Comin' Home to You Read Free Page A

daughter, brother, and his mother while on her death bed. It was easy enough to outwardly rebuff such comments, but they still cut him like a sharpened dagger. Sometimes, he would have doubts about himself, but at this point, there was nothing more that could be done to change him.
    After finishing his drink, he caught Grace trying to sneak by him from the corner of his eye. She was wearing a pink t-shirt with the Louie's logo on her left breast. She also wore a pair of skimpy black shorts that accentuated her beautiful and virtually shimmering tanned legs. Quickly spinning on his bar stool, he yelled at her to get her attention.
    Rolling her eyes in disgust, she reluctantly responded. “What the hell do you want, Owen?”
    “I came to see you, girl.”
    “Well, you saw me.”
    “What are you doing after this?”
    “Not you, that's for damn sure.”
    Owen had a snarky comeback at the tip of his tongue, but it couldn't function correctly to make the words. It felt like a dead weight inside of his mouth. Instead, he decided to remain silent, and his former smirk transformed into a plain poker face.
    “Listen, Owen,” continued Grace, consciously talking louder so the other customers could hear. “I can't live my life lettin' some old lecherous, greedy, stupid asshole like you get what he wants all the damn time. I'm 30 damn years old, and it's about time I start actin' like it!”
    Light laughs and snickers could be heard from the restaurant audience. Grace put a hand on her hip and awaited a response, but Owen quietly span around, mainly to avoid her piercing gaze, while at the same time escaping the stares and laughs from the customer audience. While her words had plenty of impact, he was more shocked that she knew the word 'lecherous.' Throwing back the remaining half ounce of beer left in his glass, he exhaled loudly. That was not the way he was expecting his conversation with Grace to go. It was disappointing, and that feeling evolved to a maudlin and brooding state. Dr. Myers' words were starting to repeat in his head, and a dark realization was beginning to set in. He was going to die, and more than likely, he would die alone.
    A minute later, Bubba placed another beer on the bar top. Owen nodded in appreciation.
    “Grace chewed your ass out, huh?” spoke a smiling Bubba.
    “Yes...yes, she did.”
    Bubba leaned over the bar to get closer to Owen. “Man, keep this on the down low, but we've been talking about it here at work, and man, the way she's been actin', a lot of us be thinkin' that she got knocked up. Either that or she's on the longest fuckin' period ever.”
    That was the last thing Owen wanted to hear. The news could explain a lot of things as to why she seemed angry at him. The girl was by no means a whore. As far as he knew, the two guys she was seen out with never went beyond simple dates. Of course, he didn't know that for sure, but it even took him a couple weeks before he engaged with Grace physically, and he considered himself quite the lady killer. If she did carry his seed, then his life was truly fucked. He couldn't even imagine raising another child, but it was doubtful he would get the chance.
    Now further depressed, he sighed audibly. “Well, shit.”
    “I hear ya, man. I had some scares like that in the past. Shit, one of them wasn't a scare. God dammit, been paying child support for two years now. Fuck, I'm fortunate though. I'm not paying as much as other guys I know. But still man, paying for a child you don't want, that's some shit.”
    “Let me ask you something, Bubba,” interrupted Owen, uncaring of Bubba's predicament. “You seem like the philosophical type.”
    “The what?” questioned Bubba.
    The comment was in jest, but he pushed the subject anyway. “Philosophical. You know, understanding beliefs, attitudes, and really looking at things...thoroughly, I guess. That kind of stuff.”
    “Uh...alright.”
    “Never mind, I'll just ask you. If you knew you were going to