The Boy with Words for Skin

Chapter 16: Manny

Just before we went into Manny's, Kit paused to run her hands through her hair and wipe her face. She slapped her cheeks twice and then turned to me with a smile.

"Smile, Words," she said.

I nodded and did my best.

Manny's was a little bigger than Trimble's Grocers. The outside had wood shingling that kind of made it look like a cabin. The inside had wooden floors and paneling. All of the shelving was made of wood, too. There were about a dozen pairs of antlers mounted on the front wall behind the long front counter that held the two registers.

The two cars that sat in the parking lot—which was eight spaces that ran along the front of the building—could only mean one thing. Manny had customers. I didn't like the idea of facing anyone else in town, but there was no turning back. Kit was already heading inside.

Manny stood behind the counter, hunched over a stack of papers. When he heard the bell, he looked up. He started to smile, but when he saw that it was Kit and me, his face twitched. I knew my hood was tight against my face, but I pulled on the strings anyway.

"Hi there, kiddos," Manny said, but not in the loud, happy way he greeted everyone else. He looked at the full carts we were pushing. "Shopping spree, huh?"

Kit smiled back. "I wish! If you go on a shopping spree you buy clothes and shoes and fun stuff, not food. This is just chores. How are you doing, Manny?"

He straightened with a little groan. His hand went to his lower back. "I'm doing great, Jolene. And yourself?"

"Wonderful, thank you." She pushed her cart along the counter until she stood in front of Manny.

I hesitated for a second but figured I should follow. If she wanted him to see how much food we got from Trimble's, I had better move closer to shove it in face as best we could. That was the easy part. I'd let her do the hard part.

"Sammie," Manny said to me. "And how are you?"

My mind was still spinning from what Mr. Trimble had said about the cemetery. I didn't think I could say anything, so I just nodded hello.

Manny nodded back. He turned to Kit. "What can I do you for?"

Just as Kit opened her mouth to speak, two women's voices drifted out of an aisle. There was a burst of laughter and then— "Oh!" The laughter stopped.

We turned to find Mrs. Banks and her sister, Ms. Hardy, staring at us from out of aisle four. They each had one of Manny's brown hand baskets hanging from the crooks of their arms like purses. We might've stayed like that, frozen and staring at each other, forever if Manny hadn't spoken up.

"You need any help, ladies?"

His voice shook Mrs. Banks from her stare. "No. Thank you, Manny. We're just about to check out."

"Well, come on up here, then. You very well can't do it from way back there, now can you?"

The women hesitated. They looked at each other.

"Oh, I forgot . . . something . . ." Mrs. Banks said. She looked at her sister.

Ms. Hardy caught on. "Oh. Right! Yes. Let's go get . . . that."

The two women retreated back down aisle four. They leaned in close to each other and whispered frantically. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Ms. Hardy's hands were flying all around. Mrs. Banks threw a look over her shoulder at us before she and her sister disappeared into another aisle.

Manny stared after them a moment, his forehead creased and mouth pulled tight. Then his face unscrunched itself and he turned back to us. "What did you two need today?"