Chapter 39: Deepest Desires

Nori leaned against another branch and listened to Brad’s deep voice, “I met Sarah when I was twelve. She went to my school and gave me a chance when the other kids picked on me for being poor. She’d sneak me food in her lunch box and taught me to read. I had the reading level of a third grader at that time. I was better at fighting and bashing kneecaps than academics.”

Brad chuckled to himself, “We would go to the park and talk about where we wanted to go and what we wanted to be if we had a million dollars. That was a lot of money to us back then.”

“She sounds nice.”

“She wasn’t,” said Brad, “She was mean to everyone. Her life was just as hard as mine, if not harder. She was only nice to me. She was a righteous warrior, always sticking up for those who didn’t have a voice. Once she beat up three kids who were torturing a puppy. Put one of them in the ER. She was a firecracker and health nut until the day she died.”

“How did she die?”