Island of Lost Girls - Jennifer McMahon [22]
Laura Lee, Rhonda said, can you tell me who else had keys to your car?
Laura Lee sighed dramatically.
Back to the goddamn car. Thats easy, dear. Only two people: Tock and Peter.
Not the answer shed been hoping for.
No one else? Rhonda asked.
Laura Lee thought a minute. Ive had this car since 1979. Can you believe it? And I bought it used! These things go forever. Of course, I keep it garaged in the winter and I dont do much drivingwheres an old lady like me going to go? Ha! No, dear. No one else has keys. Except
Except?
Nothing. It was a hundred years ago. And it doesnt matter now. Laura Lee reached for her glass of sangria and stared into it with concern, like there was a tiny drowning man among the ice cubes.
What? asked Rhonda.
Daniel. I used to let Daniel borrow my car. He always had a key.
She calls his car a submarine and this pleases him. He mimes putting up a periscope, looking around. Lets her have a peek.
No sharks, she tells him.
He nods to show they are safe. She will always be safe when she is with him.
He takes her to their secret place. Its private. Cool and shaded. They wont be found here.
Rabbit Island, she calls it.
He chases her in a friendly game of tag. Shes zigzagging through the trees and stones, laughing.
He remembers the first Birdie, how they would play hide-and-seek all day. She was so good at hiding. She could find a tiny place and fold her body up, filling the space like a hermit crab. Shed wait so quietly, so patiently to be found.
The rabbit chases this new girl and hes laughing too. Quietly laughing because at last, his long-lost Birdie is back. And hes not going to let any harm come to her this time.
MAY 23, 1993
TAKE IT OUT,he urged her.
Rhonda laughed.
Really. It makes you talk funny. And it makes your lip stick out.
She pushed the retainer forward with her tongue, pulled it out with her fingers, holding it like something extra delicate, exotic: a pink beetle with thin, silver legs.
Thats better, he told her.
They were hidden underground, buried together like secret treasure. The trapdoor on the stage floor was closed over their heads and they sat in the small hole, face-to-face, breathing in the damp smell of earth and roots.
She studied him in the dim light that came from the cracks in the trapdoor above their heads. They were sitting with their legs crossed under them, facing each other. He was wearing his Peter Pan costume. He smelled like leaves. And she was wearing the white Wendy nightgown, her hair tied back with a ribbon.
So you want to know the truth? he asked.
Yes, she told him.
Are you sure youre ready?
She laughed.
Then quit laughing. Just relax. Ill tell you how it is: first, you start with a little kissing. Then the guy feels the girl up. You know, touches her boobs and stuff.
Rhonda wrapped her arms around her chest, concealing her painfully obvious lack of boobs.
Then he touches her between the legs to see if shes ready, he explained.
Ready?
You know ready for him.
She nodded, but had no idea what he meant.
For his penis, Peter said.
Oh, Rhonda said matter-of-factly. Her mouth felt suddenly dry. She swallowed hard.
He puts it inside her and they move together so that it goes in and out.
Why? Rhonda asked.
Because it feels good, stupid!
Oh, she said again.
She couldnt wait to tell Lizzy all of this. But then, as if reading her mind, Peter put a stop to her plan.
Rhonda, Peter said just before opening the door so they could both head home for supper, you cant tell Lizzy I told you this stuff.
Why not? Rhonda asked. Peter had never asked her to keep a secret from Lizzy before.
Because shed be weirded out. It has to be our secret. Okay?