Sky of Stone by Homer Hickam

Author:Homer Hickam
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Autobiography
ISBN: 9780440240921
Publisher: Dell
Published: 2001-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

DURING THE man-trip ride inside one morning, it occurred to me that Bobby was four years older than me and might, as a result, have a tad more experience with girls. Of course, that wasn’t too difficult. Any experience was pretty much more than I had. Maybe that was what Floretta was getting at, that even an experience in Cinder Bottom was better than nothing.

I decided to question him during lunch. We were sitting on a stack of ties. Floretta had packed me three sandwiches, and I was already worrying they wouldn’t be enough. Fortunately, she’d also thrown in two Twinkies, a banana, an apple, and two boiled eggs with a wax paper packet of salt. The way my stomach growled all the time, I figured I’d need every bit of it to get through to supper. It was occurring to me lately that maybe I had some kind of disease. I’d read about them, where men ate all the time but still faded away to nothing. I’d have gone to see Doc Lassiter, but I was always too hungry to take the time.

“So, Bobby,” I said. “What do you think about Rita?”

Bobby wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, leaving a slimy smear of black streaks around his lips. He pushed his glasses up on his nose. “She’s a fine-looking woman.”

“But what do you think about her and me—together, I mean.”

“You and Rita?”

“Me and Rita.”

“You really want my opinion?”

“I really do.”

He shrugged. “Not likely. She’s got experience in places you don’t even have places.”

He might as well have slapped me in the face. “What does that have to do with her falling in love with me?” I demanded.

Bobby frowned behind his mask of gob dirt and sweat. He took off his helmet and ran his hand through his sandy hair. “Are you saying she loves you?”

“Not yet,” I said, “but all I need is a plan. I thought maybe you could help me figure one out.”

Bobby slumped against the ties and shook his head. “Love’s not the same as laying track, Sonny. Or building rockets, for that matter. You can’t make it happen by working hard. Forget it and find yourself a girl your own age. That’s my advice.”

Johnny had gone off behind a crib on down the line to eat his lunch. I guess he needed to get away from Bobby and me every so often, don’t ask me why. We heard his footsteps coming back and then the sound of spikes being pulled. “Gaw,” Bobby moaned. “Where does he get his energy?”

I didn’t know. I squashed my sandwiches into my mouth and then stuffed in my Twinkies, too. I’d eat the fruit and eggs when it wasn’t my turn on the hammer.

On the way to the track, Bobby asked, “Are you going to take my advice?”

“No,” I said.

“Then why did you ask me for it?”

“I hoped you’d tell me something I could use.”

“No,” he said. “You hoped I’d tell you something you wanted to hear.”

“I just need a plan.

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