Gwendy's Button Box

17

Gwendy squints in the May sunlight as she unlocks her bike from a nearby tree. It never occurred to her this morning that the VFW wouldn’t have a bike rack—then again, how many vets did you see cruising around Castle Rock on bicycles?

She pats her pocket to make sure the envelope is still nice and snug, then straddles her bike and pushes off. Halfway across the parking lot, she spots Frankie Stone and Jimmy Sines, checking car doors and peering into windows. Some unlucky person was going to walk out of the Coin & Stamp Show today and find their car ransacked.

Gwendy pedals faster, hoping to slip away unnoticed, but she’s not that lucky.

“Hey, sugar tits!” Frankie yells from behind her, and then he’s sprinting ahead and cutting her off, blocking her exit from the parking lot. He waves his arms at her. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!”

Gwendy skids to a stop in front him. “Leave me alone, Frankie.”

It takes him a moment to catch his breath. “I just wanted to ask you a question, that’s all.”

“Then ask it and get out of my way.” She glances around for an escape route.

Jimmy Sines emerges from behind a parked car. Stands on the other side of her with his arms crossed. He looks at Frankie. “Sugar tits, huh?”

Frankie grins. “This is the one I was telling you about.” He walks closer to Gwendy, trails a finger up her leg. She swats it away.

“Ask your question and move.”

“C’mon, don’t be like that,” he says. “I was just wondering how your ass is. You always had such a tight one. Must make it hard to take a shit.” He’s touching her leg again. Not just a finger; his whole hand.

“These boys bothering you, Miss Gwendy?”

All three of them turn and look. Lenny is standing there.

“Get lost, old man,” Frankie says, taking a step toward him.

“I don’t think so. You okay, Gwendy?”

“I’m okay now.” She pushes off and starts pedaling. “Gotta get going or I’m gonna be late for lunch. Thanks!”

They watch her go, and then Frankie and Jimmy turn back to Lenny. “It’s two on one. I like those odds, old-timer.”

Lenny reaches into his pants pocket and comes out with a flick knife. Engraved on its silver side are the only two words of Latin these boys understand: Semper Fi. His gnarled hand does a limber trick and presto, there’s a six-inch blade glittering in the sunlight. “Now it’s two on two.”

Frankie takes off across the parking lot, Jimmy right behind him.