He Had Me Drowned, Then Wept at My Grave novel · Chapter 19 of 24
Chapter 19: What He Pays
I did the zipper myself, in the cab, with Anders's hand flat on the small of my back to keep me from falling off his lap.
Then I rolled the window all the way down.
"Not here," I said.
Leo nodded.
"Where?"
"The church hall," I said.
"In an hour.
"With the priest in the room, and the cooperative's board, and whoever else you want to bring.
"I'll tell you what I'll give you and what I won't, and I'll say it once."
"I'll be there."
"And wash your face," I said.
"She hit you hard."
He put a hand to his cheek as if he'd forgotten it.
Then he went back up the dock with his head down.
The parish hall was a long low room behind the cathedral.
It had a linoleum floor, a stage at one end, and a hundred folding chairs.
The whole room smelled of coffee and floor wax.
They had cleared out the congregation, and only a handful of people sat in the front rows.
The priest sat in the center with the register of the plot open on his knee.
Leo's uncle sat beside him, with his signet ring.
Four old men of the dock cooperative's board sat in their funeral black, with their hands on their knees.
The old cook sat with her walking stick, because she had refused to leave and no one had dared make her.
Two of the net-menders' wives sat behind her.
Leo sat alone at the end of the front row, with his hair wet and combed.
I sat on the edge of the stage in my black dress with Callie's chain wound round my fingers.
Anders stood at the wall beside the door.
He hadn't been asked to sit, and he hadn't needed to be told.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of He Had Me Drowned, Then Wept at My Grave are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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