The Big Dig Read Online Free

homemaking teacher recommended I take shop.
    â€œI had it threaded and knotted,” Marian went on, “and then the phone rang and I must have put it down. After I took Tess home, I really looked for it, but I absolutely couldn’t find it. So, big deal, I thought, but then Gerry didn’t bring the dog around anymore, and when I asked, he sort of brushed me off, and next thing I heard, the dog’s at the vet. I mean, what if she ate it? A needle and thread?”
    â€œThey have X-ray machines.”
    She went on like she hadn’t heard me. “Do you think I ought to tell Gerry? I mean, it’s so dumb. I tried calling the stupid vet, and he wouldn’t tell me anything, wanted to know who I was . I thought about calling back, pretending to be Liz, but I could never pull it off. And I mean, what if Tess just has some dog thing, like worms or something. I don’t want Gerry to think I’m like careless or—”
    â€œI could pull it off,” I said.
    â€œYou? You mean, call the vet?”
    â€œIf you want me to.”
    â€œYou would? That would be so great, but what if they, like, know Liz, what if they’d, like, recognize her voice?”
    â€œI’m good with voices. I could probably do a decent Liz.”
    â€œWould you?”
    I was about to say yes, but two men in jeans and heavy boots were making their way through the crowd, waving and smiling in our direction. “You know those guys?”
    Marian rolled her eyes, ran her tongue over her lips, and quickly asked if she had anything stuck between her teeth. Her improved posture and gleaming smile seemed to be automatic responses, some sort of reaction to testosterone.
    Waves of it flooded off the cuter one. Dark and curly-haired, he greeted Marian with a “Hey” and a lingering pat on the back. The other one jerked his neck in a silent nod. He was tall and stringy with a pronounced Adam’s apple and too little chin. The crowd of dessert-eating teens decided to clear out and the guys sank into their abandoned seats, kicking back from the table to insure legroom.
    â€œPizza good?” Curly-hair extended his hand in my direction. “I’m Joey. Mason. This is Hector. You the new girl?”
    I nodded, lowering my eyes, accepting “girl” so the new secretary wouldn’t get a rep as an uppity snot.
    â€œI’m a mason. What I do, not my name. You one a the Hingham Evanses?”
    â€œHow’d you know my name?”
    â€œGets around, Carla, names, stuff like that. I knew a guy from Hingham name a Evans. Police commissioner’s an Evans. Irish, right?”
    That’s Boston. People hear your name, they’ve got to place you and label you, and around here, Irish and Italian are the major categories.
    â€œI grew up in Detroit,” I said, which usually puts a stop to it.
    â€œIt’s all Arab there now, Detroit, right?” With that, Joey, amateur sociologist, bit into a hot dog. He kept shooting Hector sidelong glances and I thought I had them placed and labeled. Shy Hector was sweet on Marian, or at least got a kick out of staring down her shirt, and Joey, his buddy, was bringing him by to get a better look.
    â€œYou on break?” Marian’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
    â€œWhy we’re here, most a the cement trucks, they’re not here. Another fuck-up, ya should ’scuse me.”
    â€œShit.” Marian immediately started collecting paper plates and napkins.
    â€œTrucks stuck at some other site, ya know, and nobody knows if they’re on the way or what. So Hector and I figure we’ll grab a couple hot dogs, watch the babes.”
    â€œWinter,” I said. “You’re not gonna see much.”
    â€œHah,” said Hector, his biggest contribution thus far.
    â€œI’m gonna go, Carla. Gerry might want me to make calls.”
    â€œMarian, you’re way too good to him.” Joey hid a smile behind a Coke can.