Free Home Free by Sonnjea Blackwell

were
heading to the parking lot when one of the umpires stopped us. Boys
were always stopping Pauline. She went into flirt mode, and I stood
around looking goofy, waiting for the exchange of phone numbers so
we could leave. Danny came up behind us, whispered in my ear some
very interesting things he thought he might like to do to me
sometime soon, then walked on past. My face flushed and my knees
got a little wobbly and Pauline ended the conversation with the ump
immediately, squeezing my arm and steering me towards the car.
    “Did Danny Salazar just hit on you? Oh my
god! What did he say?” I could see her mind racing. This would be
big news, if it were true.
    “Why would Danny Salazar hit on me? Am I
blonde? Do I giggle uncontrollably? Is half my body weight in my
chest?”
    Pauline nodded. “You’re right. Jeez, for a
minute there, I almost thought that disgusting display at the
kissing booth was for real.”
     
    “Honestly, Alex, I know you’re going through
a dry spell, and fantasies are good and all, but couldn’t you come
up with something a little more believable? I mean, you and Danny
Salazar? Please .”
    “It’s true. You almost figured it out
once.”
    Pauline scoffed.
    “Look, I’m telling you the truth, and you’re
just going to have to believe me, whether you want to or not.”
    “Not a chance. I want proof.”
    “Well, you could call and ask him. Or you
could ask Kevin, I guess.”
    “Kevin knows? How come he didn’t tell your
parents?”
    “He figured it out, but that was right before
Danny left for college, so I guess he thought there was no sense in
ratting me out at that point.” I omitted the part about how Kevin
had figured it out, because it was sort of gross and
embarrassing.
    “I thought I was your best friend,” Pauline
whined, looking hurt, “how could you not tell me?”
    “I don’t know. I just didn’t want anyone to
know. I mean, it was like a dream, you know? The kind you don’t
want to wake up from, and I was afraid if I told anybody, they’d
point out that I was just hallucinating and Danny wasn’t real. Or
at least, Danny and I weren’t real. Let’s face it, I’m not
exactly his type.” As she’d so kindly pointed out not more than
five minutes ago.
    “Well, you still should have told me. I guess
I can understand it, though. I mean, shit, Danny Salazar? Your
father would have flipped. I guess the only thing worse would have
been Junior. Course, he was in jail already. Hunh.”
    “You’re not mad, are you?”
    “I should be, but I’ve decided to let you off
the hook,” she replied, serious, “on one condition.”
    “What?”
    She leaned forward, eyes huge. “How was
he?”
    I groaned. “Jesus, Pauline, I can still have
an orgasm just thinking about him.”
    She considered that, then nodded. “Well,
sure, but you have no frame of reference. I mean, you’ve been
married to Max for five years.” She stared at me a second, her eyes
narrowing to little slits. “You’re not thinking about Danny right
now, are you?”
    I was, but not in an orgasmy way. I shook my
head no.
    “Thank goodness.” She gave a shiver. “Okay,
fine, you’re off the hook. Now tell me what’s going on with him and
your brother, and why you want to know who’s calling him on
Saturday nights.”
    I gave her the run-down on what I knew about
what had happened at the body shop. I left out the information I’d
gotten from Jimmy C, since I’d promised him I wouldn’t say
anything, and since it didn’t amount to anything more than
speculation about Junior anyway.
    “How’s your brother holding up?”
    As if on cue, my brother unlocked the front
door and walked in, his motorcycle helmet under one arm. I had
given him a key so he could water the plants and stuff if I was
ever out of town. Right now, it looked very much to me like I was
home and could water my own damn plants, if I had gotten around to
getting any. He looked at me and grunted. Then he looked at Pauline
and