Small Steps - Louis Sachar [27]
An officer grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, spinning him around.
Armpit jerked himself free, but the other officer grabbed him.
The next thing he knew he was on the floor, his face pressed against the concrete. He could feel a knee digging into the small of his back.
It felt like his arms were being ripped out of their sockets as first one, then the other was jerked behind his back. Then they were handcuffed together.
His head was lifted off the floor by his hair and a police officer shouted in his face. “What’s she on?”
“What’d you give her?” shouted the other officer.
He winced in pain. It felt like his hair was about to be ripped right out of his head. He could hear the security guard calling for a doctor. “We’re going to have to pump her stomach!”
The officer abruptly let go of his hair, and his face banged against the floor. “Look,” the officer said, no longer shouting. “It would really help for us to know what kind of drugs we’re dealing with here.”
“You think it’s bad now,” said the other one. “Believe me, you do not want anything to happen to her.”
“Help us save her life!”
“What’s she on!”
Armpit managed to get a glimpse of Ginny, her body jerking around uncontrollably on the floor.
The sight of her made him lurch up, knocking both officers backward, but just for a moment. They quickly tackled him again, and then a billy club slammed against the side of his neck.
“What’s going on here?”
It was a woman’s voice.
“Stay back, Mayor, he’s all whacked out on something.”
“You don’t hit somebody who’s already on the ground, in handcuffs,” said Cherry Lane.
“He drugged that little girl.”
“She’s not on drugs!” Armpit gasped.
“Shut up!” said the officer, pushing his head against the floor.
He managed to raise his face back up. “I dug a trench at your house!” he gasped. “You said you admired me!”
The mayor leaned down with her hands on her knees to get a better look at him. Her long silver hair hung on both sides of her face. “You work for Jack Dunlevy?”
“Yes!”
“What’s wrong with the girl?”
“She’s not on drugs. I swear. She’s having a seizure.”
“He was caught with counterfeit tickets,” said one of the officers.
“Let me help her,” Armpit pleaded. “Please.”
“You think he knew they were counterfeit?” asked the mayor. “You think he’d sit in those seats if he knew they were counterfeit?”
“I can help her,” said Armpit.
“Let him go!” ordered the mayor.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“You let him go right now, unless you want to spend the next ten years walking up and down Lamar Boulevard.”
The officer twisted Armpit’s arm extra hard as he unlocked the handcuffs. The other officer was ready with his baton.
Staying low, Armpit hurried to Ginny. Drool dripped from her mouth as her body writhed and twitched. Her eyes were wide open, but they weren’t seeing anything.
The floor was sticky with spilled drinks and popcorn.
“I’m here now, Ginny,” he said softly. “I’m here now.” He wiped the drool off her face and adjusted her glasses, which had fallen to one side.
The people and their chairs had been cleared from the area.
“Is she going to be all right?” asked the mayor.
He slipped his hand below her head, then gently lifted her up off the floor. “It’s okay now,” he whispered. He held her trembling body against his chest.
“Now what?” Kaira demanded. There had been some kind of disturbance out on the floor and the waiting was driving her crazy.
“Funniest thing I ever saw!” laughed Jerome Paisley as he returned to the backstage area. “This little bit of a girl, wriggling around on the floor, drooling all over herself. She looked like a goldfish that fell out of its bowl. You know how they flop around until they die?”
“You think that’s funny?” asked Kaira.
“The thing is, everyone thinks she’s on drugs, right? But she’s not. She was born spastic!”
“And that’s funny?” asked Kaira again.
“How awful,” Kaira’s mother said, although she seemed more concerned with her drink, which was now down to nothing but ice.
“See, she was with this big