Romeo is Homeless by Julie Frayn Page B

“She was always talking baby talk, skipping rope, sucking lollipops. But man, she partied harder than anyone I knew. She’s like fucking Peter Pan, but with sex, drugs, and rock and roll. And a pussy.”
    “Shut up, Guy.” Amber lit the cigarette then took a swig of her coffee. “She even tried to kill him once, with his own shot gun. But before she could even load it, he took it and broke her ribs with it. And after years out here, she ends up with AIDs. She was dying anyway. Maybe this way was better. Less pain.”
    “There, Miss Goody Two-shoes,” Ricki said. “You happy now?”
    Reese squeezed August’s hand.
    “I’m sorry,” she said in a near-whisper. “Just that we always talk about this stuff at home, get our feelings out.”
    “Well that’s just fucking ducky.” Ricki reached across and poked August once below her collar bone. “We don’t.”
    They sat in silence, Reese and Amber smoking, Guy eating his pastry, Ricki staring at August, and August staring at the grass.
    Reese broke the spell. “So, you gonna share some of that wealth or what?” He reached over and tried to grab the last pastry from in front of Ricki.
    She snatched it and stuffed most of it into her mouth, flashing a crooked grin at him, cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk with a snoot full of nuts. “Get your own,” she said through the half-chewed pastry. “I’m not sharing nothin’ with your Pollyanna girlfriend over there.”
    “Fine.” Reese flipped Ricki off. “We’ll just fend for ourselves.”
    She laughed, spewing crumbs again.
    “I’m out of money,” August muttered. “Reese got me some tuna from a Dumpster, but I couldn’t eat it.”
    “Ah! Special of the day. Tuna and salmonella on rye. My personal favorite, September.” Guy grinned and took an exaggerated bite of his breakfast.
    “Dude. Stop calling her that.” Reese smacked his friend on the arm. “Her name is August.”
    “It’s okay,” she said. “I really don’t mind.”
    Ricki swallowed hard and washed the mouthful of pastry down with the last of her coffee. She stretched out one foot and poked August in the leg. “Hey, September, you still a virgin?”
    August blushed. “Well, yeah.” She glanced sideways at Reese then looked at the grass. “So what?”
    “Problem solved, that’s what. Some guys get off on virgins. I know a guy who’ll pay big bucks to pop your sorry cherry. I can set it up. You’ll make enough to buy all of us dinner and breakfast.”
    “August.” Reese put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “Don’t.”
    Ricki stood, grabbed August’s hand and yanked her to her feet. “C’mon. I know you’re green, but you’ll pick it up easy. Not much to it but lying on your back.”
    August looked from Reese to Ricki. Was Ricki saying she should have sex with a stranger? Sell her virginity? All she could manage to say was, “Green?”
    “It means you’re new, honey. An amateur,” Amber said. “We all were. Once.” She poked Ricki on the foot with the toe of her sneaker. “Leave her alone, Rick.”
    Reese scrambled to his feet and took August’s other hand. “She’s not going to do that.” He glared down at Ricki and then looked at August, his face softening, and smiled. “Come on. Let’s go.” He pulled her away from the girl’s grip and left his friends, heading away from them down the park path.
    Guy and Ricki taunted them with an impromptu one-act play.
    “Oh, Reese! Save me, save me!” Ricki’s voice pitched an entire octave higher than normal, a full-on damsel in distress.
    “Never fear, Reese-man is here!”
    “You’re my knight in shining armor. Now kiss me, you fool!”
    Their voices carried on the breeze, waning as Reese and August put more distance between them.
    She stared at the pavement as it passed under her sneakers, Reese’s words from that morning ran through her head. ‘It’s no big deal. All of us do it.’ But it was obvious he didn’t want her to do what they all