Tuesday Intro/Teaser

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros is a weekly meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea every Tuesday. To participate share the opening paragraph or two of a book you've decided to read based on that paragraph. Please feel free to join in, First Chapter~First Paragraph~Tuesday Intros.

Laney
December 2009
Mt. Gilead, Illinois
"The police came for me in the middle of the night. Two officers: one tall and slope-shouldered, the other big-bellied. They walked into the Walmart where I worked, and after speaking to the shift supervisor, they came to my register and the tall one said, "You're Elaine Volk, aren't you? We asked you a few questions once before. Remember?" Of course I remembered. Questions about where I was on a certain morning in May. Home, asleep, I'd told them, and No, I didn't hear any shots. Now a few customers who had been about to push their carts to my checkout line were hesitating. I gave them a grin in hopes that they'd think everything was all right, but I knew it wasn't. I said to the officers, "I'm Laney."  My voice sounded strange to me, too loud for my soft-spoken nature.   I was the sort most folks didn't give a second look - a scrawny thing with short curly hair, a nothing kind of girl with no hips to speak of and arms and legs as thin as ropes.  I looked like I might turn to dust, which is what I wished I could have done just then.  I was nineteen, and as I stood there waiting to see what was going to happen next, I felt how far I was from the girl I'd always been."

Break the Skin by Lee Martin




Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of  Should Be Reading.