Sex by Francine Pascal Page A

junkie.”
    â€œNo!”
Gaia hollered finally. “No, I’m not a junkie and I
don’t
do drugs! I’m not that stupid!”
    The smile immediately dropped from Gen’s face. She began to shoot hollow-tipped bullets at Gaia with her eyes.
    Oh, no. All Gaia had wanted to do was set the record straight for herself. But she’d done a little more than that. Maybe, just for a second there, she’d kind of started yelling at Mary by accident. Now she’d ended up deeply offending this girl she didn’t even know.
    Gen took a long, slow drag from her cigarette.
“Relax,”
she spat coldly. “I’m really
sorry.
I didn’t mean to call
you
a junkie. A pretty girl like you? Little Kung Fu Barbie? A pretty girl like you could
never
be a junkie.”
    â€œNo, that’s not what I meant.” But it was obviously too late.
    â€œAre you rich, Gaia?” Gen suddenly asked, looking her over with a piercing stare.
    â€œNo, I’m not rich.” Gaia sighed, wishing there were some way to take back her stupid outburst.
    â€œNo? ’Cause I’m thinking you might be rich. I’mthinking you might be one of those wine cooler kids who really ought to be getting her ass home to Mommy and Daddy right now.”
    Gaia dropped her head and scoffed at that suggestion. Gen didn’t even know just how ludicrous it was.
    â€œNo,” Gaia said with a smile that was so bitter, she could almost taste it, “there’s no Mommy, and there’s no Daddy. Mommy died. And Daddy disappeared. In fact, if you’re really interested, there’s
nobody.
No boyfriend. No friend. No polite acquaintance. Not even a dealer who beats me up. Just me, myself, and yours truly… and I guess
you
at the present moment…. Do I qualify for pity now?”
    Gen went silent. Her eyes softened as a modicum of sincerity returned to her voice. “You don’t know where your dad is?”
    â€œNo clue,” Gaia said.
    â€œWell, when’s the last time you saw him?” she asked. Not the question Gaia would have expected.
    â€œI don’t remember.”
    â€œYou don’t remember the last time you saw your father?”
    Gaia then remembered that she’d sort of seen him yesterday… or the day before or was it the day before that? But she’d been in such a feverish, hallucinogenic state that it had barely even counted. Gaia assumed Gen meant seeing him while conscious. “No,” she replied. “I don’t remember.”
    â€œWell, is he in New York City?” Gen pressed.
    â€œI don’t know.”
Gaia, groaned, baffled by Gen’s sudden weirdness. “Why are you asking me all these questions about my father?”
    â€œWhoa, there, buddy.” Gen threw her hands out defensively. “I was just trying to be friendly. God knows where my pops is at. Maybe they’re hanging together in deadbeat daddy day care.”
    â€œSorry,” Gaia mumbled. “Yeah, maybe they are.”
    Gen gave Gaia a once-over again with her eyes and then took another long drag, blowing it off to the side so as not to blow smoke in Gaia’s face. “Hmmm,” she uttered. “An orphan but not an addict” She stood up from her rock, flipped the red streak of hair off her pale, angular face, and stomped out her cigarette on the ground “Well… I guess one out of two ain’t bad Are you hungry?”
    Gaia looked up at her suspiciously. “Not for chips and wine coolers, I’m not.”
    â€œNo, we can probably do a little better than that.”
    â€œThen yes, I’m starving.”
    â€œDo you have any money?” Gen asked.
    Gaia sighed and shook her head. “Actually, no.”
    â€œGood,” Gen said. “It’s more fun that way. Tonight we eat like queens!” she pronounced as if a chorus of trumpets would follow. “Come.” She beckoned with a grand sweep of her