A Gray Life: a novel by Red Harvey Page A

clear Juniper wanted to continue on with her murder story.
    “He wasn’t only a cop, though. He was also my pimp, an d a bastard. I killed him so that I could be free. But all of his cop buddies are looking for me, his partner in particular. It’s possible his partner is even worse. I’ve heard things about him. Some girls that he’s taken to his house never came back.” Juniper stared off, not really looking at anything, but thinking hard. She came back to what she was saying after Ashley cleared her throat. “Anyway, my picture is everywhere. There’s no way I can leave the city by plane. Suppose I could drive away, but…”
    “Are you waiting on him?”
    “Christopher? No. He’s waiting on me.”
    Ashley sat back and sighed. “Adults are stupid.”
    “Yes we are! He’s asked me to marry him, a few times.” Now that they were talking about Christopher, Juniper didn’t want to stop.
    “Say yes the next time he asks.”
    “I can’t trap him in marriage with a whore. He deserves better, someone brilliant and ambitious like him.”
    “He doesn’t want to marry someone like him. He wants to marry you. Plus, he’s rich. You wouldn’t have to…work anymore.”
    “I don’t want his money.” Juniper voice became unusually harsh. “And I’ve tried to quit before, to find a real job. Since I can’t put ‘hooker’ on my resume, it always looks empty. People don’t wanna hire an undergraduate who hasn’t worked in five years. Then, my rent is due and I go right back to my old job.”
    “There’s no shame in being with Christopher so he can help you, like you helped me.”
    “That’s why you’re pushing this? To help me? Pay me back?”
    Juniper’s questions fired off angrily, and Ashley ran out of words. An angry Juniper was a scary one. Her presence, or her psychic power, left a crackling in the air.
    “Not like that, but I do want to help you.”
    “Don’t worry about me. I help myself.”
    The crackling built up and it scared Ashley. She reached for the door.
    “Forget it.” She got out of the car quickly.
    Ashley’s bag was in the back seat. Grabbing it meant sticking around another second, a gruesome prospect. But, she needed her things.
    “I’ll see you.” S he said when she had her bag.
    Juniper didn’t look at her. “Yeah, okay. Bye.”
    The exchange left Ashley confused. Juniper was odd. While she had wanted to help Ashley, she had also seemed reluctant about it. And she had also shared so much about herself, but had been angry at Ashley’s innocent advice.
    Before boarding the plane, Ashley walked along the rows stores in the airport marketplace, looking for a store that sold magazines. At a small bookstand, she bought a paperback by someone named Atwood, along with a few trashy magazines. While waiting in line, she glanced at the newspaper rack positioned by the cash registers. A headline gave her pause:
    U.K. SAFEST PLACE TO LIVE.
    The subhead read: “Crime rates climb everywhere else”.
    Underneath the newspaper, a tabloid’s main story was:
    “BOY SPOTTED WHAT HE CLAIMS TO BE 'A MONSTER IN MY CLOSET'”. 
    Though laughable, the story reminded her of the boy by the bench that had tried to hurt her. God, she needed to leave the city.
    Ashley shifted in the cushy airplane seat. She wanted to forget everything. To keep from screaming, she needed to forget about bad men, and monsters in the closet. Those memories could be written over with new ones, and old ones. Although, she would not forget her grandparents, or her father, how he had saved her, or how he had loved her.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned on the ‘fasten seatbelt’ sign. We are about to take off. Please remain seated and buckle up. Thank you.”
    Ashley moved to put on a pair of headphones to help her sleep. A voice beside her made her stop.
    “Hey.”
    She looked across the aisle and couldn’t believe it. The boy from the alley sat right next to her. As she kept staring, he grinned and