As mentioned in The Alibi (A John Chance Mystery) – Chapter 1 (Redux), I work to nail down the opening of whatever I’m working on.
In the case of The Alibi, it means I’ll rewrite opening chapters/scenes/anything and everything until I feel I’ve got it close enough to move on.
And, of course, I’ll share all these writes and rewrites and rerewrites with you because, I know, you enjoy them so.
So here’s The Alibi – Chapter 2, but not again because this is brand new material (read carefully and you’ll even see a note to myself in the text, something I do to make sure I review a specific aspect of a story during the real rewriting as opposed to the I’ve-got-to-get-this-correct rewriting.
Leddy Cranston saw the flickering blue of their living room TV even though the blinds were drawn. “Time.”
Her phone answered, “It’s 11:57, Leddy.”
Pop would be livid.
If he were awake.
But awake or not, he got home first so the door cam would be disabled and she’d have to use her key to get in.
She entered quietly, the only sound in the house some low voices from the TV and Pop snoring on his recliner, probably a book – a genuine book, not an ebook on a reader – half open on his lap, his readers perched on the end of his nose, his sport coat off and his tie loosened but still knotted.
And a fifth of Grand MacNish Scotch barely touched on the end table beside his chair.
Pop would never succeed as a drunk.
She entered the living room just as the glass in his hand started its slide to the floor.
Glass safely on a coaster on the coffee table, Leddy sat on their loveseat. Mom and Pop hogged the loveseat once Leddy was too big to sit between them. Back then Pop never used his recliner. They’d sit side-by-side, Pop with his hand under Mom’s leg or on her leg or holding her hand.
Leddy was relegated to Pop’s recliner.
Did they ever pay attention to what was on the tube or did they just like to sit and cuddle with each other?
That all changed when they came home from the hospital one day. Mom wasn’t feeling well and kept losing her balance. Pop was pale but Mom kept her smile on. That’s when Pop’s hand went from on or under her leg to always around her, holding her close, cherishing each second. That’s when Mom’s hand would rest on Pop’s leg.
They sat her down in the kitchen a few months later. Mom smiled, Pop’s face shined with tears.
“I’m dying, Leddy.”
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