I had the worst crush on Mikey Pierce's dad. As excited as I was to graduate high school and go away to college, what I looked forward to more was returning home a grown man who might fit in with the guys Mr. Pierce invited over for poker at his place. Whenever I spent the night at Mikey's, I always wanted to join in their game.<br><br>The week before leaving for college, I stayed at Mikey's one last time. While Mr. Pierce and his buddies gambled, Mikey and I stole a couple of beers and watched movies upstairs. By the time it was my turn to sneak downstairs to get more drinks, the card game was over and I thought all the visitors had left.<br><br>But Mr. Pierce was in the dining room. He wasn't alone. The man in there with him owed Mr. Pierce a couple hundred bucks from playing cards, and I had a ring-side seat as he paid up.

My Best Friend's Dad

But there was no other sound—no one talking to him, no nervous


scuffling, nothing to indicate he wasn’t alone in there. If he


At the bottom of the stairs, I peeked around


the wall to get a good look in the kitchen. To my surprise, those


louver doors were also shut, though they didn’t close all the way


and the gap they left between the wall and the door allowed a shaft


of light to penetrate the darkened kitchen. It illuminated an empty


beer bottle that had been left on the counter which now cast an


amber glow over the sink’s faucet. If I were quick, I could


probably sneak in there, open the fridge really slowly so it


wouldn’t make any noise, grab two bottles of beer, and dash back


upstairs before Mr. Pierce even knew I was there.


I had taken off my shoes earlier. My socked


feet were silent as I inched across the carpet onto the tiled floor


of the kitchen. My heart hammered in my chest, every nerve was on


Chapter 13