Stars & Stripes Read Free Page A

teeth. Both hands were full of papers, held aloft as he planted his elbows on his desk.
    “Oh.” Alston said, running his fingers through his blond hair. Ty felt like Alston looked: exhausted, seeing double, and desperate to go home.
     “Thank God it’s Friday,” Alston said on a deep sigh as he looked at the clock. Ty glanced at it too, out of habit. Close to quitting time.
    His cell phone began to buzz at his hip, and he twisted to try to see the display. He had no free hands, and no free space on his desk to set one of the unorganized stacks down.
    “Want me to get it?” Alston asked. He pushed out of his chair, and Ty nodded and stood as well, turning his hip toward Alston.
    He spit the highlighter out. It clattered to the desk and rolled until it hit a stack of files too high to bounce over. Alston plucked the phone off his belt and hit the speaker button.
    “Grady,” Ty said as Alston put the phone on the desk and took one of the stacks of papers from his hand. “Thanks,” Ty whispered.
    “Ty?”
    “Hey, Ma,” Ty said, distracted as he and Alston tried to switch things around while still keeping the stacks in order.
    “You’re not still at work, are you? I can call back.”
    “No, I’m about done here.” Ty glanced up at Alston and waved a handful of files at the shredder nearby. Alston shook his head, and Ty nodded in response, managing to start an argument without a single word.
    On the other side of the pod of desks, Michelle Clancy began to giggle.
    “What’s going on?” Ty asked his mother as he sat down and leaned closer to the cell phone, struggling to finish up his last file and listen at the same time.
    “Well, I need a favor. A few favors, actually. But they can wait ’til you get home and call me back.”
    Ty rolled his eyes and shook his head. Alston chuckled as he leaned against Ty’s desk. “Ma, will you just get to the point, please?”
    “Well, we’re aiming to fix the old tin roof on the storage shed this weekend ’cause it’s leaking.”
    “Oh God,” Ty groaned. He lowered his head, files forgotten. Alston squeezed his shoulder, mockingly comforting him.
    “We wouldn’t need your help normally, but this morning I cut your daddy’s finger off, and he says he can’t hold a hammer.”
    Ty’s head shot up. “You what?”
    “Cut his finger off,” Mara said again, as if she hadn’t realized the news would be shocking.
    The others were drifting closer, trying to hear the conversation. Ty sat silent a moment longer, his mouth agape. “On . . . purpose?”
    “Well, no, it was an accident.”
    “Right, of course.” He glanced up at his teammates to see all four of them watching and laughing.
    “But it’s not like he don’t have four more fingers to work with. And it was only part of the little finger, and they sewed it back on. He has two hands, one of ’em can hold a hammer just fine, but no, he says he can’t do it.”
    “Is he okay?”
    “Well, yeah. Like I said, they sewed it back on. So can you come home this weekend and help out with the roof tomorrow? Deacon said he would come too, but you know how he gets with tools.”
    Ty shook his head, mouth still hanging open as he tried to process. Clancy leaned over to catch his eye, even waving a hand at him. “Hi, Mama Grady! Ty’s checking his calendar to see if he can get away.”
    “Don’t you lie to me, honey. He’s sitting there with his mouth hanging open, ain’t he?”
    “Yes, ma’am!”
    “Ty, if you come tonight, I’ll get your daddy to tell you all about it. Your brother and Livi’ll be here. It’ll be fun!”
    “Fun does not start with a story about how you cut Dad’s finger off!” Ty said, laughing despite himself.
    “It does in my book. He deserved it.”
    The others gave up on etiquette and laughed raucously. Ty shot them all a glare, and he finally dropped what he was doing and picked up his phone. He caught sight of Zane coming back down the hall. His partner had been sullen and