Mr. Cleanee Man is mopping the floor as I leave work. He says, “G’night, Dave.”
I put my briefcase, with my accounting homework, down for a moment because I notice he has a small beige lizard on his collar. “You know they’re gonna sell this hospital?”
Mr. Cleanee Man looks at me. He leans on the mop. He puts the lizard into his mouth and says, “Um huh.” When he takes the lizard out it is pink.
I look around. No one is ever there except me when he does the really cool stuff. “I think you’ll still have a job, but I’m out.”
He puts the lizard against his skin and it turns a rich chocolate brown. “Think you’ll find another?”
Before I can answer, he puts the lizard in his palm and SMACKS it with the other hand. I expect to see lizard guts, but he opens his hands and there are two lizards, one brown and one pink. He gives me the pink one. “Lizard?” he asks.
I take it and it scampers across my suit. It turns a nice blue with pin stripes. “Howard, you’re trying to tell me something here,” I say.
“Not neither. Just showing you how to make a lizard.” He shakes his head.
“If I tried that, there’d be nothing but sticky stuff in my hands.”
“If you say so.” He starts mopping again. He mops clear across the entryway and never looks back.
“You know I’m going to try it when I get outside,” I yell.
He chuckles keeping his back turned, but one hand comes up in a wave. I swear it looks like he has only three fingers.