I'm thinking this is one of my favorite parts yet.
Well done.
Lois's nervousness. Bashing down all of Lois's prejudices, first against Brother Wayman, then the homeless men, and finally Clark himself. I love seeing him so relaxed and having a good time, joking around with the guys. There's certainly a thing or two, Clark could teach future reporter Lois Lane.
“Be nice to Lois,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “She’s been good to me.”
Lois had no idea what he meant by that; as far as she could see it had been strictly one sided. He’d kept her secret in the locker room, had taken her to the ball game, protected her from the players and had cleaned her car and carried her mother. All she’d done was play a cassette tape and gotten him in trouble.
She hadn't ratted him out for showering in the locker room before school. She trusted him when she had no reason to. She was a friend when nobody else would give him the time of day. She stood up for him with the jocks. She stood up for him against the principal. She's been willing to meet him at the soup kitchen and sit with his friends. And best of all, she smiled at him. Oh, yeah, Lois, you've been good to Clark.
“Clark told us about your tape….he even sang a little.” Charlie King grinned
Glancing back at Clark, who was flushed, Lois asked, “Clark sings?”
“Like an angel,” Cornelius said. He grinned. “If the angel had laryngitis and gargled with Drano.”
Poor, Clark. Never allowed to the be a singer.
Yea! For Clark helping Charlie off the streets and in with his sister. He's a good friend.
“He pulled me out of a trash truck,” the last man at their table said. “It was one of the coldest days in winter and the shelters were all full. I crawled into a trash bin filled with newspapers. I fell asleep and the next thing I knew I was upside down and falling into the back of the truck.”
The others in the group visibly shuddered.
“The guy who was supposed to be watching heard me screaming, but by the time he stopped the crusher, I was unconscious. Clark crawled into the back of the truck, pulled what had to be hundreds of pounds of trash off me and performed CPR.”
“He learned that from Brother Wayman,” Charlie said proudly.
“I’d be dead now if it wasn’t for him,” the man said quietly. “He’s a hero as far as I’m concerned.”
“I wouldn’t have any feet,” Cyrus said glumly.
Wow!
Those are some pretty amazing testimonials. He's Lois's hero, too.
Lois nodded. The racing heartbeat was back, and it was hard not to stare at him. She forced herself to look down and smile. For some reason her eyes burned.
I'm guessing it's the unshed tears.
It wasn’t just what they had to say about Clark, although that loomed heavily in her mind. Their stories hinted at a world that was alien to Lois’s experience. She’d never even thought about a world where nights were so cold you had to sleep in the trash, where a single pair of shoes or a jacket might mean the difference between life and death.
Yep. There was a lot Clark could teach her.
“The guys were just talking about clothes,” Lois said. “I had no idea they knew so much about fashion.”
Clark frowned suspiciously. “The guys like to kid around. I wouldn’t believe a thing they say.”
“They seem pretty honest to me,” Lois said.
The men smiled broadly at her, some showing teeth which obviously needed dental work. Yet somehow there was something beautiful in their ability to smile in the middle of lives which sounded like a nightmare.
I love it!
Thoroughly enjoyable part.
