Blue Sacrifice (Blue Davison) Read Free Page A

thing.”
    Smiling, I tugged at her thick black hair. “You’re
just too much of a tomboy for that.”
    Lacey shared my grin. “It’s true I’ve never been
very feminine.”
    We laughed, though I wasn’t sure we were laughing
at the same thing. Either way, I said goodbye then headed into the yellow
bungalow I called home.
    After my mom sacrificed herself, I needed a place
to live and Aunt Penny was in a mental institution by then. While Aunt Aurora
wanted to take me in, she refused to return to Lily Falls to pick me up which
pissed off the Social Services lady. I ended up in foster care with a woman
named Gretchen Poirier. Six months later, I was adopted by Gretchen, but she
had never even tried to be my mom.
    Gretchen was my friend. I didn’t even have to call
her mom. She wanted a kid and ended up with me, but I don’t think she really
enjoyed being a parent. She didn’t help me with my homework. She didn’t
remember my birthday. She didn’t know where I was at any moment of the day,
unless I was standing right next to her.
    Yet Gretchen wasn’t a bad person, just an
uninspired parent. I was a phase she went through and she went through many of
them. She was into men at one point. Then she was a lesbian. Now she was
bisexual, but didn’t date. She used to paint. Then she wrote poetry. Then novels.
Then she turned to music. Finally she started collecting things. Angel
figurines, thimbles, shot glasses, and cats. I wasn’t sure Gretchen would have
been allowed to adopt me if she tried today. Our house had a hoarder vibe to it
with a dozen indoor cats and a dozen outdoor cats. She also had a dog I hadn’t
seen in months, but Gretchen assured me was still alive.
    Gretchen’s latest phase was business owner. Ever
since she was a teenager, she helped her rich aunt with errands. When her aunt
died, Gretchen received sums of money at various intervals. I was never clear
how it worked, though I suspected the inheritance was in the hands of a trust
which doled out money only if Gretchen used it properly. This money was how
Gretchen bought the pretty three bedroom bungalow. It was also how she bought
her food truck.
    Gretchen’s old boyfriend Hans helped her design
the menu of the food truck and he handled the money part of the operation.
Gretchen basically just cooked. She was a pretty good cook too. While she
rarely cooked at home, I usually ate dinners off of the food truck and they
were always tasty sandwiches or tacos. Gretchen changed the menu a lot depending
on her current phase. Her changes were mainly related to what she saw on the
Travel or Cooking Channels. If Anthony Bourdain liked something, Gretchen
wanted it on her menu.
    Entering the house, I received no love from the
cats. They weren’t mine. They were more like a family with human caretakers. If
their bowls were empty, they would have shown interest. With their tummies
full, I was just the annoying person who woke them from their naps.
    Three years earlier, Gretchen had the bungalow
remodeled so she could move her private quarters upstairs. I suspected she was
concerned I was using her toothbrush when she wasn’t around. While I couldn’t explain
this particular fear, Gretchen tended to be worried about the little things. A
tornado heading for our street was a minor nuisance, yet the daily paper
landing in our lawn instead of the walkway was enough to send her into an
emotional tailspin.
    Fortunately Hans was great at handling Gretchen.
He loved her so much he just accepted how she would never love him back. I
always felt bad for him to live a life so unfulfilled, but I was planning to
die before I got to do anything cool. Hans at least had a choice and he’d made
it.
    After a shower, I worked my way through my closet
to find something suitable for a hookup with a guy of Flynn’s beauty. Most of
my clothes were earth tones and designed by Gretchen’s last girlfriend, Toni.
Even after Toni left Lily Falls, she sent me clothes because she knew I