The Price Of Everything Book Novels & Stories

The problem is I started to feel headache when I looked at it “Do you need these books in nursing?” I asked but he remained silent for a second “I am just fascinated on how our mind works so I started reading this kind of books” he answered After he scanned almost all of the books he didn’t buy any because he has already copy of all of those “Then why you scanned those when you have already a copy of them?” I asked “To test if you will let go off my hand” he said My brows furrowed because of confusion “what?”

Elias offered to send a driver to take me to her place and I agreed. Now, here I was, outside a brightly lit toy store, feeling a little foolish. Just a few months before, I couldn't even afford a new pair of shoes—hell, I was just getting by. And now I was purchasing toys for children who weren't mine. Children who had somehow melted their way into the crevices of my heart. I gazed at the window display. Pink dollhouses, sketchbooks, toy trucks, puzzles. A gentle laugh escaped my lips. The irony was not lost on me.

I walked into the inner part of the book shop and excused myself after I belched. “This one is Six Thousand Naira”. “If you interrupt mw again, you won’t like what I’ll do to you…” The shopkeeper saw my countenance and left me alone, before going to fetch cellophane bag. He picked up the 2009 Guinness Book of World Records and bagged it, and waited patiently for me to pick another book. I soon picked The Family by Mario Puzo and Carol Gino. I was handing the novel to the shopkeeper, who was already with a calculator, when I saw it. It was a dark hardcover book, with pink and dark designs. I smiled broadly and extracted it from the shelf with both hands.

‘With all this priceless…stuff?’

It also made sense why they named themselves after the book, it was what brought them into the realisation of a potential threat. Mum went further to say that the book had powers beyond what the mind could understand, and she mentioned that with the book one could skip the necessary balance. “What do you mean by the necessary balance?” I inquired, barely holding my excitement as she told it all to me. “The necessary balance, um, how will I explain this?” She clicked her tongue severally. “It is a simple term that means magic had a price, it always had a price.” Squinting my eyebrows, I said, “Always had a price? What is the price, how much? How do we quantify the….”

Step by step, their greed, selfishness, ingratitude, and betrayal drive them to the edge. Kindness was a choice, a virtue. It was not an obligation, especially not for those who don’t deserve it. I often thought that if I hadn’t had that car, that office building, those connections like Mr. Parker, maybe the person digging through trash under the bridge that night would have been me. This world is never gentle. Sometimes, it’s cruel. This was my final lesson for Winnie and Noah. However, the tuition was steep. Too steep that they would pay for it with their lives.

One more opportunity to jack up the price in a market this desperate. I donated most of the furniture to Goodwill. The lumpy futon, the particle-board bookshelves that wobbled if you looked at them wrong, the mismatched kitchen supplies I’ll never need again. None of it was worth the haulage f*e. But the books stayed. I kept every single paperback, their spines cracked and pages yellowed, guarding them like gold bars. My literature degree might be unfinished, but these are mine. My laptop. The clothes I haven’t surrendered to Claudette yet. Photos of Dad. Mom's old watch ticking against my wrist.

My everything. "Choose, Delilah. Me or the book."

His laugh was a mixture of mocking and concern. "I know what a bracelet is. I don't know why you brought me this one." I said. "You don't ever wear jewellery. I thought you might want to." He said. I gaped at him and the bracelet, "how much did this cost?" I asked because no one at this school had a proper concept of money. $5,000 was pocket change to them. But they were still willing to lord that pocket change over someone's head. He rubbed the back of his head, "you're not supposed to ask that."

"I'll give you answers. Everything you want to know. But nothing in this world is free. You know that." My eyes darkened. Of course. There was always a price with Thorne. "What do you want?" He smiled, and it was the smile of a predator.