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“Don’t you think she looks pretty, Mr. Persopolis?” he asked Angeline’s father.
Abel blushed. Fortunately, just as he opened his mouth, the phone rang, with perfect saved-by-the-bell timing. It made everyone laugh.
Abel answered it.
“Yes, I’m her father,” he said. “Yes. Yes.”
Melissa watched as he slowly turned pale. His whole body began to tremble. The sight of him made her feel like crying.
Abel dropped the phone. It dangled on the cord. He
walked slowly across the room. His face quivered.
Gary felt like crying, too. He now wished he had never come over. He held Miss Turbone’s hand.
Abel opened his mouth, but all he was able to say was “Mitchell Beach,” as he tried to fight back his tears.
Twent-One
Pretty Feet and Green Her Eyes
Gary squeezed Mr. Bone’s hand. He waited for Angeline’s father to say more, only he didn’t think he wanted to hear it.
Abel’s face was now streaked with tears. “Hospital,” he whispered.
“Let’s go,” said Melissa, still holding Gary’s hand. “I’ll drive.”
They rode the elevator down to the street and climbed into her car. She and Abel got in the front and Gary and Gus sat in the back. And on the very rear of the car was a bumper sticker which said SAVE THE WHALES.
“She fell off Mitchell Pier,” Abel uttered. He stared out the window at a billboard advertising chewing gum as if he were suddenly very interested in which brand packed the most punch.
Gary was glad he got to go along. He thought that if anybody had stopped to think about it, they wouldn’t have brought him. Kids never get to go along on emergencies. They would have sent him home, instead. He felt terrible for feeling glad about this. He didn’t think he should be feeling glad about anything, when—and this suddenly occurred to him—when Angeline might be dead.
He tried to think about something else, or better yet, not to think at all. He wondered why he was thinking so much. His brain was going a mile a minute. He didn’t think he usually thought so much.
He wondered if Mr. Bone and Gus were thinking as much as he was, or if he was the only one, because he was a goon.
He didn’t wonder about what Angeline’s father was thinking. He didn’t want to think about that.
When they got to the hospital, they were directed to a waiting room where they were told to wait. There was somebody else already in the room, but he looked more like a patient than a visitor. He was dressed in a hospital gown and robe. Gary wondered who he was.
He suddenly thought of a joke. “If we have to wait, does that mean we are waiters, like we have to serve food?” Then he felt awful for having thought of it. “How could I make up jokes, now?” he wondered.
“Gary,” said Mr. Bone. She held out a tissue to him.
He took the tissue from her. He hadn’t realized he’d been crying. “Angeline would have thought it was a funny joke,” he thought.
The man in the hospital gown shivered.
A doctor finally walked in. “Are you Angeline’s parents?” he asked.
“I’m her father,” said Abel.
The doctor took a deep breath. “Angeline was underwater a long time, I’m afraid,” he said, “before Mr., um—” He gestured toward the man wearing the hospital gown and robe. “Mr., um—” He pointed again at the man.
The man shivered. “Cool Breezer,” he said in a high and raspy voice.
“Before Mr. Cool Breezer was able to pull her out,” said the doctor.
