Bad Teeth Bradley's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

Bradley woke up Tuesday morning with the card still on his nightstand and three new candies already in his mouth. He didn't remember unwrapping them. The appointment was in two hours, and his hands weren't shaking yet, but they would be soon. He made it halfway across the street before someone stepped in front of him. A woman in a bright pink vest held out a handful of candy — stars and spirals and little squares that caught the light. Behind her sat a gumball machine taller than Bradley, all red metal and glass full of colors. Next to it stood a sign shaped like a giant tooth covered in lollipops and peppermints, the word DENTAL spelled out in letters that looked like they were made of frosting. The woman smiled wide. "Free sample," she said, pushing the candy closer. "And we can see you right now. No waiting." Bradley's hand moved toward the candy before he could stop it. His fingers touched a green spiral. But then he thought about Dr. Stevens's face when he'd said that place across the street, and the way the leather bag had snapped shut like a promise. He pulled his hand back. The woman's smile didn't change, but her eyes did. "You sure?" she asked. "We do cleanings for half price. In and out in twenty minutes." Bradley's tongue found the gap where his molar used to be. Twenty minutes sounded better than two hours. It sounded easier. But Dr. Stevens had said they'd make it worse, and Bradley already knew what worse felt like. "I have an appointment," Bradley said, and stepped around her. His hands started shaking before he reached the other side of the street, but he kept the card in his pocket and didn't look back. The woman called after him about discounts and guarantees, but Bradley pushed open the door to the clinic with the bright glass front and stepped inside. The mint smell hit him first, then the chemical one. He walked up to the desk and set the card down. "I'm here for nine o'clock," he said. The woman behind the desk smiled — not wide like the one outside, but small and real — and wrote his name down. Bradley sat in the waiting room chair and kept his hands in his pockets so no one would see them shake.