Sweet Karoline Read Online Free Page B

would rage. Half or even wholly drunk, we'd express opinions and ideas that had little to do with fact and more to do with our own experiences or grievances. It was usually Karoline who would take us off into a different direction each time.
    " Only people in our positions can afford to debate whether religion causes war. The poor and the disenfranchised are usually the ones who suffer from it or are entered into it through no other choice. We can sit back all we want and fling our words around…"
    Off we would go into what the world should be doing about the poor. It didn't matter whether or not we knew much about the topic. Any thought or comment was savored like a candy, tossed around in our mouths and then flung back out in a different shape. Sometimes we'd get loud and obnoxious or even allow the debate to deteriorate into an argument. But Karoline would always put us back on track. She'd remind us that the debate was about the issue, not the people involved. She'd offer an opinion based on fact or a recent news item that would put the argument in perspective. Properly chastised, we would sail off into intellectual sparring once more.
    Giulio also referred to her as 'capo tosta'—hard headed. Her arguments were always so fierce and strong.
    If only he had seen how her head had hit the pavement, splitting open like an egg, spewing red and white and grey yolk all over the sidewalk.
     
    It seemed to me at that moment, my head bent over the table, that Karoline was always the anchor. I would surely sail off course forever now. Especially because I was solely responsible for Karoline not being here any longer. I was unable at that moment to see how I could have done it, to understand the reasons behind that savage unthinking act that had resulted in her crumpled body lying beneath our balcony. I really had proven to have the dangerous soul that Karoline had protected me from. If only she'd protected herself instead.
    Ethan came back into the room and gently touched my hand. It was a gesture that I found reassuring, yet I jumped back from the heat of his skin and glared at him.
    " I didn't mean to startle you, Ms. Williams. I just want you to know that we are finished here for the moment. I'll be down at the…with your friend. Officer Peters has some questions for you and then I'll be back upstairs. Are you comfortable enough?"
    The compassion in his voice threatened to break the dam of my emotion. I wanted to fling myself at his feet and sob and beg forgiveness. Instead I merely nodded, keeping the tears away by biting the inside of my lip. Immediately, the little blond policewoman was there, her pen at the ready. I allowed my fear to flow into resentment of this officious person at my side and her annoying questions. A hot rush of adrenaline caused my limbs to tremble.
    I pressed my fingers against my thighs under the table and tried to concentrate. Karoline's full name; Karolina Maria Mikulski. Date of birth; June 30, 1950. She'll be thirty-two next month, I almost said. We're getting to be old maids, Karoline would have joked, but she would have meant it, too, being proud of our single state. A woman of the eighties thinks ba-king and fuc-king are two cities in China… Her next of kin? Oh God, what will Halina do? Halina Mikulski, her mom, she lives in Bell Canyon. No, her dad died years ago. Yes, she has two older brothers. How will Halina be told? Oh my God, what will she do when the police come to her door? Religion? Really, why do you need to know that? Karoline was agnostic. Her mom would say Roman Catholic, I suppose. Height, weight. She works for Stewart and Stewart. She's a legal secretary, an executive assistant for Daniel Stewart. She's very smart. What will Daniel do without her? What will I do without her?
    To this day I have no idea how I responded to Officer Peters, whether I said all of this aloud or whether I kept most of it to myself. I must have given a few right answers because somewhere in the