2 when the boy saw speedy kneeling down outside the gray and peeling arcade building - wrapping electrician 's tape around a thick cord , his steel-wool head bent almost to the pier and his skinny buttocks poking out the worn green seat of his work-pants , the dusty soles of his boots toed down like a pair of upended surfboards - he realized that he had no idea of what he had been planning to say to the custodian , or even if he intended to say anything at all .