“We’ll give the guy’s at the liquor store a thrill.”
I made the turn and started out of our subdivision. “Why the liquor store?”
“Because now you’re old enough to buy beer, dummy.”
“Oh.”
It was the first time I’d driven at night, and there was a lot of traffic. It took enough concentration that I could almost forget that I was now an adult woman, wearing a dress and makeup, on my way to buy beer, on the promise of lesbian sex. Almost.
We went through the center of town, but considering how small the place is, that only meant waiting at two lights. At the second one, there was a guy in the lane next to us who kept shooting me looks. I pretended not to notice.
Rory... I mean Katie, told me that she wasn’t coming inside at the liquor store since she was underage. “But not you, Lorelia,” she said, drawling the name. “You’re -way- over twenty one.”
I gave her a scowl, but the promise of what was waiting got me out of the car and crunching my way across the parking lot. My heels sank into the loose gravel, and I stumbled twice before making the sidewalk. The cool air ran up my bare legs. Once on solid ground, I paused long enough to make sure the green dress was still more or less covering the parts it was supposed to cover, then I took a deep breath and stepped inside.
The inside of the liquor store was barely larger that Katy’s car, and the clerk behind the counter was the only one there. I was thankful for that much. The clerk barely looked old enough to buy a beer, much less run the place. It took me a second to recognize him as the loser older brother of one of the girls in my class. He was watching a grainy sitcom on a tiny TV when I came in. At first he only glanced up at me before turning back to the screen, but a moment later the “potential babe” messages made their way from one side of his brain to the other and he swiveled around to smile at me.
“Evening, ma’am,” he said. “Can I help you?”
Ma’am. I was a ma’am. “Um, yeah,” I managed. Hearing Lorelia’s voice come out of my mouth made me feel a little more confident. “I want to buy some beer.”
He nodded. “What kind?”
“Umm.” I froze. Katie hadn’t told me what she wanted. Our mom went for Bud Lite, when she had a beer at all. Which wasn’t often. I looked quickly around, my dark hair swinging around my face. “I want... umm...”
Just then the door swung open and Katie stepped inside. She gave the clerk a flash of those dazzling blue eyes then turned to me with a pout. “Mommy, haven’t you bought the beer yet?”
I swallowed hard. “What kind do you... I mean, what kind should I buy?”
Katie bounced across the small store, turning each step into an exaggerated swivel of her hips. She made a big show of staring down the aisle of cardboard beer packs, then turned to the clerk, put a finger against her chin, and executed an Oscar-worthy “I’m just a dumb girl, won’t you please help me?” expression. “I don’t know, Mommy,” she said. “Maybe this nice man here can help us.”
The clerk looked like he was about ten seconds away from a stroke. He kept looking at me, then looking at Katie, looking at Katie, then looking at me. “Hey now,” he said. “Don’t I know..”
Before he could get any further, the purse slung over Katie’s shoulder gave a buzz. She gave the clerk one last dopey grin, then slid the purse down her arm and reached inside to look at her phone. Instantly her expression changed.