Small Steps (Holes 2)

“And you’re pretty pretty.”

She laughed at her own joke.

“What’s so funny?”

“I s-said you were pretty.”

“So?”

“G-girls are pretty. Boys are handsome. That m-means you’re a girl!”

“And you’re pretty silly,” said Armpit.

He noticed a woman watching them from the parking lot of the Stop & Shop. He wondered if she was suspicious because he was with a little white girl. Did she think they were on drugs? Maybe she was memorizing his face, in case it turned out the girl had been abducted.

He stared back at the woman, who then quickly got into her car and drove away.

Or maybe she just enjoyed seeing two people smiling and laughing.

The X-Mobile passed her coming in the other direction.

“There’s X-Ray,” said Ginny.

Not bothering with a U-turn, X-Ray parked facing the wrong way. He slid over to the passenger side, climbed out, then walked around the car.

“Hey, Ginny. You taking good care of Armpit?”

“Yes.”

“So, did you sell the tickets?” Armpit asked.

X-Ray smiled. “See, Ginny, that’s what I like about Armpit. Straight to the point. No bull—” He stopped himself. “No bull.”

“He d-doesn’t like to be called Armpit.”

“I mean it with great respect and affection,” X-Ray said, his hand on his heart.

“Did you sell the tickets?” Armpit asked again.

“Say, Ginny, did I ever tell you what happened to my car?” X-Ray asked, pointing to the big gash in the driver-side door.

“No.”

“I’m driving along Mopac, and this dinosaur leaps out and takes a big bite out of my door! Scared me half to death!”

Ginny laughed.

“Look, do you see the teeth marks?”

Ginny pushed back her glasses on her nose. “Yes.”

“I think it was a T. rex! Can you believe it?”

“No.”

X-Ray laughed.

“So you didn’t sell the tickets, did you?” said Armpit.