Whisper Read Online Free PDF

they’d come to a home cooked meal.
    The boys concocted stuff from the freezer every once 26

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    in a while, but they all lacked culinary skills.
    “Will you stay the whole week?” Billy asked.
    Keith took a napkin and wiped the corner of the boy’s mouth. He didn’t mind being idolized by the kid. He actually enjoyed Billy thinking he could fix any problem life threw their way. He hated the fall off the pedestal however, because the landing hurt like hell. It happened with Corey. “Nope. But I’ll be here tomorrow.”
    “Oh.”
    “And tomorrow I don’t have a thing to do other than catch a plane. That leaves all morning and some of the afternoon. It’s not supposed to rain so I figured we’d play some football in the park.” That gained the attention of all the kids. Corey’s best friend Jade asked, “Really?”
    “Yeah, I need to blow off some steam. You guys would be doing me a favor.”
    Kids started yelling about who would be on which team. Billy, of course, would be with him.
    They pretty much understood the game would be played with the odds stacked in Billy’s favor. They liked playing, regardless.
    The chicken impressed him, never having tasted anything quite like it. Thick and crispy breading surrounded tender, flavorful meat. The rest of the meal was on par with the chicken, which was incredible. They ate fast, anticipating the pies.
    After dinner, while dishes were cleared, Heather cut slices of still-warm pie. With a lot of mouths waiting for a taste, she divided them equally and didn’t take a piece for herself.
    “You not hungry?” he asked.
    “Whisper made some apple dumplings for us.
    Besides, it’s just the right number without me.” Corey couldn’t get her attention back quick enough. For once, he didn’t sound like a disgruntled sixteen-year old. He sounded like Mark. A pretty girl 27

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    could do that for a guy—make him mature. When she wasn’t crying or being arrested, Heather was beyond pretty. Keith imagined Whisper would be too, without the extra color all over her skin.
    He’d known a few men who’d beaten a woman.
    They’d also kick a puppy or shake a baby. When one of them would cross his path, Keith never hesitated giving a first hand demonstration on how it felt to take some punches. He’d never minded educating a man needing a hard lesson.
    “Are you glad to be home, Keith?” Billy asked.
    He took a second to focus on the question. He’d been mentally tearing some asshole’s head off. “Sure.
    Why would you ask me something like that?” Billy glanced at Mark who glared and shook his head.
    Keith’s stomach rolled. “Now what the hell was that about?”
    Billy’s eyes grew big and damp. Keith drew a breath, held it and let it out slowly. He planned on some trouble during the visit. It always surfaced.
    He’d just been surprised Billy had the problem. At ten years old, it couldn’t be too severe. At least, that’s what he hoped. He set his fork down and reached out. Billy flew into his arms. He’d outgrown hugs a few years ago. The kid needing one then didn’t sit well. “What’s going on, Billy?”
    “I can’t spell. Mark said not to tell you, but I failed every test. I just can’t do it.”
    “I can fix that.”
    “Really? How?”
    “You get the words on Monday, right?” He patted Billy’s head when he nodded. “You tell me what they are and we nail them down, just like the porch. You’ll know them forward and back. Simple.”
    “Every night?”
    “Every single night.” He talked to him almost every evening anyhow. Listening to him repeat the 28

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    spelling words would give them more to say. “Wait, I just thought of something. How would I know you weren’t looking at the paper to see how they’re spelled?”
    Corey piped up, “I’ll keep an eye on him. He won’t cheat.”
    He didn’t question Corey’s sudden change in attitude or the interest in Billy. Corey resented Billy on some level; anything