both doctors, so they could afford that kind of thing. There was cocktail sauce too, with horseradish in it.â
âI donât like horseradish,â I said.
âYou might when youâre older. It grows on you. Like coffee.â
âWhatâs this made out of, anyway?â I asked, rubbing the plush blue fabric between my thumb and finger.
âVelveteen,â she said, âlike the rabbit in that old story.â
âItâs soft,â I said.
âMm-hmm,â said Sapphy as she ran her hand slowly down the front of the dress. Then she closedher eyes and stroked it in the other direction, against the nap, her fingers leaving little trails as they went. âMy mother made all the buttonholes by hand, and she covered the buttons with fabric so theyâd match perfectly. I stood on one of our dining room chairs while she pinned up the hem. I remember she couldnât talk because she had pins sticking out of her mouth. She looked like aâlike aââ
âPorcupine?â I said.
Sapphy smiled and sighed deeply as her chin dropped down to her chest. The pill had finally kicked in. I helped her up and managed to get her into bed. Then I slipped the blue dress back into the plastic bag and hung it up in the closet. Yet another key that hadnât fit the lock.
As I switched off the light and pulled Sapphyâs door closed, for the second time that night I suddenly remembered the laundry. I was not supposed to leave Sapphy alone in the house, but if Marge arrived in the morning and found out that despite her warning, I had left the clothes sitting in the dryer overnight, Iâd never hear the end of it. I was sure Sapphy wouldnât wake up, not that soon after the pill had kicked in, so I pulled on my jacket andquickly ran down to the laundry shed. A minute later I was leaning against the dryer, waiting to catch my breath, when I heard a noise at the door and turned around to find Audrey Krouch standing there.
âHey,â she said. âWhat are you doing here so late?â
âItâs a free country,â I said sarcastically.
I opened the door of the dryer and pulled out a wad of wrinkled clothes.
âI hope you have an iron,â Audrey said.
I gave her a dirty look.
âI donât know what your problem is. Itâs not my fault you called me up tonight,â she said.
âYes, it is,â I said. Then I went over to the bulletin board, tore the light-blue flyer off the board, and ripped it in half. A couple of silver stars came loose and fluttered down to the floor.
âI can just make another one,â she said with a shrug. âIâve got a whole box of those stars.â
âYou better not make another one,â I said, âor Iâll rip that one down too.â
âYouâre just jealous because I have special powers.â
âThatâs the dumbest thing I ever heard,â I scoffed. âYou donât have any special powers.â
âI do so. I told you, I have ESP,â she said, pushing up her glasses, âExtrasensory perception. I can see things nobody else can see.â
âMust be your glasses,â I said.
âFor your information, these glasses do help me see,â she said.
âOh, come on. They donât even have glass in them,â I said. âHow could they help you see?â
âItâs not that kind of seeing,â she said.
âWhat other kind is there?â
âThe kind that lets me read someoneâs mind,â she said.
âGive me a break,â I told her. âYou canât read minds, Audrey. And you donât have ESP either.â
âOh, yeah? Then how come I know youâre scared of the office?â she asked.
âI told you, you donât know squirt,â I said.
âI suppose I donât know squirt about cherry cans either, then, huh?â
A chill went right up my spine and made me shiver so hard, I bit my
Learning to Kill: Stories