Free Pearl by C.E. Weisman

have another. I can’t imagine you are getting too hammered out there on Jumping Creek.”
    Pearl shook her head in agreement, accepting another beer. Drinking wasn’t new to her, but beer was not her liquor of choice. This was her first time moving on to her second cup.
    As the party went on, Sammie ran off to talk with a few more boys before disappearing behind the trees with Todd. Pearl refilled her cup, wanting to drown out the stares and whispers behind her back. No one dared speak to her. Instead of being welcomed, she was the pariah of the group. The isolation humiliated Pearl more than she could have imagined. She drank to feel at ease and to embrace the youth and freedom she had never experienced. Maybe the others would come around if she could just loosen up. One more cup didn’t do the trick, but by the fourth she was dancing to the music without a care in the world. Her vision clouded over as her head began to spin. She made it to the brush in time to throw it all up before realizing it was occupied by a barely dressed couple.
    “Shit!” the boy yelled grabbing for his clothes. The girl jumped, covering her naked body, swearing something at Pearl she couldn’t comprehend. She mumbled she was sorry as she heaved again.  
    “There you are!” Sammie cried. Pearl felt arms go around her numb body. She was so heavy, the girl dropped her.
    “Don’t go anywhere. I’m finding someone to carry you to the car.”
    Pearl groaned. She lay motionless on the ground as the spinning in her head took over her mind. She let all cares fly away as she succumbed to the blessed bliss of recklessness. Giant arms reached under her, lifting her off the ground. She opened her eyes to see the subtle outline of black hair.
    “Roy?” she whispered.
    “Roy Blackwood?” the unfamiliar male asked.
    “That’s her boyfriend,” Sammie said, walking right beside them. “We need to get her some water.”
    Gently he placed her in the car. Pearl curled into a ball, rolling the window down for fresh air. She could hear the footsteps outside on the gravel road as Sammie walked to the driver’s side.  
    “What’s Roy Blackwood doing with an innocent girl like this?” the boy asked Sammie over the hood of the car.
    “Beats me,” Pearl heard Sammie say. “Sweet thing like her could get eaten alive with a guy like that.” It was the second time Pearl had heard that phrase since she moved to Oregon.
    “Sure beats all those whores he used to date.”
    Pearl moaned. She didn’t want to hear any more tonight about Roy Blackwood.
    “Okay, doll, we’re going,” Sammie said, sliding into the car. They had to pull over three times to let her puke. Each time Sammie would hold her hair back and say, “That’s it, doll, get it all out.”
    By the time they pulled up to Granny’s house, Pearl couldn’t get out of the car. Sammie pulled her over her tiny body, carrying her silently up the stairs. She slid into bed with a glass of water, and a vomit bucket by her side. Pearl cradled her body tightly, wishing and praying for the sickness to go away, for her head to stop spinning, and for her mother to make it all better.

CHAPTER 7

    When the morning sun peeked through the attic window, Pearl slithered herself under the covers to drown out the blaring light. She slept, passing the hours away until she was sure she had missed breakfast, possibly even dinner. She heard Granny yell for her at the bottom of the stairway and was grateful the old woman’s tattered bones were too weak to make it up the stairs.  
    The heat enhanced her nausea, triggering another vomiting spell. She wiped her mouth with the sundress she had worn the night before, which was now crumpled on the ground. She didn’t know if Sammie had undressed her, or if she had pulled her clothes off in the middle of sleep. Either way, she was naked under the sheets.
    “Pearl?” She heard Roy’s voice at the door. She pushed the vomit bucket away and stashed the stained