,
    I learned that Bart Gleason, who left Cole’s
    mom two days before Cole’s ninth birthday,
    was serving a life sentence for murder.
    Seems the girl he left Mrs. Gleason for
    wasn’t such a sweet, young thing after all.
    Bart heard rumors about her sleeping around.
    He followed her one night. Waited long
    enough for her to get naked and knotted
    up with another guy, then calmly blew
    out both their brains with his favorite
    .357 magnum. Probably a good thing
    I didn’t hear the story that night. My own
    parents are big subscribers to the old
    â€œapple doesn’t fall far from the tree” theory.
    I’d heard it all my life, and maybe believed
    it, at least a little. By the time I found out
    about Cole’s father, though, I loved my Marine
    way too much to even think twice about it.

THAT KIND OF LOVE
    For me is a once-in-a-lifetime,
    planets-aligning-at-the-exact-
    right-coordinates kind of thing.
    I guess I always hoped it was
    possible, but never let myself
    believe it would happen any time.
    I definitely wasn’t looking and
    so I didn’t see it right away.
    The kiss at the beach was sweet.
    But it was only memorable in
    retrospect. The kissing on
    the couch quickly moved from
    tentative cool to electric hot.
    You can tell a lot by the way
    a guy kisses. Cole kissed like
    summer rain—barely wet,
    the temperature of August
    sky, thunder-punctuated. Delicious.

BREATHLESS
    Heart thudding, I came very close
    to giving him a lot more. I wanted to,
    despite forever declarations to never,
    ever invite one-night stands, and surely
    that was all it would be. Cole is all-man,
    and I can’t say he didn’t try, but when I
    slowed him with a simple, “Can’t. Not yet,”
    he respected the request, though not without
    comment. You positive you’re a California
    girl? He wasn’t clear about whether he’d
    heard all California girls were loose or only
    if all the ones he’d met so far were. “Meaning . . . ?”
    He started to answer just about the time
    Darian came stumbling down the hall
    to the kitchen, hair like an eagle’s nest,
    and wearing nothing but a T-shirt that
    barely covered her crotch. Barely. Hey,
    she slurred, sort of giving us the twice
    over. Sorry. Thirsty. She grabbed a couple
    of beers from the fridge. Staggered back
    to her room. Cole and I looked at each
    other and laughed. “Point taken,” I said.
    â€œAnd if I don’t want to look like