Black's Creek Read Online Free Page B

to at night. But Mom was wise to all of that. She made sure my room was at the front, where she could ‘keep a good eye on me’ at all times.
    â€˜What do you think of these?’ Horseshoe asked, as soon as his feet touched the ground.
    He was wearing a pair of plastic X-ray glasses, ones I had seen advertised in the back of a comic. Horseshoe was gullible that way, always buying crap. His family had plenty of money, compared to Brent’s and mine, so I guess his parents didn’t mind. It never bothered me, the money he had. He was generous with it, and always bought the Cokes we drank.
    â€˜If you want me to be honest, they look silly, Horseshoe. Really silly. Almost as silly as when you painted your facegreen for Saint Paddy’s day.’ Horseshoe had painted his face green the year before last, for the annual Saint Patrick’s Day festivities. He looked ridiculous. Both Brent and I teased him mercilessly, saying he must have been trying to look like the Hulk, but had ended up looking like puke.
    â€˜I don’t care if they look silly. They work. That’s all that counts.’
    â€˜They’re garbage, like all the crap you buy, Horseshoe. Remember the Sea Monkeys you bought?
So eager to please they can even be trained?
Turned out to be just a bunch of dead, shriveled-up shrimps.’
    â€˜Come on, we all make mistakes every now and –’
    â€˜Or the Polaris Nuclear Sub, that was supposed to fire real rockets and torpedoes? You wasted seven bucks on that, only to discover it was cardboard, and a fart would’ve sunk it. You could’ve made a better one from an empty cereal box.’
    â€˜But these are different, Tommy. I’m telling you. Here, take a look,’ he said, taking off the glasses and handing them to me. ‘Put your hand up in front of them. What do you see?’
    I reluctantly put the glasses on, checking first that no one would see me, and then held my hand up directly against one of the lenses.
    â€˜Wow!’ I was amazed. I
could
see my hand. Chillingly, it was all bones, no flesh, like something out of
The War of the Worlds
. ‘Shit, I can’t believe it, Horseshoe. They actually
do
work. You’ve finally bought a winner.’
    â€˜Best buck-and-a-quarter I ever spent. Think of the things we can get up to with them.’
    â€˜Things? What kind of things?’
    â€˜All sorts of things. Like looking through Ann Cartwright’s clothing, for starters. We’ll be able to see her panties.’
    Ann Cartwright was a gorgeous, big-breasted girl at our school. Everyone was in love with her. Especially Horseshoe. Even though he knew realistically he hadn’t a hope in hell with her, he never gave up the dream.
    â€˜If Big Boobs Cartwright catches you gawking through her dress, you’ll be in big trouble with her three brothers,’ I said, handing back the glasses. ‘They’ll beat the shit out of you, just for the fun of it.’
    â€˜It’ll be worth taking a beating just to see her panties. Bet they’re pink and lacey. I can’t wait until school reopens.’
    I didn’t know if it was just the glasses, but Horseshoe’s eyes looked kind of strange when he spoke about Ann’s panties.
    We quickly headed over to Brent’s house, in deep discussion all the way about the pros and cons of X-ray glasses. I had to admit, Horseshoe had me convinced. In fact, I had decided secretly that I’d send for my own pair, when I got back home from Brent’s.
    I always enjoyed going to Brent’s house, because his parents were much more relaxed than mine could ever be. Mom called them ‘liberal’, which I took to mean something approaching Satanism.
    Once, when Mrs Gleason – Mom’s old school friend and card partner – was over visiting, I overheard her use the word ‘swingers’, in reference to the Flemings. My teenage mind summoned up a picture of Mrs