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Show 14 when she came out. The Gnichts a l l looked at her and burst into laughter. "I just told them," Joe gasped, "that with your skinny legs and fat stomach, you look l i k e a toothpick with an olive stuck on i t . " Tears came to Vanda's eyes. This was worse than the Reader's Digest. But she was not going to show i t . She looked down at her stomach under the yellow cloth and wished she had drunk more booze. They a l l supported each other going down the narrow s t a i r s, clinging to the handrail. Vanda helped Joe, afraid her stomach would t i p them over. The four of them stood at the bottom of the steps under the striped awning, panting. Drops of rain were coming in sideways beneath the striped canvas. Joe leaned against her, his skin orange under the neon. "Those poor suckers who haven't got their crop in yet," he said. "You're pretty." He said i t like she had just been walking down the street and he suddenly noticed her. "Pretty" came out "purry" in his slurred speech and Vanda thought of a cat, lapping up goat's milk. She wished he had said the I t a l i a n words carino, pretty. She wondered i f her hair looked orange under the light, just like Toby's redhaired girl friend, Kitty Fisher. "Maybe t h i s baby will look like me," Joe giggled, his breath caught in a spasm of hiccups. He pressed Vanda against the wall, her abdomen swelling between them, dangling his hand from her shoulder and acting like he wanted to kiss her, but he d i d n ' t . Vanda was afraid they would knock over the potted dragon tree beside the door. "Don't |