Stepdad and His Friends Bred Me During the Birthday Blackout novel · Chapter 21 of 48
Chapter 21: The Vote
She saw me at the back of the room and lifted her hand, just a little, so the emerald turned in the light.
Then she smiled and let Duane walk her to the second row.
I went to the bar.
The bartender slid my copper card across the wood without a word.
I put it in my back pocket, rules side in.
At 7:30 Rand read the petition in his flattest voice. Secret ballot, yes or no on Duane's offer.
The committee chair sat behind the brass box. No mask tonight. Fifties, pink-faced, a beer gut pushing at his vest.
The woman with the silver bob dropped hers and looked straight at me while she did it.
Abram didn't vote. He'd resigned. He stood against the side wall by the kitchen door with his arms folded, exactly where he'd stood the night he lied.
At 8:35 the chair unlocked the box and started counting.
Duane sat in the second row with his legs crossed and his phone face down on his knee.
At 8:40 he turned the phone over.
I watched his thumb.
At 8:41, the Copper Room died.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Stepdad and His Friends Bred Me During the Birthday Blackout are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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