Catch & Release by Blythe Woolston

Author:Blythe Woolston
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Social Issues, Fiction, General, Juvenile Fiction, Adolescence
ISBN: 9780761387251
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Published: 2012-01-01T03:56:56+00:00

Odd pulls into a gas station-liquor store. There are plenty of places that will sell you a gallon of milk and a gallon of gas. There are plenty of places where you can fill up the tank and buy beer by the case. It’s a little unusual though, a place with gas and shelf after shelf of vodka and tequila. I suppose an argument could be made that it is a very bad idea, but the place seems to be doing OK.

“Hey, Polly, get us some chocolate,” says Odd. I’d rather just run the card through the machine. If I buy candy I have to go in. This isn’t a freaking candy store, but the gas is pumped. I get my hat and the pink glasses of relatively less horror and go inside.

Odd comes in a couple of seconds later. He’s got his pant leg rolled up so his robot leg is exposed. He heads for the bathroom, but on his way he stumbles, falls against a rack full of chips and snacks, and takes it down with him. In the process he knocks bottles down, off the shelf, thunking on the floor. Most of them just roll, but one of them shatters.

“Oh, shit, man, I’m sorry,” says Odd, and he’s scrambling, crawling, trying to put bottles back on the shelves. In the process, he’s makes a bigger mess. His robot leg flails around and crunches bags of chips. He gets the rack upright, but then it tips onto a different shelf and more bottles go down. Every time he sets one bottle up, three fall down.

The guy behind the counter moves fast. My card, receipt, and candy bar are in my hand and the clerk is beside Odd faster than I could be.

“You OK? Look, don’t worry about it. I’ll get it squared away. You sure you’re OK? You didn’t get cut?”

“I’m sorry,” says Odd again.

“Hey, just as long as you’re OK.”

“I’ll get out of your way,” says Odd, and he heads for the door. Somebody comes from the back with a bucket and a broom.

“Thanks,” I say, and walk out the door.

Odd is waiting like nothing happened. If he needed to use the bathroom, he forgot about it. I guess he just needed an attention fix.

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