Funland Read Free Page A

Joan said.
    “And some rough beatings. They’re bound to end up killing someone sooner or later. If they haven’t already. And who’s to say they haven’t? The way these transients come and go, the kids could be nailing them right and left. Nobody’d be the wiser till a body turned up.”
    “I don’t think it’s come to that,” Joan said, looking down as she stirred her Coke with the straw. “It was just a few nights ago they tied that creep to the Hurricane’s tracks. They wouldn’t have done that if they’re already into killing the trolls and disposing of their bodies. Looks to me like they’re still into general humiliation and torment.”
    “That guy would’ve been killed the first time the coaster made a run.”
    “But these’ve gotta be local kids,” Joan pointed out. “They’d know the tracks are walked before the park opens. They just did it to scare the shit out of him.”
    “Maybe they went too far with this Enoch fellow.”
    “Or maybe that old bird was just pulling your chain.”
    “We ought to try asking around.”
    “Oh, there’s a fine idea.” She wrinkled her nose. “Spend the afternoon interviewing slugs.”
    “Some of them must know the guy. Couldn’t hurt to ask a few questions.”
    “We’d need a translator. You know anyone who speaks Bumese?”
    A smile broke across Dave’s face. “Where’s your humanity, partner?”
    “I save it for the humans I occasionally meet.” She picked up the bag of fries. “You done with these?”
    “I haven’t had any yet.”
    She waved the bag under his nose. “Go ahead and take one, big guy. They beat the hell out of bamboo shoots.”
    When the meal was done, Joan gathered up the wrappers and Coke cartons. She carried them to a trash bin. The seat had left red marks across the backs of her legs. If the french fries went to her thighs, Dave thought, they sure hadn’t done any damage.
    Put her side by side with Gloria, you’d have an advertisement for the health benefits of the very “poisons” that Gloria prided herself on denouncing. Joan was a foot taller than Gloria. She had sleek muscle and flesh where Gloria was bony. She had curves where Gloria was straight and flat. Her skin glowed; Gloria’s skin was pallid and dull. Joan radiated confidence and power, while Gloria seemed like a wraith animated by nervous energy.
    “You plan to sit there daydreaming?” Joan asked.
    “No. Huh-uh. Mind was wandering.”
    They resumed their patrol.
    He felt lousy. Ever since being teamed up with Joan, only two weeks ago, he’d been comparing the two and growing more dissatisfied.
    Sure, there were problems with Gloria. But that came with the territory. You got intimate, you found flaws. The grass was always greener…till you got to the other side of the hill and saw it close up. Joan wasn’t perfect either. God help anyone who ticked her off.
    “Officer?”
    One glance, and Dave knew that the four men grinning at Joan were sailors. They were out of uniform, but their bristly heads and boyish faces gave them away. They looked as if they were playing hooky from high school and having a great time of it.
    “What can I do for you gentlemen?” Joan asked.
    “Can we take your picture? Just one picture, okay? With each of us. You’d really be doing us a favor. What do you say? Okay? No funny stuff, just four pictures. We know you’re on duty and all, but we’re gonna be shipping out in a couple of days for the Persian Gulf, and…”
    “Why not,” she said.
    Dave couldn’t believe it.
    Seeming neither embarrassed nor annoyed, she let the leader of the group stand beside her. He leaned against her, mugging for the fellow with the camera. And before the picture was snapped, Joan put her arm around him. The kid’s face blazed scarlet. When his turn was over, he backed away from Joan, blushing and shaking his head, then whirled around and flopped on the boardwalk. “I’ve died and gone to heaven, mates,” he announced.
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