Poker Face Read Online Free PDF Page A

it up and spit it out.
     
    “What is it?” She eyed the slop as she poked at it with the
serving spoon.
     
    “Country style steak. Nice and tender. Ever had any?” Tink
inquired.
     
    She shook her head still peering into the bowl with a crinkled
nose. “What’s stuck to it?”
     
    Elbows propped on the table, Drew jabbed the prongs of his fork in
her general direction. Irritation was apparent on his face. “It’s Gravy! It’s
not going to kill you. Stop complaining and just eat it!”
     
    “You don’t ever turn up a nose at a woman’s cooking.” Birdie
added.
     
    Tink leaned in, “Trust me….you don’t want to hurt that woman’s
feelings. I done that once, spent weeks going hungry. I had to resort to
catching crickets outside. They got a mighty crunch to um, their little legs
are the problem, got um caught in-between my teeth. ”
     
    Birdie laughed, “Oh, stop fibbing. Everybody knows you’ve never
missed a meal.”
     
    Everyone watched Megan waiting for her response, except for Drew,
who was already shoveling food into his mouth. Megan shook her head. “No
thanks, I’ll just eat a salad.”
     
    “Suit yourself,” Tink said sitting the bowl back in the center of
the table.
     
    They all told jokes. Laughed. Made conversation. Enjoying each
other’s company after a long day. Megan kept quiet, ate and listened. No one
would ever suspect they’d just been told they no longer have a home. Life went
on. And so did the tall tales at the table. She caught herself watching Drew as
he told his share of bullshit, his hands were always as descriptive as his
words. The genuine smile he shared with his five friends had her feeling a
twinge of jealously.
     
    “Birdie…. that was one fine meal!” Tink commented rocking back in
his chair rubbing his bloated belly.
     
    Noticing a break in the conversation, Megan jumped in, “Why do
they call you Tink… if you don’t mind me asking?”
     
    “Drew came up with the name. Says I’m always tinkering with
something, disassembling it, although my damn hands slow me down these days.”
     
    “And Birdie?”
     
    “Well Drew came up with that one too.”
     
    Drew grinned across the table at Birdie, “It was better than the
alternative.”
     
    “What was the alternative?” Megan inquired.
     
    “Big Roberta,” Drew teased.
     
    Tink draped an arm over her shoulder again bringing back the musky
smell of body odor. “Consider yourself lucky, if that one over there ever
decides to give you a nickname….means you’ve graduated to “special” status with
him. Few rarely get the honor.” He clicked his tongue.
     
    “Yeah, few rarely get the honor of being pain in the asses!” Drew
snapped although his cheeks told a different story as they heightened with
color. He shifted in his chair taking a huge gulp of ice tea.
     
    “He loves us….just don’t want to admit it.”
     
    Drew made some grumbling sounds and went back to eating.
     
    Megan should have left well-enough alone. Drew was the one being
drug behind the horse, so to speak. But then she had to open her big mouth
causing the entire room to go silent. “Why doesn’t Griffin ever talk?” She
looked to Emma for an answer, since the young girl was the one that hung around
him the most, but it wasn’t Emma that answered.
     
    “Can’t,” Tink said and was about to explain when Drew cut him off
with shake of his head.
     
    “Don’t….now’s not the time to talk about this.”
     
    Megan studied the boy with his messy dark hair and thin features
sitting to her left. He looked around sixteen, and was an attractive boy with
full lips and tan skin, but there was something definitely going on with him.
Her voice dropped to a hush, “Shouldn’t he be like… in a home or something for
people with special needs?”
     
    A fork full of country style steak came to a halt hovering near
Drew’s down-turned mouth. He threw her a look of belief. “He’s fine. It’s you
who needs to be in