The Sink

My science teacher was talking, but I wasn't really paying much attention to her at all. I was staring at the sink. It was a big sink, big enough to fit a person into, just so long as they went feet first and there was a hole in the bottom.

Then that got me thinking...

Maybe people do go in this sink. People who misbehave and cause trouble. I looked at Mrs. Bertagnolli. Maybe she puts bad little children into a secret well under the sink and just keeps them there awhile.

My gaze shifted to the faucet. I bet she turns it on every now and then, just to bother the children down there, I thought. The water falls on thier heads and annoys them to the point of madness.

"Is there something interesting in my sink?"

Mrs. Bertagnolli's voice interrupted my thoughts.

That was frightening, I thought breifly. "Um, no mam," I said quickly. Almost too quickly. She might have realized I was on to her.

"No, really," she said," Did somebody put anything in the sink? I need to clean it up if there is."

Mmm, I thought, good recovery. She's not new at this.

"No, there isn't," I said.

She nodded and carried on with her lesson. Yep, I thought, she's definitely 'in the business'.

I risked one more look into the sink. I had to make sure she thought I was paying attention to the lesson or I might be next.

I bet Oscar knows, I thought. I'll have to ask him. Later, though. I've always been good in Mrs. Bertagnolli's class, but if she ever found out I knew about the sink, I'd be a goner for sure.

Work

Logan brushed off his cuduroy jacket and put a very buisnesslike look on his face. "I'm going to work," he said. He had his hair wet down and combed back. He looked official.

He walked outside and began working with his toy trucks, moving dirt around and building cities. He did this on more than one occasion.

I would stare out the window at him until mom eventually dressed me and let me go, too. I tried to stay out of Logan's way. At least, I think I did. I'm not sure.

Logan got his nice jacket dirty when he went to work. It was khaki, so mom had to wash it really well before he used it again.

He always got up really early, like a regular working person would. I wonder if he ever finished building whatever he was trying to build. It seemed really important.

A Rather Genius Plan, In My Opinion (Crickets, Part Two)

"Wait, I need you guys to stand around me and dance or something so the teachers don't see me," I begged.

Tyler nodded and began gathering people to help.

We walked over to the dance floor with me in the lead. I kind of strutted. I tend to do that when I feel like a genius.

Everyone gathered around me and started dancing. It took a moment to organize them so that the teacher's view was obstructed. Once that was done, I ducked down, opened my jacket, and grabbed the paper bag. I ripped a hole in the side of the bag and threw it towards some sixth graders.

I stood up strait. They saw me, I thought. They saw me and now they're probably going to get me in trouble or something. My older brother has a friend who let a bunch of crickets loose at school. Somebody told on him and they didn't let him walk at graduation. I wondered what they would do to me.

It dawned on me, however, that nobody had seen me at all; the girls who I thought had witnessed me throwing the bag were, at the moment, squealing and backing up against the wall.

My face broke into a grin. It wasn't quite the sudden carnage that I had hoped for, but it was obvious that somebody was enjoying it. There were some boys stomping on the crickets and laughing, which I thought was rather mean, but I remembered it was entirely my fault, so now I have cricket blood on my hands.

As I walked away, I saw a boy named Forrest standing by a table. He had asked me out earlier, but I had said no because I didn't really want a boyfriend, which was true. He had sent me a note asking me to "save him the last dance." I walked up to him.

"Hey, Forrest," I said, "You still want to dance?"

"Yeah," he said.

I smiled. "Look, I'm sorry if I was rude or anything earlier. I think you're a really sweet guy."

He gave me a huge smile and nodded. I waved and walked away. Forrest wasn't the cutest thing in the world, but he was a good person. He was a grade below me and a tiny bit shorter than me. It didn't really bother me that much, though. If I could do something to make somebody else's life a little better, then what do I have to lose?

I walked over to Tyler, who was talking to Levi. I simply said that the plan had been a success. I half said that merely beacuse I didn't get caught. I was glad I didn't. I think of some pretty interesting things, in my opinion, but my "plans" as I call them are rarely for getting out of trouble- mostly just getting into it.

Some people came up to me and told me about it later on, and I laughed and said,"Whoever did that must have been a genius!" I was only kidding, though. It wasn't really smart or even original; I just did it for the heck of it. It turned out to be quite a thrill, if you ask me.

Goths in a Gas Station Feed Store (Crickets, Part One)

Tyler and I walked into the feed store and approached the counter. I was the first to speak.

"Can I please have some crickets?"

"You going fishing?"

There were three men, but one of them looked younger.

"Yeah, tomorrow," I said.

The younger one looked at me.

"How old are you?" he asked in a rough voice.

"Thirteen," I said, "Why, am I too young to get crickets?"

I meant it as a serious question, but he must have thought I was joking, because he ignored me. One of the older men stood up from his chair and walked over to a sign.

"How much?" the younger one asked.

"Thirteen crickets for fourty-eight cents," he called back.

"Okay, I'll have two dollars worth," I said, laying two dollars on the counter.

The man who had spoken to me got up and led Tyler and I to a box with chirping sounds coming from it. I heard him say, "Man, yall look gothic." It was then I realized how strange we looked compared to the feed store workers. I was wearing a black shirt, pinstriped pants, homeade fishnets, a spiked bracelet, a chain on my beltloops, and an excess of eyeliner. Tyler had on his ACDC t-shirt, his black pants, and his beltloop chain.

"I'm not gothic," I said,"I just like the clothestyle."

He opened the box and began taking out the crickets.

"I'm not satanic," I added, almost as an afterthought.

"Yeah, that's cool," he said. Christ, this was awkward.

"So..." I tried to make conversation. "You think they'll live until tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I reckon they'll live as long as you want 'em to."

I nodded. He wrapped them up in a paper bag and handed them to me.

"Yall have a nice night," I called back as we left.

As soon as we got outside, Tyler and I started to laugh.

"God, that was the weirdest thing in the world!" Tyler said.

"I know," I replied,"I mean, these two people dressed in black walk into a feed store and ask for crickets."

We walked back to the dance, discussing what our next move would be. Tyler would go in to the cafeteria and get me my jacket, and I would wait in the bathroom.

I hurried into the lavatory and locked myself in a stall. I was pretty sure nobody saw the bag.

Soon enough, I heard a low whistle, and I unlocked the door, walked outside, and grabbed my jacket from Tyler.

"Let's go," I said.

Brandon walked along with us. They were walking a bit ahead of me, and I saw the vice principal pull them aside and start talking to them. We had tried to sneak out earlier, and Brandon had gotten caught. I assumed that's what she was talking to them about. When she was done, they walked into the dance, and she passed by me. She was giving me a look, I suppose because of my unusual attire. I wasn't sure what to do, so I kind of smiled and hurried to catch up with Tyler and Brandon.

"You're on your own now," Tyler said.