Small Steps - Louis Sachar [34]
“Well, not anymore,” said Cotton. “Your dad just fired me. I just wanted to stop in and say good-bye.”
“He can’t do that!”
“He can, and he did.”
“But I’m the one who wanted to sing that song!” Kaira said.
“Hey, don’t worry. I’m cool with it. This really isn’t the kind of music I should be making at this time in my life. I need to do something real.”
“He’s not my dad,” Kaira said. “Just because he married my— As soon as I turn eighteen I’m firing his ass! Then I’ll call you.”
“You do that,” Cotton said. “Nice to meet you,” he said to Ginny and Armpit without looking at them, then left the dressing room.
“That sucks,” Kaira said.
“Sorry,” said Ginny.
“Yeah, me too,” Kaira said. She sat in silence for a moment.
“Maybe we should go,” Armpit said to Ginny.
“You know what I do all day?” Kaira asked. “I watch TV and play video games. All day.”
That didn’t sound too bad to him.
“I have no friends. But then finally, finally I find someone I can talk to. Someone I like. And so of course El Genius has to fire him. I swear that’s the reason he was fired. Not because we did that song. Because he was someone I could talk to.”
Armpit could only follow about half of what she was saying. “We really ought to get going,” he said. “Ginny’s mom will worry.”
Kaira turned to Ginny. “You like your mom?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“You’re lucky,” Kaira said. “How about you?” she asked Armpit.
“Yeah, I like Ginny’s mom,” said Armpit.
Kaira laughed. “You’re funny. Man, you guys are so cool. It’s so great you can be such good friends, when, you know, you’re so different. I mean, different ages.”
“Different colors, too,” said Ginny.
Kaira went nose to nose with Ginny and said, “Well, duh!”
“Duh!” Ginny repeated, right back at her.
There was another knock on the door, and this time it was David with their shirts, washed, dried, and neatly folded.
It was hard for Armpit to imagine this big, red-bearded guy washing their shirts.
Kaira gave Ginny a good-bye hug. Armpit wouldn’t have minded one of those himself, but he just shrugged and said, “Well, see ya.”
“See ya,” said Kaira.
“So what did you and Kaira whisper to each other?” he asked when they got back to the car.
“It’s a secret,” Ginny said.
“You’re not going to tell me?”
“No.”
“You’re really not going to tell me?”
“No.”
“After I take you to this concert and everything, you won’t even tell me? Now I’m mad.”
“Are you really mad?” asked Ginny.
“No.”
“I didn’t think you were.”
“You didn’t tell her my nickname, did you?”
“I j-just g-gave her a hint.”
“A hint? What kind of a hint?”
“I said it was a p-part of the b-body.”
“That’s even worse!” He could just imagine what she was imagining. “Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter,” he said. “It’s not like I’ll ever see her again.”
“Yes, you will,” said Ginny.
“Oh, I will, will I?”
“Maybe.”
18
“Do you realize it’s after midnight?”
“That’s how long concerts last.”
“Then you should have left early.”
“In the middle of the concert?”
“Yes! You had a responsibility to Ginny, and to her mother. You have no idea how worried she was! She was ready to call the police!”
Armpit knew that wasn’t true. He had just come from Ginny’s mother, who was delighted that Ginny had had such a wonderful time.
“The best time of my whole life!” Ginny had said.
They had told her about having ice cream with Kaira DeLeon, but not about the counterfeit tickets. They just said that Ginny had gotten a little overexcited and suffered a mild seizure. She was taken to the medical station, where they met Kaira DeLeon, and so on.
Armpit didn’t tell any of that to his own parents. He felt like he was under attack the second he walked in the door, and so didn’t tell them anything except his name, rank, and serial number.
He didn’t have to work Sundays and would have slept late, but shortly after nine someone turned on his bedroom light. He shielded his eyes as X-Ray smiled down on him.
“What are you doing here?” His voice was a little bit hoarse from the night before.
“Your mom let me in. Said it served you right