Ribbons Read Online Free PDF Page B

harder than he intended. A wave of soapy water cascaded down the wall and splattered on the ground. Well, not just water. Foster did a little hop backward and ran into the toilet. He was going to have to mop the whole floor now.
    Candice didn’t seem to notice. In fact, she stared straight ahead, looking at herself in the mirror above the sink. Her eyes were wide, and she didn’t blink. Foster had never noticed how blue they were. They almost looked unnatural. She muttered something that Foster couldn’t quite make out. He was just about to ask her if she was all right when she turned on him with a snarl.
    “What are you doing in there, you little perv?” It was like she’d just suddenly remembered that she hated him. Which was strange, because she had always been so nice to him before.
    He didn’t know what to say. Maybe she thought he was a customer hiding in the stall to spy on her. He tried to explain. “Candice, it’s just me. Foster.”
    She took two steps over to the stall door. It had started to close a bit on its own. She pushed it back open. Foster still hadn’t seen her blink.
    “I know who it is.” Her eyes scanned the walls, then the floor, and then Foster’s crotch. “That’s fucking disgusting.”
    Foster looked down at his own crotch. He was the exact opposite of horny.
    “I don’t—” he started.
    “Is this what you do when nobody’s looking? Hide in here and stroke that pathetic cock?”
    “No, the boss said—”
    She leaned in close to his face. She had a doll’s eyes, unfocused and too wide. “Did you run in here right after I touched you, to do your nasty little business?”
    Foster cringed and tried to step back, but he was right up against the toilet. He lost his balance and had to sit down. Candice continued.
    “Fuckin’ sad. I bet I remind you of your sister, or your mom or something.”
    She paused to cross her arms and sneer. Foster took a breath and tried to rally. He was cut off by somebody else this time.
    “What the fuck’s going on in here?” It was Sam.
    Foster remembered having nightmares where he knew he was going to be grabbed at any moment by the thing in the dark without eyes. The thing that would tickle his ribs with savage jabs while sniffing him with its tongue. All he had to do was scream. To cry out for help. In his dream he would open his mouth, but all that came out was a breathy squeak. He felt like that now. It was a good thing he was already sitting down. And it was probably a good thing that he was sitting on a toilet.
    “I found this little prick jerking off to me!” Candice said.
    Candice backed up as Sam came to stand in the stall doorway. Sam’s foot made a little splash and then slid on something in the water. He put out a hand to steady himself, but his hand slipped on something too. He didn’t fall, though. He saved himself by grabbing Foster’s shoulder. The sudden jolt shook something loose in Foster. That something was gas.
    “That’s it, Foster. Get the fuck out!” Sam hooked a thumb toward the bathroom door behind him. “You’re done here.”
    Foster finally found his voice. He had to work to push the words out, one deep breath for each syllable or two. “You. Said. To clean. This. Up.”
    “Yeah, clean it up. Not make more,” said Sam.
    Foster felt the jabbing at his ribs. “No,” he pleaded. “No. This is all I got.”
    “Take it up with your parole officer.”
    Foster looked past Sam to Candice. She finally blinked. She couldn’t stop blinking now. She also kept turning her head from side to side, like she was trying to figure something out. She didn’t look angry anymore. In fact, she didn’t seem to notice Foster at all.
    Sam put a hand on Foster’s shoulder. He spoke as he helped Foster to his feet. It seemed like he was saying a lot more, but all Foster could make out was the last part.
    “Go home, Foster.”

 
     
     
    5
     
     
    Matt loosened his tie. Then he tightened it again. He hadn’t planned on