The name sat on him like a borrowed tuxedo—stiff, formal, and a little too big. Prince Richardson wasn't a prince. He was a mechanic from East Cleveland who smelled of grease and spoke in grunts. His father, a man with a cruel sense of humor, had named him after a racehorse he'd lost a fortune on the night Prince was born.
“I’m Prince,” he said, wiping his hands on a rag. prince richardson
That night, Prince sat at his kitchen table, staring at a can of beer and the card. He walked to the closet, pulled down a cardboard box, and lifted the lid. Inside, wrapped in an old T-shirt, was a single ivory key—the one he’d kept from his broken Rhodes. He set it on the table beside Eleanor’s card. The name sat on him like a borrowed
One Tuesday, a burgundy Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow floated into the lot like a ghost. It idled with a cough. The woman who stepped out wore heels that cost more than Prince’s toolbox. His father, a man with a cruel sense
Prince didn’t answer. He just handed her the keys. “Fuel pump’s done. Purrs now.”