The Gamble

Chapter One

It felt like it had been years since he’d left, but really only a handful of months had passed. His books were still on the shelf, his shoes tucked into the nook under the stairs. She stared down at the mail in her hand addressed to Mr. Samuel James and Ms. Tomika Hartnett.

‘Mika?’

Her head jerked up from where she’d stood, eyes downcast, staring for long minutes at the mail. Mika turned her attention to Lorrie.

‘You ok?’

Mika nodded, avoiding her friends’ gaze. ‘Fine.’ She shuffl...