The Wonder Bread Summer Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Jessica Anya Blau
took the bag from Allie’s hand, removed the wire twisty, let it twirl open, peered inside, and laughed. “Oh my god,” she said again. “You could exchange this coke for, like, a house in the flats!” Beth stuck a finger into the bag and shoved some coke up her nose. She dipped again and served the other nostril.
“I gotta get out of here.” Allie took the bag, spun it shut, and tied it with the twisty.
“You need to give it back to Jonas. That’s like, what’s it called, grand theft larceny or something?”
“He needs to pay me!” Allie actually stomped her foot. Like a child.
“Take out the equivalent of what he owes you, and like, leave the bag here and I’ll give it back to him.” Beth seemed, Allie thought, remarkably unfazed by the situation.
“You think that will work?” Allie asked. “What if this Vice Versa guy really wants to murder me?” The pocket watch was thundering the seconds now. Allie took another swat at it to make it disappear.
Beth followed her hand, then stared down Allie’s eyes. “No one’s going to kill you. Just give back the coke.” Beth put her hand on the bag. Allie pulled it in against her chest. Beth’s delicate nose was starting to lengthen into a beak again.
Beth laughed. “You’re, like, fucked up, aren’t you?”
“I did that stuff Jonas keeps in a baby-food jar.”
“The baby-jar coke?” Now Beth was cracking up. “No wonder you stole the hundred K bread bag! I had the tiniest toot of that the other day and, I swear, it made me crazy.”
“Crazy? How?” Allie wanted to ask about Jonas masturbating, but she didn’t. Her body was a quivery mess. It was hard enough just to speak.
“I don’t know, he put on music and I was, like, dancing, and the walls were all, like, colorful, and Jonas was, like, watching me and I swear he wanted me to go into the dressing room and take off my clothes or something so he could jerk off and I was, like, no fucking way, there’s no way I’m going to take my clothes off for some freaky guy like you! I mean, can you imagine? Who would do that? I mean what kind of pathetic loser would just sit there and let some guy totally jerk off while he’s looking at her?!” Beth sniffed, wiped each nostril, and erased the beak.
Allie could feel twin snakes of regret in her bloodstream, moving in a double-helix rotation through her body. Regret was going to poison her if she didn’t flush it out of her system soon. “So you just danced?” she asked.
“Yeah but I said some stupid shit. I told him about my third eye and my long nipples. Oh and I told him about Marc, too, and I swear that’s, like, all he wanted to talk about the rest of the day.” Beth stared into Allie’s eyes again before her focus dropped down to the coke clasped against Allie’s breasts.
The pocket watch bonged, like a grandfather clock. “I’ve gotta get outta here,” Allie said. “Can I borrow your car?”
Beth reached into a ceramic bowl on the counter and plucked out her keys. She held them out to Allie. “Are you totally too messed up to drive?”
“Maybe,” Allie said. “I’ll put my rabbit foot on your keys and that will keep me safe.” She placed the bread bag on the counter so she could dig through her purse for the rabbit foot. Allie believed in her rabbit-foot luck. It had kept her from getting pregnant that time the condom broke with Marc; and it was probably the thing that had prevented her from dying from whatever it was she had stupidly snorted out of that baby-food jar with Jonas. Wai Po often said, IF LUCK COMES NOT, WHO COMES?
The rabbit foot glowed up at Allie from the bottom of her bag. She thought she saw the tiny claws flickering back and forth just before she pulled it out. Allie opened the silver chain that looped through the top of the rabbit foot and attached it to the small ring that held Beth’s keys. “Can you talk to Jonas or Vice Versa and try to work it all out? Negotiate a little, okay? Let him think
“I gotta get out of here.” Allie took the bag, spun it shut, and tied it with the twisty.
“You need to give it back to Jonas. That’s like, what’s it called, grand theft larceny or something?”
“He needs to pay me!” Allie actually stomped her foot. Like a child.
“Take out the equivalent of what he owes you, and like, leave the bag here and I’ll give it back to him.” Beth seemed, Allie thought, remarkably unfazed by the situation.
“You think that will work?” Allie asked. “What if this Vice Versa guy really wants to murder me?” The pocket watch was thundering the seconds now. Allie took another swat at it to make it disappear.
Beth followed her hand, then stared down Allie’s eyes. “No one’s going to kill you. Just give back the coke.” Beth put her hand on the bag. Allie pulled it in against her chest. Beth’s delicate nose was starting to lengthen into a beak again.
Beth laughed. “You’re, like, fucked up, aren’t you?”
“I did that stuff Jonas keeps in a baby-food jar.”
“The baby-jar coke?” Now Beth was cracking up. “No wonder you stole the hundred K bread bag! I had the tiniest toot of that the other day and, I swear, it made me crazy.”
“Crazy? How?” Allie wanted to ask about Jonas masturbating, but she didn’t. Her body was a quivery mess. It was hard enough just to speak.
“I don’t know, he put on music and I was, like, dancing, and the walls were all, like, colorful, and Jonas was, like, watching me and I swear he wanted me to go into the dressing room and take off my clothes or something so he could jerk off and I was, like, no fucking way, there’s no way I’m going to take my clothes off for some freaky guy like you! I mean, can you imagine? Who would do that? I mean what kind of pathetic loser would just sit there and let some guy totally jerk off while he’s looking at her?!” Beth sniffed, wiped each nostril, and erased the beak.
Allie could feel twin snakes of regret in her bloodstream, moving in a double-helix rotation through her body. Regret was going to poison her if she didn’t flush it out of her system soon. “So you just danced?” she asked.
“Yeah but I said some stupid shit. I told him about my third eye and my long nipples. Oh and I told him about Marc, too, and I swear that’s, like, all he wanted to talk about the rest of the day.” Beth stared into Allie’s eyes again before her focus dropped down to the coke clasped against Allie’s breasts.
The pocket watch bonged, like a grandfather clock. “I’ve gotta get outta here,” Allie said. “Can I borrow your car?”
Beth reached into a ceramic bowl on the counter and plucked out her keys. She held them out to Allie. “Are you totally too messed up to drive?”
“Maybe,” Allie said. “I’ll put my rabbit foot on your keys and that will keep me safe.” She placed the bread bag on the counter so she could dig through her purse for the rabbit foot. Allie believed in her rabbit-foot luck. It had kept her from getting pregnant that time the condom broke with Marc; and it was probably the thing that had prevented her from dying from whatever it was she had stupidly snorted out of that baby-food jar with Jonas. Wai Po often said, IF LUCK COMES NOT, WHO COMES?
The rabbit foot glowed up at Allie from the bottom of her bag. She thought she saw the tiny claws flickering back and forth just before she pulled it out. Allie opened the silver chain that looped through the top of the rabbit foot and attached it to the small ring that held Beth’s keys. “Can you talk to Jonas or Vice Versa and try to work it all out? Negotiate a little, okay? Let him think