Polkacide Read Online Free PDF

block the noise.
    "No can do," said the man at
the door. "I'm under strict orders!" Boom
boom boom boom boom.
    I stayed in bed another minute, and
the pounding continued. Finally, I threw aside the pillow and
jerked to a sitting position.
    I sat there a moment,
wobbling in place, barely awake. My head felt like it was stuffed
with wool, the gears of my brain unable to turn.
    "Come on, Lottie," said the
man at the door. "We've got things to do, places to be, people to
see."
    Only then did I realize it was Eddie
Kubiak Jr. My old boyfriend was pounding on the door of my room,
waking me from a much-needed sleep at six-thirty in the freaking
morning.
    "Yep," I said to myself. "It's a
nightmare, all right."
    Boom boom boom. "Open up, Lottie!"
    Sliding off the bed, I stood
and looked in the mirror above the dresser. The word "Sasquatch"
came to mind.
    My dress was wrinkled beyond
belief and twisted so the neckline pointed left instead of down the
middle. The coil of hair once wrapped around my head had come
halfway undone; strands hung over my face and stuck out in every
direction. Mascara, rouge, and eye shadow were smeared all over my
face as it were an artist's sloppy palette blobbed with multiple
colors of paint. My eyes had bags under them the size of dim sum
dumplings.
    Nowhere in the world would I
have been considered remotely presentable. I had no intention of
setting foot outside that door in full view of Eddie Kubiak,
Jr.
    "Lottie! Lot!" Boom boom boom boom. He
was relentless.
    But I wasn't the only one he was
ticking off. "Hey! Shut the hell up over there!" The voice through
the paper-thin wall was that of a guy who was seriously
irate.
    "Open up, Lot!" said Eddie.
"It's time for work!"
    "How 'bout I come out there
and work you over?" The guy in the room next door bellowed the words this
time. "I guarantee that'll shut you up!"
    It seemed like Eddie finally
got the message, because he stopped pounding. When he spoke again,
his voice was nowhere near as loud. "Lot?"
    To end the commotion, I
walked to the door and cracked it without unhooking the safety
chain. "What are you talking about, it's time for work?" I peered out from the
shadows into painfully bright sunlight that made me squint. "For
one thing, it's Sunday. For another thing, I'm not working in this town."
    "Sure you are." Eddie had a
goofy grin on his thin, oval face. The thin line of his
meticulously trimmed sideburns-mustache-goatee combo--let's call it
his sidemusgoat --curled up with the grin, revealing dimples and rows of
gleaming white teeth. "Don't you remember the wake yesterday? Sure sounded
to me like you got
hired."
    The events of the day before
rushed back and slammed into me like a brick wall on wheels. "You
mean Peg and me? That whole thing?"
    "Congratulations on your new
job." Eddie extended a hand but didn't slide it between the door
and the jamb. Smart man. "But being late is no way to get off on
the right foot."
    I almost slammed the door in
his face. No kidding. But I was afraid he'd keep after me and set
off the guy next door. "I'm not late for anything,
Eddie."
    "Peg starts the day at 6AM."
Eddie nodded briskly. I was having a hard time telling if he was
trying on purpose to irritate me. "She's been waiting for you for a
half hour now."
    "Okay." I planted my hands
on my hips and glared out at him. "You need to go away right now. Because you
won't like what happens if I come out and you're still
there."
    "So you don't want your
share of your dad's business?" Eddie cocked his head to one side.
It was then I realized he was enjoying this to some extent. "You'll
let those Polish orphans have everything?"
    I blew out my breath in
frustration. I wasn't a morning person to begin with, and that
morning I was feeling especially out of it. My first instinct was
to light up a cigarette and get my bearings...but since that wasn't
an option, I needed strong coffee before I could deal with Eddie's
nonsense. "Go away, Eddie."
    "Can't do that." Eddie shook