Savannah laughed. "You look just like my dad did when we got home."
"I think I might spank you for that anyway. Jesus, Savannah."
"I was twelve! You can’t spank me for something I did before I knew boys didn’t have cooties. Just Camden."
Katina, apparently in the dark about spanking and its ‘medicinal’ purposes, giggled. "I like Camden." She twisted her hands together. "Star said that if I asked nicely, you’d get an autograph for me."
Savannah took a seat on the picnic bench behind us and plunked her face into her hand. The cat meowed but snatched at the opportunity to stalk off.
Peering through her fingers once the feline from hell had disappeared, she mumbled, "You know that if I do that, he’ll never let me live it down, don’t you?"
Katina seemed to recognize Savvie was teasing her.
"Star said that’s why I had to ask you to ask him. She said that he’s a pain in the ass, but I can’t see how he’d be a pain in the ass." She sighed. "He’s so pretty."
Savvie’s lips curled inwards before she said, "I’ll be sure to let him know that."
"You will? Do you think he’s too old for me?" she queried wistfully.
"I really do. He’s older than Star, and you said it yourself—she’s from the Stone Age."
Considering Star, Savvie, and Camden were younger than me, I didn’t appreciate the distinction.
"True."
"I tell you what. When Camden’s in town, I’ll get tickets for you, hmm?"
Her eyes blew wide. "You will?"
"Sure."
"For Alessa too?"
"Why not?"
Katina’s face puckered. "Oh. Maverick wouldn’t be able to go and I don’t think Alessa would leave him."
"Why not?" I asked in surprise. It wasn’t like Savvie had mentioned a specific date.
"He gets super bad headaches. When he has one, I have to be really quiet in the garden or it makes it worse, so I don’t think he’d be able to go to a concert."
Savvie shrugged. "Alessa doesn’t know me but Star and I are practically sisters. I tell you what—I’ll get permission from her to take you. We can go ourselves."
Though I frowned at her, I didn’t say anything. Just took a sip of beer.
"Thank you so much!" Katina cried. "That would be awesome,"
"You’re welcome; I’m glad you think so. It’ll be something you can tell Star too."
Katina hooted. "Star will be really happy. I wanted to go see him when he was in Cincinnati, but she said that she’d prefer to stick pins under her nails." She leaned in and whispered, "Anyone else, I’d say she was being melodramatic. But not Star."
When my lips twitched, I didn’t have to worry about hiding my smile for long because she took off on a screech, shouting, "ALESSA! WHERE ARE YOU?! I NEED PERMISSION TO GO TO A CONCERT."
Over Led Zeppelin, the rowdy crowd, and a couple babies crying, she was audible.
Watching her race over to a woman who had a remarkable likeness to her, I happened to catch a glimpse of Cade vomiting into some chrysanthemums.
I hated those fucking flowers—they always reminded me of funerals. It was a Five Point tradition to have a casket covered in the damn things. White for truth.