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Back Lying Next to Me Save as PDF
Chapters (87)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. CHAPTER TWO
  8. CHAPTER THREE
  9. CHAPTER FOUR
  10. CHAPTER FIVE
  11. CHAPTER SIX
  12. CHAPTER SEVEN
  13. CHAPTER EIGHT
  14. CHAPTER NINE
  15. CHAPTER TEN
  16. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  17. CHAPTER TWELVE
  18. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  23. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  24. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  55. CHAPTER FIFTY
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  65. CHAPTER SIXTY
  66. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  67. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  75. CHAPTER SEVENTY
  76. CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
  77. CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
  78. CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
  79. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
  80. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
  81. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
  82. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
  83. CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
  84. CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
  85. CHAPTER EIGHTY
  86. EPILOGUE
  87. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Albert Hodge was never tried for his assault against me. He was never tried for the murder of the ten-year-old from Chehalis he attacked before me. Instead, he did what I came to wish more purveyors of evil would do. Hodge took his own life as the police pounded on the door of his Terry Travel Trailer. Inside, they found underwear belonging to me and his only other known victim. I was happy when I heard the news. Again, as though it had been something that happened to someone else and not me. I was spared reliving it all by sitting in the witness box in the Mason County courthouse. While the truth was different, of course, both my parents insisted that our story be that I’d been physically assaulted. Not sexually. I had lied about the kittens because I’d felt so full of shame to have been stupid enough to volunteer to get into his vehicle. It’s easy to compound a lie with another. Each lie, a brick in the wall of my own protection.

“She’s very lucky,” Sheriff Masters said in an interview with the paper. “We got to her in time to save her from the worst kind of abuse.”

Everything returned to normal after that. I almost forgot about it. Really I did. I tried to anyway. Only one time did Adam and I even broach the subject, and that was at my brother’s funeral. We were standing in the back of the church where my folks had put together a display of Kip’s life. There was a picture of Adam, of course. He and Kip stood together, arms slung over each other’s shoulders. It looked to be at about the same time as the incident.

“I remember that shirt,” I said while we stood there.

It was the same one he was wearing when he found me.

“Yeah,” he said. “I thought it was so cool. My first concert: Metallica.”

“You were wearing it the day you found me,” I said, still looking at the photos.

He didn’t say anything for a while as he sifted through the images.

“Right,” he finally said. “I remember.”

We had never talked about it. I knew that it wasn’t the right time or place, but I still wanted to say something.

“Thank you,” I told him. “For finding me.”

He pointed to Kip’s photo. “You were everything to him, Lee. He loved you so much.”

That was like Adam. He always knew the right thing to say. He understood how to shift a conversation to a place that moved the content from the maudlin to true compassion.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

ADAM