Fort Lupton Read Online Free PDF

the end of the
hallway. The man wore torn blue jeans and a faded T-shirt. His hair
was deep chestnut. Charlie couldn’t tell how old he was — older
than Charlie that’s for sure.
    “ I’ve never been in the
hospital before,” Charlie said.
    The man grinned.
    “’ Cept that one time,”
Charlie said. “But that was because of Sandy. She wanted me
to . . .”
    The man laughed.
    “ Want to take a walk?” the
man asked.
    “ I think I should stay
here,” Charlie said. “My sister will be here soon
and . . .”
    “ Sandy?” the man asked.
“She’s here.”
    The hallway faded away. Charlie was lying on
a table. There was a man standing over him shouting orders to a
woman who was handing him tools.
    “ He’s regaining
consciousness,” a woman near his head yelled.
    Charlie felt like his entire body was on
fire. He tried to scream but there was a tube down his throat.
    “ Put him under,” the man
standing over him said. “Now!”
    Charlie was standing in the hallway
again.
    “ I didn’t see her,”
Charlie said.
    The man laughed.
    “ Dad,” Charlie
said.
    “ Yes, son,” Mitch Delgado
said.
    “ I was just checking to
see if it was you,” Charlie said. “Am I dying?”
    “ I doubt it,” Mitch said.
“But I wouldn’t know.”
    “ Where’s Sandy?” Charlie
asked.
    “ Waiting,” Mitch said.
“Crying. O’Malley’s there. Tiffanie.”
    “ Tink?” Charlie
asked.
    “ Tink?” Mitch asked.
“What’s a Tink?”
    “ My girlfriend,” Charlie
said.
    “ Everyone’s there.” Mitch
nodded. “The Oracle too. She says she warned you.”
    “ Delphie?” Charlie asked.
He thought for a moment before he nodded. “She told me that some
people were mad at me for testifying.”
    Charlie thought for another moment.
    “ Yeah, I guess she did
warn me,” Charlie said.
    “ You didn’t listen?” Mitch
asked.
    “ I’m sixteen.” Charlie
grinned. “I think I’m invincible.”
    Mitch laughed. The scene changed. They were
sitting in City Park under a big tree. A band was playing jazz
music. Charlie knew there should be people here, but it was oddly
empty. He squinted to look at the band stand. It was empty. He
looked at his father.
    “ I loved coming here to
listen to music,” Mitch said. “Do you mind?”
    “ Can I wear something
else?” Charlie asked. He gestured to his bare behind. “The grass is
chaffing my ass.”
    Mitch laughed. He snapped his fingers and
Charlie was wearing jeans and a ragged T-shirt. He realized he
looked almost identical to this man, his father. Charlie grinned
and Mitch gave him a near identical grin back.
    “ I loved you, Charlie,”
Mitch said. “Most of all.”
    “ What about Sissy?”
Charlie asked.
    “ I love your sister,”
Mitch said. “But a daughter is different from a son. I wanted to
see you grow up.”
    “ Just me?”
    “ Both of you,” Mitch said.
“I . . . You can ask O’Malley.”
    “ If you loved
us?”
    Mitch nodded.
    “ I know you loved us,”
Charlie said.
    He looked down at the ground and marveled at
how real it all felt. A warm summer breeze brought the fetid smell
of goose poop to him. Charlie grinned.
    “ How? How did you know I
loved you?”
    “ I remember,” Charlie
said. He looked at Mitch. “I remember how much you loved
us.”
    “ You do?”
    Charlie nodded.
    “ You’re mad I’m dead,”
Mitch said in a matter-of-fact way.
    “’ S more complicated than
that,” Charlie’s words slurred. “Sorry
I . . .”
    “ It’s the drugs,” Mitch
said. “They’re having trouble keeping the addict under
sedation.”
    Charlie nodded and swallowed hard.
    “ Complicated?” Mitch
asked.
    “ I just wanted us to be a
family again,” Charlie said. “I wanted Sandy to move back home and
you to not die and Sissy not to be sick
and . . .”
    Charlie nodded.
    “ You remember being
happy,” Mitch said.
    “ I remember being loved,”
Charlie said. “Drugs. When I was high, I remembered being
loved.”
    Mitch