Free Indigo Summer by Monica McKayhan

placed the margarita in front of Mel. “Here you go, ma’am.”
    â€œYou know what, sweetie? I changed my mind about the margarita,” she said to the waitress. “Can you just bring me whatever this young lady is drinking?”
    â€œA Coke?” the waitress asked.
    â€œA Coke sounds good,” she said, and then smiled at me. A cappuccino-colored woman, Mel was very pretty. She wore natural-colored eye shadow, and had relaxed shoulder-length hair. She and Tameka would look like twins, except Tameka’s hair was longer and she had a rounder face.
    I smiled back.
    The waitress disappeared.
    â€œNow tell me about this boy, Quincy,” she said.
    I was shocked that she even knew about him. Tameka seemed to share everything with her mother.
    â€œHe’s on the football team,” I told her. “Linebacker.”
    â€œHmm, linebacker. You like him?”
    â€œI haven’t spent much time with him. We just started going together last week.”
    â€œWell, you just make sure he treats you nice, or you drop him like a bad habit,” she said. “You hear?”
    â€œYes, ma’am.”
    â€œYou don’t take no crap off of him,” she said. “And he is not to touch your pocketbook until you’re ready.”
    â€œMy pocketbook?”
    Tameka slid into the booth, back from the restroom.
    â€œMommy, why are we talking about pocketbooks?”
    â€œI told Indi that Quincy is not to touch hers until she’s ready.” Mel took a sip of her Coke.
    â€œWhat’s a pocketbook?” I asked.
    â€œYou know…your goodies,” Tameka tried to explain, and looked at me with one eyebrow raised.
    I still didn’t get it.
    â€œYou’re not to have sex with him until you’re ready,” Mel said.
    â€œOhhh,” I said and then giggled.
    Tameka started giggling, too, but Mel wasn’t laughing.
    With a serious look on her face, she leaned forward and said, “These little nappy-headed boys only want one thing, and you can’t just give it to them because they ask. Just remember that.”
    â€œOkay,” I said, afraid that if I said anything different, she might pull her belt off and rip it across my behind right there at Applebee’s.
    â€œMommy, you’re drinking Coke. What happened to your margarita?”
    â€œThey ran out of margarita mix,” Mel said, and then winked at me.
    I winked back.
    She was nothing like my mother, who would never carry on a conversation about boys and my pocketbook. My mother, Carolyn Summer, avoided conversations like that. But Mel was open and direct, just like my Nana Summer. And I liked her.

Chapter 10
    Indigo
    â€œIndi , you sleep?”
    â€œNo, I’m awake.”
    As the moonlight brushed across her face, I could see the whites of Tameka’s eyes staring at me, her head resting in the palm of her hand, as she balanced herself on her elbow.
    â€œHave you ever done it before?”
    â€œNo,” I answered softly. “You?”
    â€œNot yet.”
    â€œNot yet? Which means that you’re considering it?”
    â€œEveryone’s doing it, Indi. I think we’re the last two teenagers on earth who haven’t.”
    â€œReally?” This caused me to sit up in the twin bed.
    â€œYes,” she said.
    â€œWhat about what your mom said about our pocketbooks?” I asked her.
    â€œJeff said that if two people love each other, then it’s not wrong.” She smiled and I could see her pearly whites in the moonlight.
    â€œSo you love Jeff?”
    â€œHe’s so sweet, Indi,” she said, her eyes all glassy. “I think I do love him. No, I’m pretty sure I do.”
    â€œDoes he love you, too?”
    â€œOf course, silly.” She fell onto her back, her eyes facing the ceiling. “Why else would he give me a ring?”
    â€œYeah, you’re right. I guess he does love you.” I fell flat onto my back, and