"What's the matter?"

          "Nothing. The guy came and fixed the plumbing. Short guy with a bald head and chewing snoose all the time, hair out his shoulders …"

          "And a dog that goobers in your ear. That's Emil Aucht."

          "Yeah. That's the one. I got too close to his truck and the dog got me. He came and fixed the plumbing."

          "So what's the matter?"

          "It's your mother---she's in the kitchen."

          Wil went across the room and into the kitchen, where his mother was leaning over the sink, scrubbing with a sponge, her eyes closed while the hot water poured. She looked up when Wil walked in. "You could have told me …"

          "Told you what?"

          "Told me we'd have to boil the whole house after he left." Her face was gray. "I mean he walked over and spit in the sink. Just walked over and let go with this big …" She couldn't finish. --- Gary Paulsen, The Island