“Where?”
“Get your coat.”
“What?”
“Get your coat,” I repeat, already walking away. “We’ve got some digging to do.”
Outside, we stand facing the blue dumpster. A thin layer of snow has covered the plastic bags piled on top like powdered sugar sprinkled over some kind of strange, lumpy dessert. The bin itself is filthy, slick and wet and speckled with brown spots and spills. As we stare at it, neither of us quite ready to dive in yet, there’s a loud noise from above, then the sound of something banging its way down the chute. A moment later a pizza box lands on top with a thud.
Teddy takes a step closer. “Wrong bin, you idiot,” he calls up, cupping his hands around his mouth, then he shrugs at me. “That’s clearly recyclable.”
I laugh at this, then tip my head at the dumpster. “You ready?”
“Why me?”
“Because it’s your ticket.”
“But you bought it,” he says. “And you’re the one who threw it away.”
“I’m the one who took the garbage out,” I say, aware of how quickly, how automatically, we’ve already returned to our usual dynamic. “You’rethe one who threw it away. And you’re the one who’s gonna be rich if we find it.”
He blows out a sigh, his breath frosty in the bitter air. The sky is clear and bright this morning—it stopped snowing sometime in the night—but the plows haven’t yet reached the alley behind the building, where the drifts are nearly up to our knees.
Teddy wipes his nose with the sleeve of his jacket as he stares down the dumpster. “What did the bag look like?”
“It was a garbage bag. What do you think?”
“Right, but black or white, paper or plastic.”
“White plastic,” I say, walking over to stand on my tiptoes a few inches from the bin, where dozens of indistinguishable plastic bags poke out beneath the snow.
“Great,” Teddy says as he steps up beside me, “at least it won’t blend in.”
“Want a hand?” I ask, but he’s already thrown himself up and over the edge of the dumpster, dangling there like a monkey, his boots banging loudly against the metal side. He uses one arm to balance as he roots around, digging out two white trash bags and tossing them over the side. I scoot away just before one of them can hit me, and Teddy drops to the ground, scattering the snow.
Together we fumble with the ties, opening the bags and peering inside. In the first there are broken eggshells and an apple core and some torn envelopes made out to an A. J. Lynk; we don’t go further than that. The second is mostly full of shredded paper: old bills and bank statements and pieces of envelopes.
“Recycling again,” Teddy says, tossing it into the next bin. He wipes his hands on his jeans and glances back at me. “What are we even looking for?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t pack it up or anything. It was just there last night, so I took it out. But I’m pretty sure it’s the only one since the party.”
He puts his hands on his hips. “Is this all just a trick to get me to jump in there?”
“What?” I let out a laugh. “No!”
“Were those really even the numbers?”
“Just get in there,” I tell him, pointing at the dumpster, and he gives me a salute, then hoists himself up again. Only this time he throws one leg over the side, then the other, and with a groan, he rolls into the bin and out of sight.
For a second it’s quiet. I walk over to the edge, rising onto my toes again. But it’s too tall, and all I can see is the stained blue metal. This close it smells like rotten fruit and damp coffee grounds and something sour, and I wrinkle my nose. “Teddy?”
There’s a faint rustling but no answer. I crane my neck, trying to get a better look, wondering if he could’ve hurt himself when he tumbled over. I’m about to call out to him again when an arm appears, and before I can react a snowball is cracked over the top of my head like an egg, clumps of ice falling from my hat into the collar of my coat.
“Gross,” I say, shuddering and laughing as I wipe at my face. “Garbage snow.”
“Only the best for you,” Teddy says cheerfully, then disappears again.
“Hey,” I say a few minutes later, rubbing my hands together as I wait for more bags. “Remember that time we got busted trying to steal lottery tickets?”
