Creeps Read Online Free PDF Page B

shit?”
    â€œThey’re only Crunchits.”
    â€œWon’t be ‘only Crunchits’ when you’ve got colon cancer.”
    Wayne pushes the bag aside. Grabs his hot dog. “Guess you don’t want a bite of this then.”
    â€œRather eat rat shit.”
    He lays the hot dog down. “Sometimes I’ll sit with my sister, Wanda, but she skips most days lately. Hey, congratulations by the way.”
    â€œFor what?”
    â€œThe play; whaddya think?”
    â€œWhat are you talking about, Wayne Pumphrey?”
    â€œDidn’t you see the cast list?”
    Marjorie bites her apple. Shrugs.
    â€œYou’re playing Bonita Saunders. Les is playing your husband.”
    Marjorie can’t seem to swallow what’s in her mouth. She sucks in a breath and says, “Did it on a whim. Wasn’t expecting to get anything.”
    â€œMore than ‘anything’—the lead .”
    Marjorie looks at the ceiling.
    Wayne says, “Didn’t see you at the auditions.”
    She stays quiet.
    â€œI said I didn’t see you at the auditions—”
    â€œI heard you.”
    Wayne waits.
    Finally Marjorie says, “Waited till everyone was gone now, didn’t I. Mr. Rollie was locking up.”
    â€œHow come?”
    â€œI don’t know. Wasn’t sure I wanted to go through with it.”
    â€œWhy did you?”
    â€œYou ask a lot of questions, Wayne Pumphrey.”
    â€œSorry.”
    They say nothing for a long time, the floor vibrating from the hum of hundreds of voices all trying to talk over one another and laughing and scheming about ways to acquire their weekend liquor.
    Pete’s looking over, Wayne notices, and he’s grinning and pushing his index finger in and out of a hole he’s made with the opposite hand.
    Wayne turns away.
    It’s not until Marjorie’s apple is a core that she speaks again, and what she says is: “It’ll get me out of the house.”
    Wayne stares at her. “Hmm?”
    â€œYou asked me why and I’m telling you it’ll get me out of the house.”
    â€œOh.” Then, after a while, “You don’t like your place?”
    Marjorie doesn’t say whether she does or doesn’t.
    He puts some Crunchits in his mouth and tries chewing while blocking out visions of colon tumours and chemotherapy and falling-out hair. Manages to swallow.
    â€œAre you on the list?” she says.
    Wayne shakes his head.
    She puts her core on his tray. “Better off. Why walk through a hail of bullets if you don’t have to, right?”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œPete. He’d never give you any peace then.”
    Wayne stares in the direction of The Meat and his posse, then looks back at Marjorie and says, “Doesn’t give me any now .”
    â€œYeah well, it’d be worse if you were in the play.”
    â€œWhat, so I’m supposed to do nothing for the rest of high school because of Pete?”
    Marjorie doesn’t answer right away, then she says, “It’d be easier.”
    â€œBut you’re doing the play.”
    â€œBig difference between you and me.”
    â€œAnd what’s that?”
    Marjorie straightens up in her chair and says, “I couldn’t give a shit, that’s what, but you … you take things to heart.”
    â€œHow would you know? You haven’t so much as grunted at me in all the years you’ve lived up the street.”
    â€œAnd you’ve gone out of your way to talk to me ? Don’t think I never noticed how you’d always speed up whenever I was walking behind you, or slow down whenever I was ahead.”
    â€œAnd don’t think I never noticed all those times you passed by while I was being put into a headlock or given a wedgie or whatever.”
    Marjorie stares at her fingers.
    Wayne fiddles with his Crunchit bag.
    Then Mrs. Gambol reappears from across the room and goes over to Pete’s table and