Kindred Read Online Free PDF

ridiculous—a high school boy, short for his age and wearing Hawaiian-print board shorts that hung way too long. Instead, he looked cocky and, in a way I couldn’t define, like someone who knew what he wanted and liked what he saw.
    Within seconds the two were chatting away, and I found myself scooting over a couple of lounge chairs so I could eavesdrop.
    “It’s for my job,” the woman said, waving at the suntan lotion.
    “Oh, you’re a stripper?” Mo said.
    I couldn’t suppress a wide-eyed glance at the two of them. His nerve asking someone that blew me away, and I expected her to storm off in a huff, maybe slap him on her way. Instead, she was mildly surprised.
    “How did you know?”
    I nearly choked on my soda. Mo shot me a look.
    “Who else needs a perfect tan?” he said with the world-weary ennui of a frequent strip-club patron. Two boys in identical blond haircuts and matching swim trunks hurried over, dripping and shivering slightly, to beg for ice cream money. She reached into the beach bag on the ground next to her and pulled out some crumpled bills.
    “My husband’s a contractor,” she told Mo once the boys were out of earshot. “With the market turning the way it did, we lost so much money that we were close to bankruptcy. I stripped in college and I was still in good shape, so …”
    “And the money’s good?” asked my shameless brother.
    “Look, I don’t turn tricks, I don’t lap-dance, I just strip and I make about twelve grand a month. In six more months we’ll be completely out of debt and I’ll quit.”
    My brother nodded thoughtfully. “I have to ask, are they real?”
    “Excuse me?” Her tone grew cold.
    “Your nails,” he said, straight-faced.
    “They’re fake,” she said, studying her hands. Then she paused and cracked a smile. “Both of them.” This time I thought I might need the Heimlich to get a piece of ice unstuck from my throat, and my choking fit was loud enough to catch her attention. She looked over at me, then back at my brother, and smiled.
    “You two look identical.”
    I scowled as Mo cracked a joke about his “manly” sister, but let him get away with it. I knew it bothered him when people said we looked alike. He was always small for his age, with ridiculously long eyelashes. Eventually we went back in the water, where Mo promptly dunked me and tried to pants me, yanking at my bikini bottoms. I retaliated by splashing so much that one of his contact lenses floated away.
    “See,” Mo said later as I drove us home. “Not all sin is bad. Sometimes it can save good people.”
    It was an old debate in our family. The nature of good and evil. Free will. Thoughts versus actions. Intent and consequences.
    “We both know she’s not quitting in six months,” I said. “After they’re out of debt, their car’ll need repairs. And after the car is fixed, the kids’ll need braces. There’s always going to be something. How long before she is doing lap dances? If she earns twelve grand stripping, she’ll make more turning tricks. I’m not saying she will, but she’s living in a dangerous place.”
    “Miriam,” Mo said, sighing and closing his eyes. “Shut up.”
    I don’t know why I expected telling my parents that I’m dropping out would go well. Neither one of them screams, calls me names or makes threats. But that hurt, baffled look on my dad’s face goes a long way toward curdling the chowder I had for lunch. My father simply asks me why, and I know he expects a better answer than a shrug. “College is stupid,” I mumble, half ashamed. “It’s a waste of time.”
    “What’s so much better than improving your mind and preparing yourself for a career?”
    Considering the shock of my announcement, it’s impressive he stays so calm. He has a temper, though it has mellowed with age. The compressed lips, the tightening around his eyes … I brace myself, thrown back to age ten, when he could reduce me to tears with a look. He doesn’t