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Stephanie rounded the corner to the gas station and started slowing down. There was a red truck parked outside. A pretty beat-up Ford Ranger, all rusty and grimy; its bed covered with a moldy tarp. She must've been fifty yards away, when its engine roared into life and it disappeared down the street, tires screeching, narrowly avoiding Buck's fence.
"Watch it, moron!" an elderly man in gray overalls shook his fist at it.
Stephanie parked and got out; the smell of burned rubber attacking her nose as she walked toward him.
"Oh hi, pumpkin! Didn't see you, there." Buck said, adjusting his glasses. He took off his baseball cap and scratched his bald spot. "How's your father? He hasn't really been the same since..."
"It's been a year, Mr. Hodder. He's-- he's fine..."
"And how about you, sweetheart? You doing okay?"
"I mean, I miss her..."
"We all do, Stephanie. Your mom was a pretty special lady." he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"So, uh, who was that?" she motioned towards the dirt cloud the truck left behind, desperate to change the subject.
"Some idiot... Boy, do I hate outta-towners. Tell you what-- that guy wasn't playing with a full deck o' cards, that's for sure." he did a circling motion with his index finger near his temple. "I'm also suspecting he was kind of a fruit, if you ask me."
"How so?"
"Well, he rolled down his window about half an inch, and he growled at me."
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>Ask Buck some more about the mystery man.
>Dude. Just get the gas and GO. You. Are. Late.
>Oh, look! There's a bucket full of Slinkies by the door. Get a Slinky!
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