South Row Read Free

blue , an annoying voice reminds me. I shake off all thoughts of South Row and let the bitterness and anger I had felt all those years ago fill me. She left. And with her disappearance, she’d left a trail of disaster.
    The morning after that fateful night, I woke to find my bed empty and my sheets riddled with spatters of blood. I got rid of those before my mom could find them. And she had stolen my money; the money I had worked so goddamn hard for.
    I went to look for her, to confront her about stealing from me, and about what had happened the night before, and to tell her to stay away from me – and to get one last, satisfying look at the beauty I’d claimed. When I got to her house, police had cordoned off the dilapidated premises and a crowd had gathered, a flurry of confused voices raised.
    It was the scene of a murder-suicide and the case of a missing South. For months, searches went on to find her body, assuming she had died. But I knew different. She wasn’t dead. I could feel her under my skin, in my blood, my veins…my heart. When I had claimed her that night, little did I know that she had claimed me as well. She left, and with her, she took my heart. I’ve since been operating with a transplant. Kaylee did that. She gave me her heart so I could love again. Sappy, I know, but when it’s right, it’s just right.
    But it’ s not right, the annoying voice continues. I put a lid on those thoughts, not willing to explore the possibility that Kaylee is all wrong for me. How can she be? She’s perfect. Any man would be lucky to have her and I am.
    I exit the bathroom and slip into bed with my fiancé e. Clutching her to me in a spoon, I inhale her cherry blossom scent and kiss the back of her neck. She shudders involuntarily and sighs happily.
    “ I love you, Colin,” she says.
    “ I love you, too.” No you don’t.
    Stupid, annoying voice.
     
    **********
     
    “Dude, I can’t believe you’ re gonna walk the plank!” Luke exclaims as the bunch of us sit down to lunch the next day.
    Luke and I have been friends since college and are both lawyers in the same firm – me a criminal lawyer and him a divorce lawyer. No surprise there. He is a glorified playboy with his neat blonde hair, grey eyes and athletic build. “Different day, different girl” is his motto; pledging that he wants to die hilt deep in pussy. We laugh at his man-whorish ways; teasing that when he does fall for a woman, he’ll fall hard. He hates when we tease him like that; going silent for minutes, sometimes hours, contemplating the horror of being a one woman man.
    Next to him is Johann, another buddy from college. With his tall, muscular build, dark hair and brown eyes, he considers himself the Latin lover, vain as they come; but is committed to his girlfriend of six months – though he’s vowed to never get married. He’s a why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free kinda guy . He owns a fitness center and a dance club that is our usual dig on a Friday or Saturday night, sometimes for the entire weekend. That’s where I met Kaylee only to find out she was my boss’s daughter. After a few dates and a weekend where we locked ourselves away and fucked until neither of us could stand, I was hooked. Thankful that the love drought brought on by South’s disappearance had been over. Yeah, right.
    My little brother, Connor, who is no longer little, sits beside me. He’s a fresh, new architect that is taking modern design with a splash of antiquity by storm. The guy is raking in clients from celebs to politicians. I told you, he’s the Ultra-lord of cool. He’s beginning to look more and more like our dad with his dirty blonde hair and green eyes. I take more after our mother with ash brown hair and hazel eyes tinged with gemstone green rings around the pupils. Connor has had relationships here and there, but none ever serious. He’s career-focused and I can’t blame him. He’s never been the same since South left,