into his cheeks. “Paige loves these things. Thought I’d buy her a couple packs. She’s trying to get an Adam Bomb.
He then went over to one of the cooler units and snagged a couple of Cokes in glass bottles. As we headed back toward the front, we passed the paperback rack, and I paused, seeing that they’d gotten in a Stephen King collection called Different Seasons since the last time I was here. It was a relatively new book, one I hadn’t read yet, and I took a moment to salivate over it.
“You want that book?” Brody asked.
“I’m sure they have it at the library. I’ll check it out next time I go.”
“Hand it over, I’ll get it for you.”
“No,” I said a little too loudly, causing an old woman looking at greeting cards to glare my way. I just felt Brody had already done enough for me; if I let him buy me the book, my mother was sure to think I was presenting myself to the Moore’s as a charity case. “I mean, I heard it’s not even really horror like his other stuff. Probably boring.”
Brody shrugged. “If you say so.”
Up front, I went first, placing my candy bars on the counter and asking for the two packs of cigarettes. After I’d paid and got my change, I stood off to the side, waiting for Brody. The cashier, a woman named Ann who I thought looked uncannily like a nurse character on Julie’s soap, rang up the purchases, and when Brody dug his money from his pants pocket, a shower of change cascaded to the floor, rolling every which way.
I knelt down to pick up as much of it as I could for him, the small brown paper bag with the candy bars and cigarettes tucked under my arm, and that was when I noticed something other than change had fallen from the older boy’s pocket.
It was a small pink hairclip shaped like a horse with a plastic clasp. It stuck out among the change, and I assumed it must have belonged to Paige, although I couldn’t imagine why Brody would be carrying it around in his pocket. And the strand of hair trailing from it was brown, not blonde. I held it in the palm of my hand, staring down at it with a slight frown.
“Thanks,” Brody said tightly, snatching the hairclip from me. He hastily gathered up his change then headed out of the store, not even waiting for me.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but my life had just changed forever.
Chapter Six
Paige got back home around eleven and we went to play in my backyard. Unlike Ray, she seemed to enjoy the games I’d made up. We played Robin Banks, and she was one of my cohorts called Penny Dreadful (a name she came up with herself). She proved a skilled bank robber, and we retreated to the bamboo forest to count the loot (which was nothing but leaves we’d plucked from the bushes that separated our houses).
After an hour and a half of playing in the backyard, we went inside where I made us both bologna sandwiches. Whenever Paige’s back was turned, Ray would make kissy faces and I’d shoot him dirty looks. After we finished eating, we got our bikes and headed to the public library so I could dump some books in the Return box out front.
“I don’t like libraries,” Paige said as we remounted our bikes and road away down Rutledge Avenue.
“Why not?”
“They’re always telling you to be quiet. How come? I mean, most people don’t read books in the library. They check them out and take them home to read, so what am I being quiet for?”
“I guess I’d never thought of it like that before.”
“Hey, let’s go back to the graveyard,” Paige said when we got to the place where Rutledge intersected College Drive. “I want to ride down that hill again, but this time I’m gonna start way back and pick up speed so I’ll really be flying when I start down.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Who are you, Evel Knievel?”
“Come on, I’ll race ya.”
We both started pumping the pedals as we rocketed the few blocks to the Oakland Cemetery. We forced an early afternoon jogger
He then went over to one of the cooler units and snagged a couple of Cokes in glass bottles. As we headed back toward the front, we passed the paperback rack, and I paused, seeing that they’d gotten in a Stephen King collection called Different Seasons since the last time I was here. It was a relatively new book, one I hadn’t read yet, and I took a moment to salivate over it.
“You want that book?” Brody asked.
“I’m sure they have it at the library. I’ll check it out next time I go.”
“Hand it over, I’ll get it for you.”
“No,” I said a little too loudly, causing an old woman looking at greeting cards to glare my way. I just felt Brody had already done enough for me; if I let him buy me the book, my mother was sure to think I was presenting myself to the Moore’s as a charity case. “I mean, I heard it’s not even really horror like his other stuff. Probably boring.”
Brody shrugged. “If you say so.”
Up front, I went first, placing my candy bars on the counter and asking for the two packs of cigarettes. After I’d paid and got my change, I stood off to the side, waiting for Brody. The cashier, a woman named Ann who I thought looked uncannily like a nurse character on Julie’s soap, rang up the purchases, and when Brody dug his money from his pants pocket, a shower of change cascaded to the floor, rolling every which way.
I knelt down to pick up as much of it as I could for him, the small brown paper bag with the candy bars and cigarettes tucked under my arm, and that was when I noticed something other than change had fallen from the older boy’s pocket.
It was a small pink hairclip shaped like a horse with a plastic clasp. It stuck out among the change, and I assumed it must have belonged to Paige, although I couldn’t imagine why Brody would be carrying it around in his pocket. And the strand of hair trailing from it was brown, not blonde. I held it in the palm of my hand, staring down at it with a slight frown.
“Thanks,” Brody said tightly, snatching the hairclip from me. He hastily gathered up his change then headed out of the store, not even waiting for me.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but my life had just changed forever.
Chapter Six
Paige got back home around eleven and we went to play in my backyard. Unlike Ray, she seemed to enjoy the games I’d made up. We played Robin Banks, and she was one of my cohorts called Penny Dreadful (a name she came up with herself). She proved a skilled bank robber, and we retreated to the bamboo forest to count the loot (which was nothing but leaves we’d plucked from the bushes that separated our houses).
After an hour and a half of playing in the backyard, we went inside where I made us both bologna sandwiches. Whenever Paige’s back was turned, Ray would make kissy faces and I’d shoot him dirty looks. After we finished eating, we got our bikes and headed to the public library so I could dump some books in the Return box out front.
“I don’t like libraries,” Paige said as we remounted our bikes and road away down Rutledge Avenue.
“Why not?”
“They’re always telling you to be quiet. How come? I mean, most people don’t read books in the library. They check them out and take them home to read, so what am I being quiet for?”
“I guess I’d never thought of it like that before.”
“Hey, let’s go back to the graveyard,” Paige said when we got to the place where Rutledge intersected College Drive. “I want to ride down that hill again, but this time I’m gonna start way back and pick up speed so I’ll really be flying when I start down.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Who are you, Evel Knievel?”
“Come on, I’ll race ya.”
We both started pumping the pedals as we rocketed the few blocks to the Oakland Cemetery. We forced an early afternoon jogger
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