Pugsey giggled again. “She ain’t takin’ any notice of you,” he said. “Don’t look like you’re gettin’ places so fast.”
Jakie turned back to the girl. “You mustn’t mind him,” he said. “You see, he don’t know how to handle dames. I do.”
She still said nothing.
Pugsey said, “Maybe she’s deaf,” hopefully.
Jakie shook his head. “Naw,” he said, “she ain’t deaf; she’s just a little dumb.”
Pugsey gave a sudden squeal of laughter. “Gee!” he said. “I bet you read that somewhere. That’s pretty smart.”
The girl suddenly looked at them. Her eyes were scared, not because she was frightened of them, but because she was scared that they were making fun of her. “Go away, please,” she said, “I don’t want to talk to you.”
Jakie took a step back. “Did you hear that, Pugsey? She don’t want to talk to us.”
“Too bad,” Pugsey said, squatting on his heels and staring at the girl. He kept his distance and was to the rear and to the right of Jakie. “Can you think of any reason why she wouldn’t want to talk to us?”
Jakie shook his head. “Naw,” he said. “Suppose you ask her?”