“Well, those people are blind losers and it’s time for you to be initiated, Ginger, to prove you’re not one. We’ll find someone else for you, I’m sure, Mary Ann. Vick, show her how it’s done. I’m gonna have a look on the boat.” Then the skipper gets up, which for some reason I wasn’t expecting, though I know damn well the fact that he’s brainless won’t turn off his motor impulses. He looks quite the fright, and it’s hard to tell if he’s gray, there’s so much blood on his face and neck, and he’s wearing a jacket—wait, the hands are way gray. He’s grisaille, good. “OK, here’s someone else.”

“I’ll do it,” says Mary Ann.

++++++++++++++++++++++

She gives Mary Ann the pipe, which is received solemnly like it was Thor’s hammer. Vick turns to Ginger and instructs her on the backbreak. Ginger’s turned into an eager beaver too, and she lunges into this fast, perfectly popping Ethel, who goes like a string of cheap beads, then we all turn to watch Mary Ann handle the skipper.