I looked at it.
The message was perfectly legible.
LEFT SOCK: PUBLIC NUISANCE.
He shook the second napkin.
RIGHT SOCK: FINAL WARNING.
The teenage girl bent forward, laughing silently into her sleeve.
Captain Compost pointed at me.
“You touched my socks!”
I set down my water.
“Yes.”
He looked startled that I’d admitted it.
“After you hung them over my head a second time,” I added.
“You had no right!”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t have touched them.”
He opened his mouth triumphantly.
Then I added, “And you shouldn’t have put them there.”
His face darkened.
“I’m reporting you.”
“All right.”
“I mean it, lady!”
“I heard you.”
He jabbed the flight attendant call button.
The teenage girl whispered, “Oh, this is going to be good.”
Her mother whispered back, “Please don’t make it worse.”
But Captain Compost was already holding both napkins above his head.
