Chapter 24

Gloria’s leg bounced with nervous energy. It was her first time in an Uber and the first time she had ever ditched ball practice. That in itself was a big deal because if Candy called Miss Tonya, the fact that she wasn’t there would surely come up. Although, at the moment, Gloria wasn’t thinking about that. The girl sitting next to her was on her mind. Despite the connection she felt at the mall, and during their strange voyeuristic affair at the ballpark, Gloria still didn’t know Darlene. She had heard the redhead helped hold down a freshman in the locker room so other girls could sit on her face. So, why was she in a car with Darlene? Calm down, Gloria told herself, but it didn’t work.

The hand on Gloria’s knee didn’t stop the bouncing, but Darlene’s thumb pressing into a tender spot did. “Relax, girl, I’m not a serial killer.”

Great, Gloria thought, she reads minds, too. “Sorry, I’m a little nervous, I guess.”

“There’s no reason for that,” Darlene said, rubbing her thigh. “We’re friends and gonna have a good time skinny dipping.”

Gloria made her eyes big and gestured with her chin toward the driver. Darlene grinned, thrust her crotch up, and groped her pussy behind the middle-age Uber guy.

That’s when Gloria realized that nothing Darlene might do should surprise her. “So, how do you know, Miss Style?”

“She’s a friend, but more like a family friend. You know, like Jayda’s mother. I bet she’s like that, an adult you could talk to about stuff you didn’t want your mother to know?”

Gloria nodded and thought about Miss Tonya’s dildo and the things Jayda had hinted at. She was cool for an adult, but Miss Tonya would never be down with getting naked in the backyard or going at it with another girl. “Yeah, I guess so,” Gloria said. “Is she gonna be there?”

“No, Style is on a trip,” Darlene said. “She won’t be back until tonight, I think.”

“How much further?”

“Mm, not far.”

“I don’t know how to get there, but my aunt lives somewhere out this way.”

Darlene nodded, and the car became uncomfortably quiet until the car’s tires crunched over gravel, and Darlene said, “We’re here.”

After what seemed like a tunnel through the cover of trees, the view opened, and Gloria saw the large house with a wraparound porch. It is in the middle of nowhere, Gloria thought, but it’s inviting.

The car drove away, and Gloria turned in a circle. The lawn was plush, and the walkway leading to the porch and double front doors beyond was edged perfectly. Gloria smiled, knowing her big brother had done it. She looked at the woods, spider-webbed with vines so thick a machete would be required to find your way through. To her left, it seemed like miles of abandoned cotton fields. This is the deep south, Gloria thought, and it gave her a chill. Once upon a time, there had been slaves; she learned that in History class, and that conjured up ideas. Things suddenly felt different, more primitive or primal. She imagined depraved acts, a shotgun, and someone never coming back from a trip to the woodshed.

Darlene interrupted Gloria’s musing. “Evan does a good job. Come on, let’s go around back. I’ll show you the pool. He takes care of it, too.”

Gloria turned, and it was as if she saw the redhead for the first time that day. Darlene wore tattered cut-offs and a tank top, no bra. The girl’s body was unreal, but it was her blue eyes that commanded Gloria’s focus. They caught her like an unexpected shiver. The emotional atmosphere changed so suddenly that Gloria couldn’t identify her feelings or even classify them in a category, but it was familiar. She smiled, and Darlene took her by the hand. The redhead won’t hurt me. It wasn’t the first time Gloria thought that, but why was she so sure of it?

Darlene tugged Gloria toward the fence at the end of the empty driveway. The barn in the distance seemed entirely in character for the setting, and it also brought things to Gloria’s mind. That’s the place for naughty deeds that might warrant a trip to the woodshed.

They went through the small gate to the right of the large one. Darlene pointed toward a hum that Gloria had already associated with a pool, but she couldn’t see it at the top of the grass slope. That means it’s in the ground like Aunt Sally’s, she thought.