Savage Lane by Jason Starr

proactive, for taking another big step toward freedom.
    When she left the room, she noticed that Riley’s door was open a crack, and she peeked in and saw Riley lying on her stomach in bed, propped up by her elbows, reading some soft cover teen fantasy novel.
    Deb opened the door fully and said, “Got a second?”
    Riley didn’t answer, so Deb went further into the room and sat on the foot of the bed and said, “Seriously, I want to talk to you about something.”
    “What is it?” Riley’s eyes shifted toward Deb but she kept the book propped up.
    “I want you to stay away from Owen Harrison,” Deb said.
    “What?” Riley seemed confused. “Why?”
    “Because I told you to, that’s why,” Deb said. “He’s too old for you and… and I just want you to stay away from him, okay?”
    Now Riley put down the book and smiled. “Wait,” she said. “You seriously think something’s going on with me and Owen Harrison?”
    “I just want you to stay away from him,” Deb said.
    “Yuck.” Riley looked disgusted. “Owen’s a total freak.”
    Deb couldn’t help feeling a little offended. “I didn’t say he was a freak ,” she said. “I just don’t think he’s appropriate for you.”
    “Um, he’s a freak, Ma,” Riley said. “He’s totally gross. Elana’s into him, not me.”
    “Elana?” Deb asked, wondering if Riley was telling the truth.
    “Yeah,” Riley said, “and I think she’s crazy. I don’t know why she likes him at all, but she’s like obsessed, like so into him it’s insane. That’s why I asked you about him, because Elana’s been getting suspicious, afraid he’s cheating on her. You really thought I like him?”
    Deb believed Riley, but she was suddenly confused by the whole situation. “What do you mean by ‘so into him’?” she asked.
    “You know, into him,” Riley said. “Like seriously into him.”
    Deb felt awkward and wasn’t sure how to get into the conversation because, she realized, she had never really had an in depth conversation with Riley about sex. They’d talked about it, of course. Deb had answered most of her questions around the time she hit puberty and when she was taking sex ed, but they didn’t have the kind of open relationship where they talked about sex and dating that some mothers seemed to have with their daughters.
    “So you’re trying to say that Elana has a crush on Owen?” Deb asked.
    “No, way more than a crush,” Riley said. “They’ve already, you know, done stuff.”
    Deb suddenly felt unsteady, a little dizzy, as if she’d just gotten news about a relative’s death. She said, “Stuff. You mean they’ve… kissed.”
    “Way more than kissing,” Riley said. “They’ve been, like, you know... hooking up.”
    Now Deb’s stomach cramped, as if somebody were reaching in there and squeezing a fistful of her guts, and it was hard to get enough breath in her lungs to say, “Hooking up,” and that was really all she could say with her brain churning, thinking about so many things at once.
    “Yeah,” Riley said. “Why? I mean like why do you even care ?”
    Deb imagined Owen and Elana in the back of his car, where she had been with him so many times before. She burped up the odor of vodka and stomach acid burned her throat.
    “How do you know this?” Deb asked.
    “Are you okay, Ma?” Riley seemed concerned.
    “Did she tell you this?” Deb asked, fighting off another image of Owen as a teacher and Elana as his naughty student. “I mean, did she actually tell you this or are you just… hypothesizing?”
    “Are you sure you’re okay, Ma?”
    “Did she tell you or not?” Deb was losing patience.
    “She didn’t have to tell me,” Riley said. “I was there. I mean not there , there, but I’ve seen them together. I mean, like, before they were together.”
    “So is this something new?” Deb asked.
    “Yeah,” Riley said. “I mean kind of. But why are you asking? Why do you care?”
    Deb wanted to keep grilling