Misnomer

good shoes the first time I laid eyes on them." "If I were you," Lucille said, "I would be trying to get my shoe back instead of sitting there raving about how good it is." "She'll bring it back. You know how girls are about clothes and shoes." She laughed because she didn't want Lucille to know that she was worried. She was trying to decide whether or not she should get up and go after the girl when a young man with a burnt-red beard touched her elbow and said, "Excuse me, ma'am, but sometimes my students become overly zealous in their enthusiasm ." He used her shoe as a pointer, indicating the group of students who were now staring at them. "I'm afraid Estell mistook this for yacaré. I hope Sou'11 forgive us for an inconvenience." [e placed the shoe beside her swollen foot. Mrs. Simpson liked the way the young man talked. Yacaré. Is that a good brand name?" she asked. The man laughed and Mrs. Simpson laughed with him. "Yacaré is an endangered species of crocodile," he said. "Yes, of course." Mrs. Simpson chuckled . "That poor dear girl mistook my alligator shoes for crocodile, is that it?" "Something like that. Some of these imitations are very good. Sometimes it's even hard for me to tell the difference. But I didn't have any trouble with this one." "Imitation?" Mrs. Simpson said the word so softly that the young man did not hear her. "Well, if you'll excuse me . . ." His words intermingled with the undercurrent of babbling voices and he drifted back to his students. Lucille stood up, smoothing her skirt and patting her stomach. "I guess that will teach you to wear new shoes on a day like today," she said. "Yes, I guess it will," Mrs. Simpson said. Her mouth was dry and tasted like dirty rags. "You go on and see about that new girdle. I'll meet you at the car." "Suit yourself." Lucille gathered up her packages and left without once looking back. For a long time Mrs. Simpson couldn't take her eyes off the shoes. It was like they were a pair of magnets which wouldn't turn her loose. "My golden lilies," she said out loud. "My dear sweet golden lilies." Her feet twitched as she said the words. "Who cares if I've got big feet!" She squeezed her eyes shut and waited until she found strength to stand. When she opened her eyes the first thing she saw directly in front of her was the shoe store that the midget owned. She had never set foot in the store and she had sworn to Lucille that she never would. The midget sold the cheapestmade shoes in town-the type of shoes that people on welfare bought. Mrs. Simpson rammed her feet deeper into her shoes and stalked into the midget's store. "I want a nice pair of patent leathers," she told him. He sold her a skimpy pair of plastic patent leather sandals which pinched her feet when she walked. As she pushed her old shoes into a trash can, she tried to think of what she would tell Herman. Her fingers accidentally dipped into a half-empty cup of Coke. Carefully, she dried her fingers on a dirty napkin which she had found in the trash can and decided that she wouldn't tell him anything . Misnomer Cat's Owner Phyllis J. Moore 18 ...