Boy Crucified Read Online Free

once been able to.
    “Man, you need to see a doctor,” Daniel said.
    He was certainly observant.
    Captain Harlock, my boss, came bustling through the hall and around the desk. “Tommy, what the hell?”
    “Stabbed with a syringe,” Daniel said, something in his voice a bit hysterical. Absently, I thought I was going to have to watch that. His first crisis, and he was ready to lose it.
    The syringe was still lying on the floor where I’d tossed it. “Mary Beth, why don’t you get the syringe and shut your mouth?” I nodded in its direction. She went about this task as if I had asked her to pick up live ammunition that could take out sixteen city blocks if she so much as burped.
    “Will someone pick up the fucking syringe?” I demanded, getting angry now. “It’s going to need to be tested. Are you all complete morons?”
    Then, having uttered these words, I passed out. One moment I was fine. The next moment, I felt very strange. I saw the floor rushing up and wondered briefly why everyone had suddenly started shouting.
     
     
    V
     
    S HE had not hit the bone. I was told to be grateful. I found gratitude difficult to come by. My arm and shoulder hurt like a son of a bitch, and my mother had used a dirty needle to do the job, and the doctor had instructed the nurse to draw blood so that an HIV test could be done. Then she gave me a tetanus shot, just to add to the misery. This after the doctor had driven me half insane by endlessly squeezing the wound, trying to get every last drop of blood out of it that he could, for my own good, of course. He finally stopped when I told him I would use my service revolver to give him a free face-lift if he didn’t take his fucking hands off me, and immediately.
    By the time Daniel drove me home, I was completely out of sorts.
    Home was a two-story brick house with a large backyard, fenced in with hedges for privacy. It had been left to me by my grandmother, perhaps out of pity for what her daughter had put me through. The property was not going to win any awards, but it was comfortable. It was set up on a hill, right off State Line Road, so I could sit on the large front porch, which I often did, and stare across the street into the multitudinous glory that was Kansas City, Kansas.
    We stood on the porch as I fumbled for my keys.
    “Can I get you anything, man?” Daniel asked.
    I shook my head. I appreciated his helpfulness, but at that moment I wanted to crawl off somewhere and lick my wounds in privacy.
    “Should I pick you up tomorrow morning?”
    “At seven,” I said.
    “You gonna be all right now?”
    “Of course.”
    He did not seem convinced.
    I could not hold my hands still enough to get the key in the door. The painkiller they’d given me was making everything swim in front of my eyes. It seemed cold, as if it ought to be snowing.
    “Let me help you,” he said, taking the keys from me and unlocking the door.
    I went inside.
    He followed.
    “Thanks for your help,” I said, my tone of voice suggesting that now would be a good time to say goodnight.
    “I’ll make you some coffee.”
    “That’s all right.”
    “What are partners for?”
    “I’d rather be alone right now.”
    “Oh, come on, man. Why don’t you let me help you? It’s no problem. Really. It’s cool. And you look like shit.”
    I was in more pain than I cared to admit, and he probably knew it.
    “Should I make coffee?” Daniel asked.
    “I’m going to bed. Thanks anyway.”
    “I could just sleep on the couch,” he said.
    “No, really, you don’t need to.”
    “I know,” he said, “but I want to. Chinese style. You’re my boss-man. I’m supposed to help you, make a good impression. Besides, you might have trouble during the night, and you might need someone to drive you to the hospital or something. Really, it’s no problem. It’s cool. You know?”
    I frowned at him. Not because I didn’t appreciate his help, but because it was so unexpected. I was injured and supposed to