He stopped. He shifted and I slipped out from under him, ran to my room and shut the door.
“ He hates me. He doesn ' t care if I ' m alive or dead.”
I don ' t really believe that, I know that he would prefer that I was dead, and he ' d never have to look at me again.
Jack drops his cigarette but into his empty beer can.“ Don ' t you have any friends?”“ Not really.”
That ' s putting it mildly. I ' m at the bottom of the pecking order at school, and have been since the first grade.
I watch the smoke escape from Vin ' s mouth.“ Isn ' t there anyplace else you can go?”
“ No.... I go to the library.... I go into the woods.... My parents hate each other. I beg her to get a divorce but she won ' t.”
They are solemn and they look at me. I know they don ' t know what to say. I don ' t know what to say. I know there is nothing they can do.
Jack glances at Vin.“ Well, you don ' t have to go back right away.” Good. I don ' t want to go back.“ How long have you been with the carnival?” They both answer,“ Too long!”, as if they have said this many times.
Vin stands up.“ I can ' t wait to get back to my wife and baby.” He pulls out his wallet and shows me a photo.“ Teresa, the baby, she won ' t even remember me.”
We sit there and they drink their beer and I sip at my soda, things have gotten too solemn, and then somehow they start telling jokes.
“ A man goes to a shrink and says, ' Doctor, my wife is unfaithful to me. Every night she goes to Larry ' s Bar and picks up men. In fact, she sleeps with anyone who asks her! I ' m going crazy. What do you think I should do? The doctor says, ' Relax, take a deep breath and calm down. Now, tell me, where is Larry ' s Bar?”
“ A woman put an ad in the paper. ' Looking for a man who won ' t beat me up or run away from me and is great in bed.' She got lots of phone calls but met someone perfect at her door one day. The man she met said, ' Hi, I ' m Bob. I have no arms so I won ' t beat you up and no legs so I won ' t run away.' So she says, ' What makes you think you ' re great in bed?' He says, ' I rang the doorbell, didn ' t I?”
Some of them I get and some of them I don ' t and I don ' t have any jokes. I know they are trying to cheer me up and these are the only jokes they know. I ' m grateful because they are letting me be there. It seems like I have known them forever. I think they are magical creatures, like large leprechauns.
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