I’m hoping the ferry isn’t too expensive, so I’ll have plenty of money left for a good lunch. But while I’m mooning, Mary has wheeled her bike right up and paid her own fare. Well, I guess that’s one of the things I like about her. She’s independent. Still, I’m going to buy lunch.
The ferry is terrific. I’m going to come ride ferries every day it’s windy. The boat doesn’t roll any, but we stand right up in front and the wind blows clouds of spray in our faces. You can pretend you’re on a full-rigged schooner running before a hurricane. But you look down at that choppy gray water, and you know you’d be done if you got blown overboard, even if it is just an old ferryboat in New York harbor.
The ferry ride is fast, only about fifteen minutes. We ride off in Staten Island and start thinking where to go. I know what’s first with me.
I ask Mary, “What do you like, hamburgers or sandwiches?”
“Both. I mean either,” she says.
The first place we see is a delicatessen, which is about my favorite kind of place to eat anyway. I order a hot pastrami, and Mary says she never had one, but she’ll try the same.
“Where could we go on Staten Island?” I say. “I never was here before.”
“About the only place I’ve been is the zoo. I’ve been there lots of times. The vet let me watch her operate on a snake once.”
This is a pretty surprising thing for a girl to tell you in the middle of a mouthful of hot pastrami. The pastrami is great, and they put it on a roll with a lot of olives and onions and relish. Mary likes it too.
“Is the vet a woman? Aren’t you scared of snakes?”