My Father Sold Me to His Oldest Enemy to Play House, and the Old Man Bought the Only Witness Against Him novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: The First Hot Week
The first hot week came at the end of May, and the spring boats went out.
The whole dock turned out for the blessing at dawn.
The priest stood on the end of the pier in his gold vestments with a sprig of basil in his hand.
He sprinkled the boats one by one.
Sponge boats lay along the Anclote in a long white line, with their diving ladders up and their flags out.
The air was already thick.
The smell of tar and diesel and drying sponge came up off the water.
I stood in the sun in a cotton dress, with my hair tied back and no coat.
I had not worn the coat in a month.
The diver stood at the stern of the first boat in the line.
He was the captain of it now.
On the transom, in fresh white paint, were the letters of its name.
Dimitri.
The old man stood beside me on the pier.
His hand was in mine, openly, in front of the whole dock.
The priest reached the last boat, and shook the basil, and the water flew in a bright arc through the sun.
"Christ is risen," someone called, still, from the crowd.
"He is risen indeed," said a hundred voices.
The diver lifted his hand to us from the stern.
Aris lifted his.
Then, for the first time since I had known him, he turned his left wrist over and looked at the watch.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of My Father Sold Me to His Oldest Enemy to Play House, and the Old Man Bought the Only Witness Against Him are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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