“We didn’t,” Jolene emphasizes. “He wouldn’t do it. We love each other, and so Uncle X decided fucking me wasn’t the best idea.”

“I don’t…” The tears are streaming now in lines down Dee’s brown cheeks, soaking her black cloth mask. She’s confused. Overwhelmed. As close to a breaking point as anyone could be.

“But we could have fucked,” Jolene concludes. “That’s the point. I was naked. And he’s been horny as fuck forever. It’s only when we came face to face with fucking as a real possibility . . . and with how much we both wanted it . . . that we could decide what was actually more important. You get it?”

There might as well be a spotlight aimed at Dee as she reaches to wipe her tears and adjust the straps behind her ears. “I make sex a big deal,” she utters, her voice small but not timid. “I tell everyone it’s best to wait.”

“Or to not do it at all?” presses Jolene. “Or to not even think about it?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Candy and I stand still and silent like dopey statues, waiting.

“Doesn’t sex just mess everything up?” Dee sounds like a squeaky cartoon mouse about to lurch into panic mode in the cat-like face of chaos.

“No,” says Jolene. “It doesn’t fuck things up. It makes everything really fucking simple.”

“But now Uncle X has seen you naked?! He’s known us since we were kids!”

“Yeah, Dee, and we’re not kids anymore. Um, have you looked in the mirror lately?” Jolene motions toward Dee’s ample chest. “It doesn’t do anyone any good to pretend we’re still kids waiting for fucking true love’s kiss before we can even think about having someone pound the living shit out of us just for fun.”

“I don’t . . . don’t want to be pounded,” chirps Dee.

“Well, then have someone give you soft kitten licks all over. However you want it.”

At this, Dee noticeably . . . undeniably . . . quivers. It’s a full-fledged shiver, beginning below her knees, and mounting up through every part to above her shoulders. Her little fingers clench into fists. She lets out an exasperated, “Ahhhh…”

“Dee,” Jolene begins again, carefully, “do you want someone to go down on you?”

“Not…” Trying and failing to respond, Dee’s rich, deep sigh that follows proves more of a confession than a simple yes could ever be.

“Who? Who are you imagining right now giving you those little kitten licks?”

“I’ll tell you,” says Dee. “And you’re right. I just didn’t want things to have to get all messy and weird. But…”

“But when you don’t admit it,” chimes Candy, sounding the most like a real human being I’ve heard since I met the guy a few hours earlier, “some pretty dark things can happen.”

“Oo, like what!” Jolene leans in, excited.

“He’s right,” says Dee. “I wish I could tell you the kinds of stuff I ended up seeing online because I thought I was supposed to hate sex. And I will tell you, but...”

“...but not yet,” Candy somehow correctly finishes Dee’s sentence for her. “Later. We’ll talk more about that later.”

“Yes,” agrees Dee. “Later.”

“Ok,” affirms Jolene. “But can you just answer my one question now?”

“What?”

“Who do you want to eat your pussy, sis?” 

Dee doesn’t miss a beat. “Ms. Quesler,” she answers.

Candy and I share a glance and collective gasp.

“Your Physical Therapy teacher?” Jolene asks. “No wonder you always get all fucking dreamy-eyed talking about her class. So, you like women? Older women?”

“I don’t know!” Dee blurts, and I’m sure she might be about to chuckle (at least smile). “Maybe. I know I like her. There’s so many times I’ve stayed after class and had her show me things I already knew, like how to work with patients and stuff, just so… Oh my God!” She quivers/shivers again, this time sinking into the shaking as though riding it like a wave. “...just so she’ll put her hands on me!” There’s an ache to the way she says it . . . an ache I recognize well, since it’s the same ache that would turn an ass like Dee’s into a carrot on a stick to lead me through a hot desert trek.

“That’s just about the hottest thing I think I’ve ever heard,” says Jolene. Without warning, she suddenly turns to Candy and demands, “And tell me who you want to fuck.”

“You,” Candy rifles back before any of us can adjust to the rapid shift in the conversation.

“Fuck, you’re brave!” Jolene replies. “That’s so fucking cool!”

Let me just say I’m really proud Candy doesn’t say anything more at this point. It would be unsurvivably cringe for him to respond with anything close to sooooo? or how about it then? Na, the guy just waits it out patiently like a dude who’s done his best to fill his home with enough stew and wood to last the longest, coldest of winters.

“I don’t think I want to fuck you,” says Jolene, ripping off the bandaid. “Not yet. But I promise you this, just like I promised Uncle X: I will get you the pussy of your fucking dreams, because you’re awesome, and you deserve it, and I fucking love you! Ok?”

“Yes, ma’am!” answers Candy like a champ.

Hey, maybe having this guy tagging along after me won’t be so bad.

“What about you, Jolene?” I say, hearing the words come out before I’m ready to let them be more than just a thought.

“Me?”

“Yeah. You’re being so cool with us. But what do you want? Who do you want to be with? How can we help?”

She laughs, and I realize I already know. I hope I didn’t ask unconsciously just so hearing her say it would boost my stupid ego. 

“Let’s just say,” she begins, so clearly loving being coi, “I don’t just up and offer to run away and start a new life with anyone and everyone I might feel the urge to have throw me up against a wall. Now, can we please go play some fucking videogames?”

Before long, we each say our goodbyes to the GameStop forever, and maybe to a few other things no longer needed from younger years.