Secondhand Souls Read Online Free PDF Page A

on, buddy. Just hang on.”
    “Stay back,” said the sweater guy. He let go of the rail with one hand and leaned out.
    Hundreds of feet below, pedestrians were looking out over the bay, strolling, pointing, taking pictures. Hundreds of feet below that, a container ship as long as two football fields cruised under the bridge.
    “Wait!” said Mike.
    “Why?”
    “Uh, because it hurts. They don’t tell you that. It’s seven hundred and fifty feet from here to the water. Believe me, I think about it every day. You hit at a hundred and seventy-five miles an hour, but it doesn’t always kill you. You feel it. It hurts like hell. You’re all broken up, in the cold water. I mean, I’m not sure, but—”
    “Crisis hotline. This is Lily. What’s your name?”
    Mike held up a finger to signal for the kid to wait just a second. “I’m Mike. Sorry, they were supposed to connect me with the suicide hotline.”
    “Yeah, that’s us. But we don’t call it that because it’s depressing. What can I do for you?”
    “I’m not calling for me, I’m calling for this guy who needs some help. He’s over the rail on the Golden Gate Bridge.”
    “My specialty,” said Lily. “Put him on.”
    “Stay back,” said tiny sweater guy. He let go with one hand again. Mike noticed that the kid’s hands were turning purple. It was a nice day, but up here, in the wind, it was cold, and hanging on to cold steel made it worse. All the guys on the crew wore long johns under their coveralls, and gloves, even on the warmest days.
    “What’s his name?” asked Lily.
    “What’s your name?” Mike asked sweater guy.
    “Geoff with a G ,” said sweater.
    “Geoff with a G ,” Mike repeated into the phone.
    “Tell him he doesn’t have to tell people about the G ,” said Lily.
    “She says you don’t have to tell people about the G ,” Mike said.
    “Yes I do. Yes I do. Yes I do,” said Geoff with a G.
    “The G is important to him,” Mike said to Lily.
    “Is he cute?”
    “Pardon.”
    “What’s he look like? Is he cute?”
    “I don’t know. He’s a guy? He’s going to jump off the bridge.”
    “Describe him.”
    “I don’t know. He’s about thirty, maybe. Glasses. Brown hair.”
    “Is he clean?”
    Mike looked. “Yeah. To the eye.”
    “He sounds nice.”
    “She says you sound nice,” Mike conveyed to Geoff.
    “Tell him if he comes down, we can get together, chat about his problems, and I’ll give him a blow job.”
    “Really?”
    “The point is to get them past the crisis, Mike. Get him off the bridge.”
    “Okay,” said Mike. To Geoff, he said. “So, Geoff, Lily here says that if you come down, the two of you can get together and chat about your problems.”
    “I’m done talking,” said Geoff.
    “Tell him the rest,” said Lily. “The second part usually closes the deal.”
    “She says she’ll give you a blow job.”
    “What?” said Geoff.
    “I’m not saying it again,” Mike said to Lily.
    “Tell him I’m beautiful.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes, fucktard, really. How are you not getting this?”
    “Maybe I should just put you on speaker, and you can tell him.”
    “Nooooooo,” wailed Geoff. He raised his free hand and swung out into space.
    “She’s beautiful,” Mike said.
    “Not again,” said Geoff. “No more.” He pushed off into space. No scream. Wind.
    “Fuck,” Mike said. He looked, then looked away. He didn’t want to see him hit. He cringed and anticipated the sound. It came up from the water like a distant gunshot.
    “Mike?” said Lily.
    He caught his breath. He could feel his pulse rushing in his ears and the sound of people shouting below. A code blue came over his radio, signaling for everyone on the crew to stay secured in place until the captain of the bridge could assess the situation.
    “He went over,” Mike said into the phone.
    “Balls,” Lily said. “This is on you, Mike. This is not on me. If you’d given him the phone—”
    “He wouldn’t take it. I