Hard Candy Read Online Free Page A

and older than the last time she’d seen him, two weeks ago.
    She furrowed her eyebrows with worry. “Uncle Rock, are you okay?” she asked, noticing that he dabbed at his mouth with a rolled-up white towel. “I wish you would tell me what’s wrong. Since I moved out, you seem like you’re sick. Please tell me what’s wrong,” she pleaded, the corners of her mouth pulled down in dismay.
    Rock walked over to his raggedy La-Z-Boy recliner and flopped down. He clutched the towel like Linus would his security blanket.
    â€œAre you going to work today? Because, on a day like this, I think you should take off. It’s not like you need that job, anyway.” Rock was an expert at changing the subject to avoid questions about his health.
    Candice rolled her eyes in frustration. “Yeah, I’m going in. I just came by to check on you. I wish you would tell me what’s wrong. You’ve been losing weight, and you haven’t been working out. We haven’t even been to the gun range in weeks,” she said, pressing the issue, concern lacing her words.
    â€œI’m a big boy. You need to stay focused on taking that test and getting your diploma.”
    Although Easy had left a trunk full of money behind in Rock’s care, which he had given to Candice when she turned seventeen, Rock still wanted her to get her high school equivalency diploma. He had spent years homeschooling Candice during the day after she had moved in with him. At the time, he believed that it was the only way to protect her. In Rock’s assessment, the killers assumed they had killed the entire Hardaway family, so Candice couldn’t risk going back to school.
    Rock had made all of the funeral arrangements, since Easy didn’t have relatives and Corine’s had disowned her after her marriage. However, he’d made sure that Candice had a very private service prior to the public viewings and burials. Rock was amazed at how many of Easy’s own enemies had come to the services just to make sure he was really dead.
    Candice sucked her teeth and stood up. She knew Uncle Rock meant well, but she wasn’t interested in taking the GED test. There was only one thing she was interested in these days.
    â€œI gotta go,” she said. “I just came by to let you know that I’m okay with today. I know I usually fall apart on this day, but for some reason today I feel fine about it. I’m going to work.”
    Candice had tried to convince Rock that she was working as a bartender during the evenings and studying for her GED during the day. But Rock knew better. He eyed her up and down seriously. He knew when she was lying and telling the truth. Rock knew exactly what had her preoccupied, and it definitely wasn’t a job or a test.
    Over the years he’d studied Candice like she was one of his marks, watching her body language and listening for hidden meanings behind her words. Over the last four years, he had come to know her like she was his own child. He had actually started to feel like she was his daughter.
    Rock knew when Candice was hurting or happy. He was there for her when she got her first period and when she had nightmares about the murders. More importantly, he helped teach her the necessary skills for surviving in the streets.
    At first Rock tried to hide his profession from Candice, but she was too sharp. Candice watched Uncle Rock leave on some days, dressed in all black with his long, black military bag thrown over his shoulder. She would take those rare opportunities to search his bookshelf and his nightstand drawers. Uncle Rock always had addresses written on small slips of paper, and each time he returned, he’d burn the papers in an ashtray. He also owned a large box filled with brand-new black leather gloves. Candice noticed he would get a new pair from the box each time. She even recalled her father instructing him to “make that nigga ghost.”
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