“It’s not a trick. Anyway, I’m not talking about it.”
“Why not?” asks Baldo. It’s almost time to return to class.
“Because I said I’m not. So you be careful.”
The table surface is spotted with crumbs, paper napkins, a dozen green peas, eight kernels of corn, two pickle slices, and four french fries. It’s not terrible; it’s just what’s found in a grade-school cafeteria. There are three different lunch periods at Bailey Elementary, and this is the last of them.
Baldo continues to press Hercel about the trick; Tig also asks a question or two. Hercel stares at the surface of the table. He’s on the brink of getting really angry. A person watching closely might notice a few grains of sugar begin to move. Baldo says something about friends not having secrets from one another. There’s a bit of whine in his voice. A few crumbs and two peas begin to roll; a french fry nudges its way forward; a pickle slice turns over, then moves faster; the peas fairly hop—all move toward Baldo. When they reach the edge of the table, they pitch forward into his lap, like barrel riders over Niagara Falls.
As the second pickle slice falls onto his jeans, Baldo at last notices. “Hey, I know what you’re doing! Cut that out!”
ALSO BY STEPHEN DOBYNS
POETRY
Winter’s Journey
Mystery, So Long
The Porcupine’s Kisses
Pallbearers Envying the One Who Rides
Common Carnage
Velocities: New and Selected Poems, 1966–1992
Body Traffic
Cemetery Nights
Black Dog, Red Dog
The Balthus Poems
Heat Death
Griffon
Concurring Beasts
NONFICTION
Next Word, Better Word: The Craft of Writing Poetry
Best Words, Best Order
STORIES
Eating Naked
NOVELS
Boy in the Water
Saratoga Strongbox
The Church of Dead Girls
Saratoga Fleshpot
Saratoga Trifecta
Saratoga Backtalk
The Wrestler’s Cruel Study
Saratoga Haunting
After Shocks/Near Escapes
Saratoga Hexameter
The House on Alexandrine
Saratoga Bestiary
A Boat off the Coast
Saratoga Snapper
Cold Dog Soup
Saratoga Headhunter
Dancer with One Leg
Saratoga Swimmer
Saratoga Longshot
A Man of Little Evils
Table of Contents
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
EPILOGUE