Inner Harbor
Page 59

He colored, muttered under his breath, and turned his attention back to the cash register.
"You working down to the boatyard today, Phillip?"
"That's right, Mrs. Claremont."
He busied himself choosing a bag of chips for Cam, then wandered back to the dairy case to decide on yogurt for himself.
"That young boy usually comes in to pick up lunch, doesn't he?"
Phillip reached in, took out a carton at random. "He's in school today. It's Friday."
"'Course it is." Nancy laughed, playfully patting the side of her head.
"Don't know where my mind is. Fine-looking young boy. Ray musta been right proud."
"I don't doubt it."
"We've been hearing that he's got some blood relations close by."
"There's never been anything wrong with your hearing, Mrs. Claremont, that I recall. I'll need a couple of large coffees to go, Mother."
"We'll fix you up there, too. Nancy, you got more than enough news to blow around for the day. You keep trying to squeeze more out of this boy, you're going to miss your hair appointment."
"I don't know what you could be meaning." Nancy sniffed, shot Mother a furious look, then fluffed at her hair. "But I have to be going. The husband and I are going to the Kiwanis dinner-dance tonight, and I need to look my best."
She flounced out, making a beeline for the beauty shop.
Inside, Mother narrowed her eyes. "The rest of you got business, Junior'll ring you up. But this ain't no lounge. You want to stand around and gawk, go stand outside."
Phillip disguised a chuckle as a cough when several people decided they had business elsewhere.
"That Nancy Claremont's got less sense than a peahen," Mother proclaimed. "Bad enough she dresses herself up like a pumpkin from head to foot, but she don't even know how to be subtle."
Mother turned back to Phillip and grinned. "Now, I won't say I don't have as much got-to-know as the next, but by God, if you can't try to jiggle a little information out of a body without being so blessed obvious, you're not just rude, you're stupid with it. Can't abide bad manners or a soft brain."
Phillip leaned on the counter. "You know, Mother, I've been thinking maybe I'd change my name to Jean-Claude, then move to the wine country of France, the Loire valley, and buy myself a vineyard."
She tucked her tongue in her cheek again, eyes bright. She'd heard this tale, or one of its variations, for years. "Do tell."
"I'd watch my grapes ripen in the sun. I'd eat bread that was hot and fresh, and cheese that wasn't. It would be a fine, satisfying life. But I've got just one problem."
"What's that?"
"It won't be any good unless you come with me." He grabbed her hand, kissing it lavishly while she roared with laughter.
"Boy, you are a caution. Always were." She gasped for breath, wiped her eyes. Then she sighed. "Nancy, she's a fool, but she's not mean, not deep down. Ray and Stella, they were just people to her. They were a lot more than that to me."
"I know that, Mother."
"People got something new to talk about, they're going to gum it to death."
"I know that, too." He nodded. "So did Sybill."
Mother's eyebrows lifted and fell as she realized the implication. "The girl's got guts. Good for her. Seth, he can be proud he's got blood kin that brave. And he can be proud a man like Ray was his granddaddy." She paused to put the finishing touches on the subs. "I think Ray and Stella would've liked that girl."
"Do you?" Phillip murmured.
"Yep. I like her." Mother grinned again as she quickly wrapped the subs in white paper. "She's not hoity-toity like Nancy wants to think. Girl's just shy."
Phillip had reached over for the subs, and now his mouth fell open.
"Shy? Sybill?"
"Sure is. Tries hard not to be, but it costs her some. Now you get that meatball back to your brother before it gets cold."
"why do i have to care about a bunch of queer-os who lived two hundred years ago?" Seth had his history book open, his mouth full of grape
Bubblicious, and a stubborn look in his eye. After a ten-hour day of manual labor, Phillip wasn't in the mood for one of Seth's periodic snits.
"The founding fathers of our country were not queer-os."
Seth snorted and jabbed a finger at the full-page drawing of the Continental Congress. "They're wearing dorky wigs and girly clothes. That says queer-o to me."
"It was the fashion." He knew the kid was yanking his chain, but he couldn't seem to stop his leg from jerking on cue. "And the use of the word 'queer-o' to describe anyone because of their fashion sense or their lifestyle demonstrates ignorance and intolerance."
Seth merely smiled. Sometimes he just liked making Phillip grind his teeth the way he was doing now. "A guy wears a curly wig and high heels, he deserves what he gets."
Phillip sighed. It was another reaction Seth enjoyed. He didn't really mind the history crap. He'd aced the last test, hadn't he? But it was just plain boring to have to pick out one of the queer-os and write some dopey biography.
"You know what these guys were?" Phillip demanded, then narrowed his eyes in warning when Seth opened his mouth. "Don't say it. I'll tell you what they were. Rebels, troublemakers, and tough guys."
"Tough guys? Get real."
"Meeting the way they did, drawing up papers, making speeches? They were giving England, and most especially King George, the finger." He caught a flash of amused interest in Seth's eyes. "It wasn't the tea tax, not really. That was just the platform, the excuse. They weren't going to take any shit from England anymore. That's what it came down to."
"Making speeches and writing papers isn't like fighting."
"They were making sure there was something to fight for. You have to give people an alternative. If you want them to toss out Brand X, you have to give them Brand Y, and make it better, stronger, tastier. What if I told you Bubblicious is a rip-off?" Phillip asked, inspired as he snatched up the giant pack on Seth's desk.
"I like it okay." To prove it, Seth blew an enormous purple bubble.