have?”
“Portable. I plug it into my car stereo. That’s really cool.”
“I bet.”
Adam looked at Frank like he was still waiting for something to happen. Maybe Frank was someone’s father coming to tell Adam he didn’t want his daughter riding around in Adam’s car with Adam blasting her eardrums anymore.
“What do you listen to?”
“I dunno,” Adam said, suddenly shy.
“Well, what do your friends listen to?”
“All kinds of stuff.”
“If I wanted to buy something, what would you recommend?”
“New Poizon Boiz just came in,” Adam said happily.
“I’ll take one. Do you sell the players here?” he asked, handing Adam his American Express card.
“You get them at Wire Wizard, upstairs, just across from King Pin.”
As Adam was ringing Frank up, a big-haired girl, identical to Julie, Tina, and Nails, came up to Adam, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pushed her tongue down Adam’s throat.
Every organ in Frank’s body jumped. His insides rose up. He signed the charge slip, turned around, and went straight to the Wire Wizard.
“I need a CD player,” he said desperately to the salesman.
“What kind?”
“A good one. A very good one. I have to be able to plug it into my stereo or my car.” He felt flushed and out of breath. He thought of the freshness of a fifteen-year-old body.
“We have a few like that.”
“I want the best. I have to have the best,” Frank said, excitedly.
“The best is not necessarily the most expensive.”
“I know that,” Frank said.
What kind of guy did this kid take him for? He tapped his fingers on the counter.
“Give me what you’ve got,” Frank said to the guy.
He felt like he had to hurry. He had to finish this soon. He had to go back and see what Adam was doing.
“This is a very good model,” the guy said, taking something out of the case.
“Great,” Frank said, without looking at the player. He laid his charge card on the counter, sure that this was how people did it. Credit was free, easy, there was always someone giving it away, asking you to take more.
“Do you want to hear it?”
“I trust you. I really do,” Frank said, looking the guy in the eye for half a second.
When Frank got out of the Wire Wizard, Adam was gone. Lunch break, his manager said, winking.
On the down escalator Frank pulled the receipt out of the Wire Wizard bag. A hundred and eighty-nine dollars. He couldn’t believe it. He’d figured it would cost fifty or sixty bucks, seventy-five at most. What had he done? What would Mary say? He quickly shifted his attitude to a more adaptive one. I’m allowed. I am absolutely allowed. I deserve it. He wouldn’t tell Mary. He would find something else to bring home, something smaller, perhaps something specifically for her, like a present.
From the escalator he saw the crowd around the jeep. He counted the number of contestants left. Since yesterday eleven had walked away. According to the woman on the escalator in front of Frank, they’d thrown up their hands and asked to be let out. One had to be taken by ambulance when, for no apparent reason, she started vomiting.
“How’re you doing?” he asked Julie’s mother.
She smiled and nodded her head.
“It’s nothing yet,” Julie’s mother said. “Tomorrow it’ll start getting good.”
“I’ll be here,” Frank said.
“So will I.”
Frank felt his presence did something to the contest. He had the idea that the way he looked at the contestants either gave them what they needed to go on or broke them right there on the spot. He felt powerful and necessary.
They were down to nine. They all looked willing to call it a day. An incredible assortment of junk food was scattered half-eaten among the lounge chairs and coolers; fast food from every carry-out in the mall had been supplemented by special-request items like Ding Dongs and cream soda. It surprised Frank that no one thought of the nutrition edge. No one seemed to think eating right during
“Portable. I plug it into my car stereo. That’s really cool.”
“I bet.”
Adam looked at Frank like he was still waiting for something to happen. Maybe Frank was someone’s father coming to tell Adam he didn’t want his daughter riding around in Adam’s car with Adam blasting her eardrums anymore.
“What do you listen to?”
“I dunno,” Adam said, suddenly shy.
“Well, what do your friends listen to?”
“All kinds of stuff.”
“If I wanted to buy something, what would you recommend?”
“New Poizon Boiz just came in,” Adam said happily.
“I’ll take one. Do you sell the players here?” he asked, handing Adam his American Express card.
“You get them at Wire Wizard, upstairs, just across from King Pin.”
As Adam was ringing Frank up, a big-haired girl, identical to Julie, Tina, and Nails, came up to Adam, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pushed her tongue down Adam’s throat.
Every organ in Frank’s body jumped. His insides rose up. He signed the charge slip, turned around, and went straight to the Wire Wizard.
“I need a CD player,” he said desperately to the salesman.
“What kind?”
“A good one. A very good one. I have to be able to plug it into my stereo or my car.” He felt flushed and out of breath. He thought of the freshness of a fifteen-year-old body.
“We have a few like that.”
“I want the best. I have to have the best,” Frank said, excitedly.
“The best is not necessarily the most expensive.”
“I know that,” Frank said.
What kind of guy did this kid take him for? He tapped his fingers on the counter.
“Give me what you’ve got,” Frank said to the guy.
He felt like he had to hurry. He had to finish this soon. He had to go back and see what Adam was doing.
“This is a very good model,” the guy said, taking something out of the case.
“Great,” Frank said, without looking at the player. He laid his charge card on the counter, sure that this was how people did it. Credit was free, easy, there was always someone giving it away, asking you to take more.
“Do you want to hear it?”
“I trust you. I really do,” Frank said, looking the guy in the eye for half a second.
When Frank got out of the Wire Wizard, Adam was gone. Lunch break, his manager said, winking.
On the down escalator Frank pulled the receipt out of the Wire Wizard bag. A hundred and eighty-nine dollars. He couldn’t believe it. He’d figured it would cost fifty or sixty bucks, seventy-five at most. What had he done? What would Mary say? He quickly shifted his attitude to a more adaptive one. I’m allowed. I am absolutely allowed. I deserve it. He wouldn’t tell Mary. He would find something else to bring home, something smaller, perhaps something specifically for her, like a present.
From the escalator he saw the crowd around the jeep. He counted the number of contestants left. Since yesterday eleven had walked away. According to the woman on the escalator in front of Frank, they’d thrown up their hands and asked to be let out. One had to be taken by ambulance when, for no apparent reason, she started vomiting.
“How’re you doing?” he asked Julie’s mother.
She smiled and nodded her head.
“It’s nothing yet,” Julie’s mother said. “Tomorrow it’ll start getting good.”
“I’ll be here,” Frank said.
“So will I.”
Frank felt his presence did something to the contest. He had the idea that the way he looked at the contestants either gave them what they needed to go on or broke them right there on the spot. He felt powerful and necessary.
They were down to nine. They all looked willing to call it a day. An incredible assortment of junk food was scattered half-eaten among the lounge chairs and coolers; fast food from every carry-out in the mall had been supplemented by special-request items like Ding Dongs and cream soda. It surprised Frank that no one thought of the nutrition edge. No one seemed to think eating right during