Read Online Serpent's Kiss by Ed Gorman - Free Book Online

T-shirts you wear just emphasise your size and make you seem younger. But now that she sat here looking at him, she sensed the obstinate pride he took in his T-shirts. Wearing Batman on his chest was his way of telling people he didn't care what they thought of him. Wearing Batman on his chest was an act of defiance-he probably knew how silly it made him look, and he probably revelled in it perversely. She was no different in always wanting to hide her foot, nor was Lucy any different in the self deprecating jokes she told about the birthmark on her face. She did something now she'd never done before-she reached out and touched Tommy's hand. She could feel him jerk at the touch, as if he'd been shot or electrocuted, as if he could not quite believe it.
        But he didn't raise his head.
        "Tommy."
        He said nothing. She left her hand in place.
        "Tommy."
        Long pause, then: "What?"
        "Do you know how much I like you?"
        He said nothing, kept his head down.
        "I consider you one of my best friends."
        "Yeah. Right."
        "I do."
        He raised his head. She could see the tears in his eyes. "Is that what you consider Richie? A friend?"
        She felt herself blush, heard herself stammer. "A different kind of friend."
        "Right."
        He hung his head again. He said, "Please take your hand away."
        She removed her hand.
        They sat there silently for a long time. Kids came and went; the kitchen help dropped plastic trays, shouted joking insults to each other, ran automatic dishwashers that roared with the force of Niagara and smelled oppressively of heat and detergent.
        "Tommy."
        "What?"
        "Won't you look at me?"
        "Why should I?"
        "Because we're friends."
        "No, we're not."
        She sighed, waited, then: "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."
        "I suppose you think he's cute, huh?"
        Now he raised his head. "I'm sorry I said that."
        They both tried to disregard the fact that he had tears in his eyes.
        He put his hand on her wrist. It was a fleshy hand but a strong one, and damp with sweat. In a curious way, it felt like a baby's hand, and so the sensation of it lying on her wrist was not unpleasant.
        He said, "I don't like you as much as I used to, anyway."
        She smiled. "Well, I like you more so I guess that evens things out."
        "You don't like me more. You like me less. I can tell just by the way you look at me. About half the things I do irritate you."
        She said carefully, wanting to change the subject but not be too obvious about it, "Whatever happened to Judy?"
        He shrugged. "Said she didn't want to see me anymore."
        "Why?"
        He shrugged again, fatty shoulders beneath the Batman T-shirt. "Said I embarrassed her every time we went to the comic book store."
        "How did she say you embarrassed her?"
        "Oh, arguing with people and all. Like one day there was this guy in there who said that the Green Lantern was better than the Flash. So I just kind've told him his opinions sucked."
        "In a real loud voice?"
        "Well."
        "And making your argument very personal?"
        "Well. He was kind of a geek, you know?"
        "We're all geeks, Tommy, our whole little group and everybody like us-don't you understand that yet?"
        He stared at her. "Is Richie a geek?"
        "I suppose."
        "Really?"
        "Why else would he sit here with us?"
        "But he isn't fat and he isn't crippled and he doesn't have any birth defects and he-" He shook his head. "He doesn't look like a geek to me." He patted his massive belly. "I'm a geek."
        "So am I."
        "No, you're not, Marie. You always say that but-"
        The bell rang, ending lunch hour, summoning the kids back to class.
        She said, "When's the last time you talked to Judy?"
        "Last