The old woman was haggard looking, but pleasant. "What can I getcha, dear?" She asked me.

I took a moment to decide, then said, "Baccardi, a pint please."

As she turned to get the bottle off the shelf, I glanced at the girl. She was reaching across the counter to get another crayon and her blouse hung loosely on her body, affording me a peek down her shirt. I was surprised but pleased to see a small pair of budding breasts. They were pointy, with tiny areolas and nipples, but a good peek, none the less.

The old woman returned with my bottle, rang it up and said, "Four dollars, ninety cents, please."

I absently handed her a twenty, continuing to glance down the girl's shirt. She was oblivious to my actions, but Grandma wasn't. She startled me by grabbing my wrist firmly, breaking my revere, and saying, "Think my granddaughter is pretty?"

I looked at the girl, who had straightened up and was smiling crookedly at me. She had coke-bottle glasses, an overbite, short and unkempt hair and a terribly skinny body. I lied, "Yeah, uhm, sure."

The old lady half laughed, half coughed and said, "Leave me your change and you can take her in the back for a half hour." I almost sprained my neck, I turned my head so fast. I stared hard at the old woman, who was still holding my wrist. I was looking for the catch, something I was clearly missing. The old woman said to the young girl, "You won't mind going in the back with the nice man, will you Lula?" The girl smiled dumbly and shook her head 'no' in response. It hit me that the girl was at best a little slow, at worst a total retard. For a strange, perverse reason this turned me on. I decided at that moment that every now and then you just got to say, "What the fuck." Okay, it wasn't original, and it dated me, but I thought, "What the fuck, Joel. What the fuck." I dropped the change into the old woman's hand and looked at her. She nodded to the girl, who got off the stool and headed for a door at the back of the store. The old woman tilted her head toward the girl, as if to say, "follow her" - which I did.....(cont)