Roadside

“Something feels wrong. Hand on a sec while I check it out.” Sydney woke up to those words, and the station wagon slowing to a stop on a rough surface. “Fuck, it’s flat,” Elliot declared a moment later, from just outside her window.

He opened the tailgate. “All right, everyone out.” He waited for Sydney to move before digging up her resting spot to find the spare and jack.

For Phoenix in the summer time, it was unusually cold; Sydney shivered. Candace gave her her sweater. The girls watched while Elliot and Barry worked the jack under the car.

“Hey Candace?” Sydney began. “You remember Fast Times at Ridgemont High?”

“Yeah, sure,” the older girl answered.

“Remember how Stacey got in trouble, and she needed a hundred and fifty dollars and a ride?” Sydney asked. “Is that how much they really cost? Abortions?”

“I don’t really know. Why do you ask?” Candace responded conversationally.

Sydney squirmed under the weight of the question. “I was just wondering.”

Alarm struck Candace. “Wait, Syd, did something happen? Did someone do something to you?” Three sets of eyes locked on the young lady.

“No!” Sydney protested. “Well, I mean, yes, but only because I asked them to. They were really nice about it.”

“How many is ‘they’?” Barry asked.

Sydney blushed. “Three. Well, two for real and one in the mouth. Does swallowing make a girl a skank?”

“Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck,” Elliot muttered.

“Shut up,” Candace commanded him. To Sydney: “Syd, hon, I don’t care about the law, and I don’t care about what your parents would say. I want to know if you are all right - physically and mentally. Did anyone trick you, or threaten you? Or was this something that you did because you wanted to?”

“I wanted to. I really did. I’m so glad it happened,” she told her cousin. “I just should have been more careful.”

Candace smiled. “Okay. I’m glad you enjoyed it. And don’t worry about the money. I’ve got your back. You wouldn’t be in this mess if not for me. But Syd - never again without protection, okay? Straight people can get AIDS too.”

The boys resumed their tire task, but Barry mentioned, “I heard that if you douche with a cherry coke you won’t get pregnant.”

“That is such bullshit,” Elliot bitched.

“No, actually I read about this,” Candace said. “There was a study at Harvard. It’s not very reliable, but it’s better than nothing. And Diet Coke is the best, not Cherry.”

The discussion was interrupted by the flashing lights of a Maricopa County sheriff’s car stopping behind them. A deputy got out and waved his flashlight at the kids, surveying the situation. “Is everything all right here?”