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The Company You Keep by Angela Henry 
The rest of the day went by slowly. Attendance was low, which didn’t surprise me since this was the last week of class. I was able to get a lot of lesson plans done. I wanted to be prepared when Dorothy came charging down to see what I had planned for the summer program. As expected, she came to my classroom around eleven-thirty after the morning session was over. But it wasn’t to see any lesson plans. She had two visitors with her, Detectives Harmon and Mercer. I took one look at them and wanted to cry. They made such an odd pair. Charles Mercer, florid, overweight, rumpled, and friendly. Trish Harmon, thin, neat, humorless, and completely professional. I was surprised she went by Trish and not Patricia. I told the Laurel and Hardy of the Willow police force to have a seat. I was well aware that Dorothy was probably lurking in the hall somewhere trying to hear everything. I watched as Mercer squeezed himself into one of the desk chairs. Trish Harmon ignored him and got straight to the point. “Miss Clayton, we need to speak to you about your relationship with Jordan Wallace.” “My relationship with Jordan? We didn’t have a relationship. He was Bernie’s boyfriend, not mine.” Of all the things they could have asked me, this was the last thing I was expecting. “Then can you tell us the nature of an argument you had with Jordan Wallace approximately one month ago in the parking lot of Estelle’s restaurant? An argument in which you threatened to kill Mr. Wallace.” “What!” I shouted in amazement and then I remembered. How could I forget? It had been late one Friday night when I had filled in for one of the servers. I hate waiting tables but could hardly pass up the chance to earn some extra cash. I was leaving to go home and was at my car about to unlock the door when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and was quickly pulled into a clumsy embrace by a very drunk Jordan. I tried to pull away but he held me tightly against him. He had two big handfuls of my ass and was breathing his funky breath in my face, telling me to relax and to stop being so stuck-up. I lost it. I started calling him everything but a child of God. I managed to break free by stomping on his foot. Then I started beating him with my long beaded key chain. He called me a crazy bitch and said it was no wonder I didn’t have a man. He started walking back toward Estelle’s where he must have been drinking up in the bar. It was then that I yelled out that I would kill him if he ever touched me again. He responded by throwing a rock at me, missing, and cracking someone else’s windshield.
The Company You Keep: Part 1 | The Company You Keep: Part 2 | The Company You Keep: Part 3 | Order The Company You Keep |
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