This is an excerpt from my novel Blood, Skin, and Ink: The Tale of Miranda Scholl

out now on Kindle. Click the image below to get your copy!

     The woman turned the corner of the grocery aisle and stopped in her tracks.
     Her eyes popped open.
     She stood in place, a mix of astonishment, surprise, and embarrassment.
     Miranda could have sworn she was also frightened.
     “Oh…” she finally blurted.
     Miranda walked by her, only giving her a glance.
     At a solid six feet tall Miranda was indeed quite tall for a woman.
     But that was not the only thing that made her so striking.
     Miranda was walking through the aisles, trying to make sure she had not forgotten anything. She did not want to endure the occasional first world agony of coming home and suddenly remembering the one thing she had forgotten to buy.
     Going down the produce aisle, she had forgotten to buy bell peppers. She stopped long enough to grab some broccoli and looked over the various bell peppers. She noted that the green ones were cheaper than the red ones.
     That’s when she caught herself again.
     She wanted the red bell peppers, but her old way of thinking had gotten in the way. She had to remind herself that she had a good and steady income now, that she did not have to worry about buying one thing because it cost slightly less than something else.
     Her old instincts were hard to shake.
     As she picked out a few red and some green bell peppers, she saw her reflection in the store window. She saw how much taller she was than the women passing her by, the plainly dressed older Berkeley women in their plan earth-tone clothes creating a contrast to her all-black wardrobe.
     She took a moment to try and imagine how much brighter her skin would be if she did not have so many tattoos.
     Many of the patrons in the organic grocery store were not put off by her appearance. They were the seasoned and older Bay Area people who had more life experience than the average person. Even so, she could not help but note the contrast between herself and just about everyone else in the store.
     She wondered if she would eventually end up regretting all of her ink, now that she had turned her life around.
     Miranda’s tension took a drop when a store employee with green hair and facial piercings walked by. The green hair gave her a slight nod when she walked by. Miranda could not help a smile as she suddenly felt more at ease.
     Still wondering if she had forgotten anything, she decided to abandon her produce search mission. She turned her cart around and headed for a cashier.
     She had turned around right before the liquor aisle.
     It had not been that long since she made the decision to abstain from her old pastime.
     While she was bagging her groceries as the cashier scanned her items, a few people coming into the store did double takes when they saw her. Her height and all of her ink were enough to attract that kind of attention, even in such a diverse place as the San Francisco Bay Area.
     It could also have been the scraggly red scar on her neck.

     He was bringing someone home with him.
     She was sure of it.
     He was taking someone back to their place, to the apartment they shared.
     Her boyfriend Preston would be surprised, because he did not know she was working from home that day.
     Miranda did not know that he was bringing someone back with him for a fact. It was just a feeling. Her gut, her instincts told her it was true.
     Walking around the apartment, she looked through their large bookcase, seeing what books Preston had brought home recently. He did not always point out his new little library finds to her, but they had cleared a specific part of the main bookshelf for new arrivals.
     He had brought home some Kafka and a collection of Joe Orton plays, both of which she would look through later. Standing up, she adjusted her picture of Groucho Marx, the one hanging right next to the bookshelf, and sat down at her computer desk.
     She hoped to distract herself with work. She hoped rifling through personnel records and revising notes on online documents would be an efficient way to distract herself from her own thoughts.
     Turning her attention to the payroll database, she noted a few employees had failed to clock out. She emailed their supervisors to get their time cards corrected.
     As she was writing out an email, it came, again, all at once from the corner of her mind, crashing in like an unwelcome guest.
     The sudden memory went through her shoulders and caused her to wince.
     Remembering the feeling and the noise… Her pointing finger, stinging and aching, even though it had not been hurt.
     She remembered the noise, though she could not tell if her memory was providing the sound or if it actually did make that sound when it happened.
     It was a sickening noise. She did not know how to describe it. It was the sound of someone getting stabbed, a sound not unlike the sound of a knife going into flesh.
     She squeezed her eyes shut. She opened her eyes and concentrated on the computer screen, trying to keep herself from becoming consumed by the memory.
     A quick jolt shot through her when she heard them in the apartment building hallway, the thump and clatter on the hardwood floors.
     The door opened and she ran in, followed quickly by another.
     Their orange and white pit bull Joey jumped up on Miranda as a brown and white boxer stopped in the doorway, tilting its head as it considered Miranda, having been surprised by the presence of another human.
     Preston appeared in the doorway.
     “You’re home!” he said in surprise.
     “Who’s that?” asked Miranda as she knelt down to pet Joey.
     “That’s Oscar,” said Preston as Oscar started to wag his stubby tail while holding his head down and cautiously approaching Miranda.
     Miranda quickly tied her long hair back and extended a hand towards Oscar as he considered her from a safe distance. Preston handed Miranda a dog treat and Oscar slowly walked up to Miranda and let her pet him.
     Joey jumped on Miranda. Miranda pushed Joey away with her forearm so she could pet Oscar. She felt a throb on her right shoulder, in the spot where her thick scar occasionally tightened up, especially when it was cold.
     It was not cold that evening. Miranda stood up, feeling a sharp twinge go through her left leg. She never knew if they were actual stings of physical pain or if they were all in her mind
     “I have Oscar for the day,” said Preston as he put away the leashes. “He might be a boarding client later on.” Preston turned towards Miranda. “If that’s okay with you.”
     Miranda looked up at Preston as she petted Oscar. “Of course.”
     “We still goin’ to the Gilman meeting?”
     “Yes,” said Miranda as convincingly as she could.
     “Lee is probably going to be there.”
     Miranda’s stomach fell at the mention of Preston’s sponsor.