She accompanied me to the door and gave me a good-bye hug. “You are a good boy, Odd Thomas.” “You remind me of my Granny Sugars,” I said, “except you don’t play poker, drink whiskey, or drive fast cars.” “That’s sweet,” she said. “You know, I thought the world and all of Pearl Sugars. She was so feminine but also…” “Kick-ass,” I suggested. “Exactly. At the church’s strawberry festival one year, there was this rowdy man, mean on drugs or drink. Pearl put him down with just two punches.”
