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It bothered Nikki that Renee was still fu
Kim stood behind the counter of The Sweet Tooth candy store, a long string of red licorice hanging from her mouth. She looked up when Nikki came in. “You’re late.”
“So?” Nikki asked.
“Boss’s son’s in the back,” Kim said.
Kim loved anime so passionately that she convinced their boss to stock Pocky and lychee gummies and green tea and ginger candies with hard surfaces but ru
Nikki liked all the candy-peanut butter taffy, lime green foil-wrapped “alien coins” with chocolate discs inside, gummy geckos and gummy sidewinders and a whole assortment of translucent gummy fruit, long strips of paper dotted with sugar dots, shining and jagged rock candy, hot-as-Hell atomic fireballs, sticks of violet candy that tasted like flowery chalk, giant multi-colored spiral lollipops, not to mention chocolate-covered malt balls, chocolate-covered blueberries and raspberries and peanuts, and even tiny packages of chocolate-covered ants.
The pay was pretty much crap, but Nikki was allowed to eat as much candy as she wanted. She picked out a coffee toffee to start with because it seemed breakfast-y.
The boss’s son came out of the stock room, his sleeveless t-shirt thin enough that Nikki could see the hair that covered his back and chest through the cloth. He scowled at her. “Most girls get sick of the candy after a while,” he said, in a tone that was half-grudging admiration, half-panic at the profits vanishing through her teeth.
Nikki paused in her consumption of a pile of sour gummy lizards, their hides crunchy with granules of sugar. “Sorry,” she said.
That seemed to be the right answer, because he turned to Kim and told her to restock the pomegranate jellybeans.
Nikki’s stomach growled and, while his back was turned, she popped another lizard into her mouth.
The glass-enclosed waiting area of the bus stop was full when Nikki finished her shift. Rain slicked her skin and plastered her hair to her face and neck. By the time the bus came, she was soaked and even more convinced that her summer was doomed.
Nikki pushed her way into one of the few remaining seats, next to an old guy that smelled like a sulfurous fart. It took her a moment to realize he was the hound’s tooth suit-and-cane guy from the bus stop that morning. He’d probably been riding the bus this whole time. Still jittery from sugar, she could feel the headachy start of a post-candy crash in her immediate future. Nikki tried to ignore the heavy wetness of her clothes and to breath as shallowly as possible to avoid the old guy’s stink.
The bus lurched forward. A woman chatting on her cell phone stumbled into Nikki’s knee.
“’Scuse me,” the woman said sharply, as though Nikki was the one that fell.
“I’m going to give you what you want,” the man next to her whispered. Weirdly, his breath was like honey.
Nikki didn’t reply. Nice breath or not, he was still a stinky, senile old pervert.
“I’m talking to you, girl.” He touched her arm.
She turned toward him. “You’re not supposed to talk to people on buses.”
His cheeks wrinkled up as he smiled. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, trains too. It’s a mass-transportation thing. Anything stuffed with people, you’re supposed to act like you’re alone.”
“Is that what you want?” he asked. “You want everyone to act like you’re not here?”
“Pretty much. You going to give me what I want?” Nikki asked, hoping he would shut up. She wished she could just tell freakjobs to fuck off, but she hated that hurt look that they sometimes got. It made her think of Boo. She would put up with a lot to not see that look.
He nodded. “I sure am.”
The ’scuse-me woman looked in their direction, blinked, then plopped her fat ass right on Nikki’s lap. Nikki yelped and the woman got up, red-faced.
“What are you doing there?” the ’scuse-me lady gasped.
The old pervert started laughing so hard that spit flew out of his mouth.
“Sitting,” Nikki said. “What the hell are you doing?”
The woman turned away from Nikki, muttering to herself.
“You’re very fortunate to be sitting next to me,” the pervert said.
“How do you figure that?”
He laughed again, hard and long. “I gave you what you wanted. I’ll give you the next thing you want too.” He winked a rheumy eye. “For a price.”
“Whatever,” Nikki muttered.
“You know where to find me.”
Mercifully, the next stop was Nikki’s. She shoved the ’scuse-me woman hard as she pushed her way off the bus.
The rain had let up. Doug sat on the steps of the trailer, his hair frizzy with drizzle. He looked grim.
“What’s going on?” Nikki asked. “Only managed to eat half your body weight?
“Boo’s been hit,” he said, voice rough. “Trevor hit your dog.”
For a moment, Nikki couldn’t breathe. The world seemed to speed up around her, cars streaking along the highway, the wind tossing wet leaves across the lot.
She thought about the raven tattoo on Trevor’s back and wished someone would rip it off along with his skin. She wanted to tear him into a thousand pieces.
She thought about the old pervert on the bus.
I’ll give you the next thing you want too.
You know where to find me.
“Where’s Boo now?” Nikki asked.
“At the vet. Mom wanted me to drive you over as soon as you got home.”
“Why was he outside? Who let him out?”
“Mom came home with groceries. He slipped past her.”
“Is he oka-?”
Doug shook his head. “They’re waiting for you before they put him down. They wanted to give you a chance to say goodbye.”
She wanted to throw up or scream or cry, but when she spoke, her voice sounded so calm that it u
“Listen, the doctor said they could operate, but it’s a couple thousand dollars and you know we can’t afford it.” Doug’s voice was soft, like he was sorry, but she wanted to hit him anyway.
Nikki looked across the lot, but the truck wasn’t in front of Trevor’s trailer and his windows were dark. “We could make Trevor pay.”
Doug sighed. “Not going to happen.”
Now she felt tears well in her eyes, but she blinked them back. She wouldn’t grieve over Boo. She’d save him. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You have to, Nikki. Mom’s waiting for you.”
“Call her. Tell her I’ll be there in an hour. I’m taking the bus.” Nikki grabbed the sleeve of Doug’s jacket, gripping it as hard as she could. “She better not do anything to Boo until I get there.” Tears slid down her cheek. She ignored them, concentrating on looking as fierce as possible. “You better not either.”
“Calm down. I’m not going to-” Doug said, but she was already walking away.
Nikki got on the next bus that stopped and sca
Nikki slid into her seat, wrapping her arms around her body as though she could hold in her sobs with sheer pressure. She had no idea what to do. Looking for a weird old guy that could grant wishes was pathetic. It was sad and stupid.
If there was some way to get the money, things might be different. She thought of all the stuff in the trailer that could be sold, but it didn’t add up to a thousand dollars. Even sticking her hand into the till at The Sweet Tooth was unlikely to net more than a few hundred.