“Y’all are so lucky,” she says. “I wish I lived here. So, what’s it like at Willow Heights? Have you met the Dolce boys?”
Have I ever. I shiver at the memory of how close we came the other day, the silky smoothness of his skin when I wrapped my fingers around his erection. My clit throbs, and I shove the thought away. I was stupid, burning with Dolce fever, and I got carried away. Tonight I’ll have to thank him for saving me from the biggest mistake of my life.
“I’ve met them,” I say with a shrug.
Jolene squeals and grabs my arm. “Tell me everything.”
Olive opens the door, saving me from Jolene’s appetite for gossip. “Hey, y’all,” she drawls, smiling at us through the screen door. “I lost a tooth. Look!” She tilts her head up and pulls up her lip, revealing the gap in her teeth.
“Cool,” I say. “Stick it under the pillow tonight and the Tooth Fairy might bring you a piece of candy.”
“Is Blue here?” Jolene asks. “We need to bum a cigarette.”
“She’s working,” Olive says. “But I know where the cigarettes are. I don’t have to go in her room for that.”
“Thanks,” I say. “We can share one.”
“With me?” Olive asks.
“Not with you, dork,” Jolene says. “You’re a kid.”
“So?” Olive says. “I smoked before once. I wanna look sexy like you.”
I shoot Jolene a look, and she grins. “Aw, come on, kid,” she says. “You can come with us. But don’t run your mouth too much. Us grown folks got some talking to do.” She wiggles her brows at me.
Olive returns a minute later with a crushed back of Pall Malls and a lighter. She tucks a cigarette in the corner of her mouth, her lips rolled in completely, and tries with both hands to get a flame from the lighter. After watching her struggle for a minute, Jolene holds out a hand.
“Okay, kid, my turn,” she says, taking the cigarette and tucking it between her lips. “Gross, you got it all wet.”
She lights up and takes a drag anyway, then passes it to Olive, who inhales and then coughs smoke out of her nose and mouth. I can’t help but crack up with Jolene because we were this kid at her age.
“Don’t laugh,” Olive says, stamping her foot and pouting.
“We’ve all been there,” I say. “That’s all.”
“I’m not just a little kid,” Olive grumbles. “I know about smoking and sex and everything.”
Jolene throws her head back and howls with laughter. I put an arm around Olive. “Come on, we’re going to make a poster for a football game. Wanna help?”
That perks her right the fuck up. “I’ve got markers and glitter,” she says, grinning up at me.
“Well, what you waitin’ for?” I ask. “Go get it, girl!”
Half an hour later, we’re all sitting on my bedroom floor surrounded by markers, paint, glitter, and glue. I wonder if other girls do this shit, if this is what it feels like to be a football fan. Do Dixie and Quinn make posters for the game? Do Gloria and the Waltons?
“What’s a royal ho?” Olive asks, standing back and reading the sign, a frown creasing her brow.
Jolene rolls onto her back, giggling hysterically.
“No, it says Royal’s Ho,” I correct the kid. “Royal is a boy at school.”
“And you’re his ho?” she asks.
“He sure thinks I am,” I say, replacing the cap on her glue.
“Does that mean you have sex?” she asks.
“It means you have fun,” Jolene stage whispers.