Page 4 (2/2)
“You’re hard to read,” he says
Why is he trying to readabout dolls He hands h the machine The name on the card says, “Xander Spence” Xander as in “Z-ander” or as in “X-ander”? I’ to ask I really don’t care I’ve been pleasant enough This exchange wouldn’t even have required aher resentment than I am She even hides it from me I chalk it up to years of practice
His cell phone rings and he takes it out of his pocket “Hello?”
While I wait for the machine to spit out his slip, I open the drawer beneath the register and put the na with the others sold this month This helps us remember which dolls we need to reorder
“Yes, I found one It has a dog” He listens for a ” He turns around the box and looks at the picture of Peggy since the real Peggy is secured inside “I guess she’s cute” He looks at y is definitely cute “Yes, it’s been confirirl She’s cute”
I knoasn’t talking aboutcute, but the way he emphasized the “she” made it sound like he was I look down and rip off the paper then hold a pen out for hinature to the one on the card then hand it back to him
“No, not theI mean she is, too, butOh you knohat I hs “Yes, I mean after the bakery Remind me to run ahen your assistant has a day off” He squeezes his eyes shut “I didn’t s more Okay, Mom, I’ll see you soon Bye”
I hand hied doll
“Thanks for your help”
“No problem”
He picks up a business card froister and studies it for a moment “‘And more’?”
The na what others have before him once they come into the store and only see dolls I nod “Dolls and more dolls”
He tilts his head
“We used to carry charot jealous”
He gives me a look that seems to say, Are you for real? Obviously he has never encountered anyone like o visit the cos “Let uess, the dolls threatened to steal your soul if you didn’t comply with their demands”
“No, they threatened to release the souls of past customers We couldn’t have that”
He laughs, which surprisesnot many others have, and I smile despite myself
I nod ot tired of stocking stuffedhad to go and it wasn’t going to be the dolls And since we are in a perpetual state of broke (as in barely enough money to stay afloat), the name of the store and business cards stayed the same
He jaer at the card “Susan? That’s your mom?”
And that’s all it says, too, her first name followed by the shop’s phone nue when she hands out a business card outside of the store “Yes, sir”
“And you are?” He meets my eyes
“Her daughter” I know he’s asking forI learned about the rich is that they find the co distraction but would never, ever want anything real And that’s fine with me The rich are another type of species that I observe only from a safe distance I don’t interact with them
He replaces the card and takes a few steps backward “Do you knohere Eddie’s Bakery is?”
“It’s two blocks that way Be careful Their blueberry muffins are laced with some sort of addictive substance”
He nods “Noted”
Chapter 2
“No, we don’t carry Barbie dolls, only porcelain dolls,” I say into the phone for the fifth ti off about how her daughter will die if she can’t find the faerie queen “I understand Maybe you should try Walmart”
“I did They’re out” She ht ere a doll store and hangs up
I set the phone down and rollon the floor holding her necklace in the air, watching it sway back and forth over her
Skye Lockwood is h school are et I exist When I leave before lunch and never attend their social gatherings it’s not hard to do