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Back Hunger of the Pine Save as PDF
Chapters (42)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. PART ONE MONODY
  4. CHAPTER 1
  5. CHAPTER 2
  6. CHAPTER 3
  7. CHAPTER 4
  8. CHAPTER 5
  9. CHAPTER 6
  10. CHAPTER 7
  11. CHAPTER 8
  12. CHAPTER 9
  13. PART TWO FUGUE CONCERTO
  14. CHAPTER 10
  15. CHAPTER 11
  16. CHAPTER 12
  17. CHAPTER 13
  18. CHAPTER 14
  19. CHAPTER 15
  20. CHAPTER 16
  21. CHAPTER 17
  22. CHAPTER 18
  23. PART THREE SONATA APPASSIONATA
  24. CHAPTER 19
  25. CHAPTER 20
  26. CHAPTER 21
  27. CHAPTER 22
  28. CHAPTER 23
  29. CHAPTER 24
  30. CHAPTER 25
  31. CHAPTER 26
  32. CHAPTER 27
  33. PART FOUR CODA
  34. CHAPTER 28
  35. CHAPTER 29
  36. CHAPTER 30
  37. CHAPTER 31
  38. CHAPTER 32
  39. CHAPTER 33
  40. CHAPTER 34
  41. CHAPTER 35
  42. CHAPTER 36

Ciarra seemed infinitely more satisfied with Aria’s failure to do what she herself did so well. She laughed at Aria with a hair flick and said, “I get it. Not everyone’s got it,” then winked at her as Aston fussed for her to pick him up and onto her hip. Ciarra left their short meeting feeling self-satisfied. And that self-satisfaction bought Aria some time outside the scrutiny of her focus.

Aria tied Taylor’s little flashlight to one of the grab handles in the back of the car and wrote in her journal.

“I fucked a man today. I am forever poisoned by it. No … imprisoned by it. To be loved instead of fucked must taste like so much freedom that the lack of bars and chains alone would make you bleed. I’m not doing it again … At least I hope not. I guess you never know what might happen. I have seventy-five dollars now, which I can’t let anyone know about. It seems strange that homeless people steal from each other but whatever. There isn’t anyone around to hear me cry about it. There is nothing special about fucking. I don’t get why men like it so much. I want love. But I got stuck in the intestines of misfortune too young. The acid has become my home.”

She closed her journal and put it back into her backpack before turning off the flashlight. She was glad of the $75. It would buy her a full stomach long enough for her to find another way of making money.

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 16

Aria closed her eyes and listened to the harp, whose fairy-like plucking stood out against the melody of the classical orchestra. She imagined the musician’s hands and fingers stroking across the strings. Her body knew every note of the song. Then again, everybody’s did. The song was “Silent Night.” The speakers in the mall had been playing an endless rotation of Christmas songs for a month now.

She had come to the mall to use the public restroom and dig through the dumpsters behind the stores, which promised to be full because it was Christmas Eve. She found herself sitting in the common area of the mall, between the rows of kiosks, watching children pose for pictures on Santa’s lap.