Read Niagara Motel for Free Online Page B

that or he pretended not to hear us. Nobody in my class really talked to me, and I didn’t make too much of an effort to talk to anyone either. At recess I did pull-ups on the monkey bars or read my book or drew comics, and at lunchtime I went downtown and walked around. The truth was that no one in my class was even half as interesting as the kids in the group home.
    One day, I was walking around downtown during lunch-hour, and I saw Meredith. She was leaning up against a brick wall in front of a cigar shop twirling her hair around her finger. She wore a short jean skirt with black pantyhose underneath. Her pantyhose had big holes all over them. Then I remembered where I had seen Meredith before. Standing on that same corner. Wearing a tight dress. Leaning into car windows. She looked bored, so I went up to her to say hi andsee if she wanted to get a Slurpee or something.
    â€œGet lost, kid,” she said.
    â€œYour name’s Meredith, right?”
    â€œGet out of here. I mean it.”
    â€œI just wanted to say hi.”
    â€œHi.”
    â€œHi.”
    â€œ Hi , okay? Now scram. I’m trying to work here.”
    â€œOh.”
    A brown station wagon pulled up to the curb and a guy wearing a Blue Jays hat rolled down the window. Meredith stood up, away from the wall. “ Fuck off ,” she said to me out of the side of her mouth.
    I spun on my heel and fast-walked away. When I looked back, I saw Meredith sliding into the passenger seat of the station wagon.
    I walked around the block twice but didn’t see the brown station wagon anywhere. I knew what Meredith was doing. Pretty sure. I went to the 7-Eleven and got two Coke Slurpees then walked back to the cigar shop. Meredith was back. She was leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette.
    â€œI got this for you.” I held out the Slurpee to her.
    â€œReally?”
    â€œYeah. I thought maybe you could use a refreshment.”
    â€œThanks, kid. That’s sweet.” Her nose ring glinted in the sunlight. She took the Slurpee from me.
    â€œMy name’s Tucker.” I stuck out my hand.
    â€œMeredith.”
    We shook hands.
    â€œAre you hungry, Meredith?”
    â€œStarving.”
    â€œI was on my way to get something for lunch. There’s this hot dog stand down by the falls—”
    â€œSure.” She took another sip of her Slurpee and then started down the hill. Her legs were longer than mine, and she walked fast and I had to hurry to keep up. We passed a bunch of wide-eyed tourists, we passed a screaming baby whose mom looked like her head was about to explode, we passed a group of skater kids and one of them spit so close to Meredith his phlegm-wad nearly hit her leg. She gave him the finger but didn’t slow down.
    We both put sauerkraut and mustard and ketchup and relish on our hot dogs. Meredith also put banana peppers on hers. Banana peppers make my stomach hurt so I don’t eat them anymore. And besides, they don’t even taste like bananas. We sat on a bench near the statue of Nikola Tesla and looked out over the falls as we ate. The sun was sharp in my eyes and I thought about buying Terminator sunglasses I had seen earlier in the 7-Eleven. Meredith finished her hot dog, wiped her chin with her napkin, and let out a gigantic burp. She didn’t say excuse me.
    â€œHow old are you anyways?” she squinted at me.
    â€œEleven.”
    â€œJesus.”
    â€œTucker.”
    She laughed. “Why are you at Lite Brite?”
    â€œMy mom.”
    â€œCrack fiend?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œAlcoholic?”
    â€œUh-uh.”
    â€œKlepto!”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œWhen you have an irresistible compulsion to steal things.”
    â€œNo. She doesn’t have that. She has narcolepsy.”
    Meredith snickered. “She has sex with dead people?”
    â€œNo! Ew! ”
    Meredith laughed.
    â€œShe has a condition. It makes her fall asleep when she