In Sickness and in Lies novel · Chapter 32 of 32

Chapter 32: Every Page

The chairman had told me at the door of the show that his folder would reach me after the new year, and not a day before.

On the first Saturday of January, it was due at four.

I went into a shoe store on Armitage by myself to keep from watching the clock.

My old work boots had split along the left sole in December, and I had been taping the seam.

The salesman brought three pairs in my size and knelt to help me with the first.

"Do you want to try them on with a sock, or bare?"

"A sock," I said. "Thank you."

I walked the length of the carpet and back.

The second pair was better.

The third pair was brown leather with a thick sole, the color of strong tea, and it fit.

"These," I said.

I waited for the next thing.

I waited for the part where I took out my phone and photographed the old pair and held it up for a man's approval.

Nobody said anything.

The salesman rang them up.

I paid with a card that had my name on it and nothing else, the first one in seventeen years.

I wore the boots out into the cold and left the box in the bag.

Next door was a coat shop with a window of wool.

I went in, because I could.

The green one was long, with a deep collar and pockets that went all the way down.

I put it on in front of the mirror and looked at myself for a while.

The woman in the glass had her hair loose and a streak of indigo on her thumb.

She was not waiting for anyone's verdict.

"Fits," the saleswoman said.

"Yes."

"Do you want to think about it?"

"No," I said. "I want to wear it."

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