Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela Read Online Free Page A

you‘ve never verbalized any desire to see your wife—even though
    we‘ve talked about your seeing the girls quite a bit. Do you want to see
    Linda?‖
    The idea of seeing Linda filled Logan with so many conflicting
    emotions—most of them bad—that to cope he‘d learned to squeeze it
    into as small a space as possible and lock it away in a dark corner of his
    brain. The thought rarely escaped its confines—until this infernal
    woman insisted on setting it free. He stared at the rug between his feet
    as he answered, ―Like I‘ve said, that‘s up to her. In court she sure
    didn‘t seem like she wanted to.‖
    ―I didn‘t ask if you could see her, I asked if you wanted to see
    her.‖
    Logan felt a spike of temper shoot up his spine, and he had to
    work to keep his thoughts to himself: Fuckin’ woman! Never lets
    nothin’ go. With no other outlet for his anger, Logan‘s hangnails bore
    the brunt of his frustration for a few seconds before he finally threw a
    hooded glance at his tormentor, mumbling,―I don‘t know.‖
    After waiting in silence for more than those three syllables, Trudy
    finally rejoined, ―Okay, we‘ll explore that next week. In the meantime,
    why don‘t you give it some thought?‖

    Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela
    17

    Though he had no real intention of complying, Logan was trapped
    by Trudy‘s direct request and felt he had no choice save to agree.
    ―Okay.‖
    Trudy leaned back and twisted her chair gently back and forth as
    she speculated. ―From what we talked about last session, I think
    working on cars is a real self-soothing technique for you. Some time
    doing that might unblock you on… well, any number of topics. Are you
    still looking for a mechanic job?‖
    Logan stifled the urge to roll his eyes at the phrases, ―self-
    soothing‖ and ―unblock.‖ Instead he answered honestly, ―Been looking,
    but there ain‘t much of anything—not in Braddock. Guess I‘m lucky I
    was able to hang onto my job at the nursery.‖
    Though he‘d never really cared for the work at Scott‘s Garden
    Center, lately it had become a refuge for Logan, and he took every bit
    of overtime possible rather than face the emptiness of his tiny
    efficiency apartment.
    ―What about here in the city? I could ask—‖
    ―No, ma‘am. Thanks, anyway. Where I am is bad enough. Can‘t
    see me working here.‖ To Logan‘s way of thinking, the weekly trips
    from North Braddock to Trudy‘s downtown office near Pitt‘s campus
    were disorienting enough. He had no desire to make them a daily
    occurrence.
    ―Are you planning to move back to Elco when your probation is
    up?‖
    Before the incident in March, Logan would have jumped at the
    chance, but now the thought filled him with dismay. Since word of his
    arrest and subsequent guilty plea had certainly reached the small town
    by now, Logan was sure he‘d face a storm of gossip and condemnation.
    ―Nah, just my sister there now. Might as well stay put.‖
    At last the hour was up and Logan could escape Trudy Gerard‘s
    seeking gaze and blunt tongue. The drive home to his room tucked into
    a widow‘s basement was marked by less relief than usual, since he
    faced meeting with this Nick Zales the next day. Logan wondered what
    he was like, almost immediately concluding he was probably some
    middle-aged stuffed-suit who talked bullshit stuff like ―verbalize‖ and
    ―self-soothing.‖ In the end, it didn‘t really matter what Zales was like.
    18
    Felicia Watson

    Logan would just have to close in, keep his head down, and weather
    it—just like every other misfortune he had faced in life.

    AFTER more than one wrong turn, Logan finally found the address on
    Arlington. Well, close to it anyway; in this part of Pittsburgh many
    buildings weren‘t level with the street but instead seemed to have been
    carved into the hills that defined the South Side Slopes. His choices for
    getting to Acken‘s Auto Clinic itself were a steep driveway or