The Inner Circle - Brad Meltzer [126]
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know,” he said, again peering over at her, this time for longer. “I’d like to. I’d really like to.”
It wasn’t the offer that caught Minnie off guard. Or even his smile. It was the way he looked at her. Right at her. For sixteen years, unless someone was staring, no one looked at her.
But Griffin did. He looked. And smiled.
He was still smiling, even as Minnie shyly looked away.
Feeling like a cork about to leave a bottle, Minnie couldn’t look away for long. Standing up straight—completely unafraid—she looked back at him. “Okay,” she said, standing by the passenger side of the car and waiting for him to open the door.
Still holding both bags, he leaned in and reached past her, his forearm about to brush against her own. He was so close, she could smell the Wonder Bread in the grocery bag—and the black cherry soda on his breath.
She looked right at him, waiting for him to say something.
The only sound was a muffled rat-a-tat-tat…
… of laughter.
It was coming from her left. She followed the sound over her shoulder, just around the corner, where two guys—one black with a high-top fade, one white wearing an Oakland Raiders jersey—were snickering to themselves.
“No, ya Guido—the deal was you gotta do the kiss!” the white one shouted.
“You lose, brother! Game over!” the black one added.
“That’s not what we said!” Griffin laughed back.
Minnie stood there, still struggling to process.
“C’mon, you should be thanking me,” Griffin said, turning back to Minnie. “I gave you a full two minutes of what it’s like to be normal.”
Minnie wanted to scream. She wanted to hit him. But her body locked up and her legs began to tremble. Still, there was no way she’d cry for him. No way. She tried steeling herself, but all she saw was how hard all three of them were laughing. From her nose, twin waterfalls of snot slowly ran down.
“Bye, freak,” Griffin said, dropping both bags of groceries. The eggs shattered in one bag. From the other, a single can of tuna fish cartwheeled down the sidewalk.
“You even realize how much you look like a boy? Whatchu got down there, boy parts or girl parts?” Griffin asked, flicking his fingers against her crotch. The trembling in her legs only got worse. “It’s boy parts, innit?”
Minnie shook her head, fighting the tears. “I’m a girl,” she whispered.
“And you’re telling me all those girl parts work? No chance,” Griffin challenged, getting right in her face. “No chance those parts work.”
Minnie watched the can of tuna fish roll into the street and tip on its side, making a small repeating circle like a spun nickel approaching its stop.
“I’m right, ain’t I?” Griffin added as the can of tuna continued to spin in front of the car. Minnie shut her eyes, her legs trembling worse than ever. “You got nothing working down there, do ya?” he shouted. “Take the hint, animal. God did it for a reason—He don’t want no more mongrels like you!”
Minnie’s legs finally stopped trembling. She could feel the result running down her legs.
“Did you just wet your—!?” Griffin took a step back, making a face. That smell…“Is that—? Ohh, nasty!”
“She just took a dump in her pants?” the white kid asked.
“She crapped her pants!” Griffin laughed.
Scrambling backward, Minnie tripped over the rest of her groceries, landing on her rear with an awful squish that set Griffin and his friends howling.
In the street, the can of tuna sat there.
Climbing to her feet, Minnie looked up at Griffin and his eight-ball tattoo as the world melted in a flush of tears.
“Check it out—a face made for an abortion—and the stench of one too!” one of them said, laughing.
“Where you going, Elephant Man!? You forgot your groceries!” Griffin called out as she fought to her feet and started running up the block. “Whatcha gonna do—go tell your mom!?”
She didn’t respond, but as she ran as hard as she could and tried to avoid thinking of what was running down her legs, Minnie Wallace knew the answer. She knew exactly what she was going to do.
She was going to get