from her face to resting lightly on her neck. She
couldn’t hold his gaze, her eyes dropped and she stared at the key he always
wore around his neck and had time to wonder what horrible thing a person like
Lance could have that they felt important enough to lock away. He wasn’t
squeezing but she could sense that he had before, that he knew right where to
put his fingers and dig in and Cherry swallowed a lump and was about to try and
scream when the door opened.
Lance’s hand vanished like a magic trick from her throat and
he took a quick step back and turned, all at the same time, toward the person
that had opened the door.
“Carmex! Hey!” Lance said. “Howya doing?”
“We were just leaving,” Carmex said.
Cherry pushed past Lance and went into the hall. Jenny,
Cherry thought. Carmex’s real name was Jenny! Cherry didn’t look back, she
could hear Jen coming along behind her. Cherry looked around and didn’t see Jim
so she leaned in to Tattoo Nik as she went past.
“Tell Jim I had to go,” she said, doing her best to keep her
voice even and not cry. She was shaking. She could still feel his hand on her
neck like it had been covered in a hot slime.
Nothing happened, Cherry told herself over and over. Nothing
happened, nothing happened, nothing happened.
WASHING AWAY
As Carmex drove Cherry finished crying quietly to herself
and tried not to look at the cold sore dominating the poor girl’s face, if that
was even what it was. She didn’t help matters by constantly dabbing at it with
a tube of Carmex...what had eventually become her namesake. She’d had that sore
or another one just like it the entire time Cherry had known her. Why didn’t
the girl go to a doctor or something? Cherry knew there was medication you
could take for that sort of thing.
It was easily the size of a quarter, maybe even larger,
bright red, a little white head in the middle of it that looked more like a
blister. It was not a normal thing. A regular cold sore was no big
deal...Cherry had them before, so she figured had just about everyone else. But
this...this thing was some kind of mutant cold sore brought on by bad nutrition
no sleep too many different kinds of drugs in too high a quantity, all that
plus whatever it was that normally gave you a cold sore. Cherry felt bad for
her. If it hadn’t been for that one massive imperfection shining in the middle
of her face Cherry judged Carmex would have been a beautiful girl, prettier
than her, easily.
And what a fucked up nickname, right? Like calling an amputee
Stumpy or something. It was impossible for Cherry to think of the girl driving
her home as anything other than Carmex, because she’d known her by that name
long before any other. But she never called her that, not to her face. Cherry
knew this didn’t put her in running for anthropologist of the year or a Nobel
Prize or anything, but it was something.
She’d never heard Jim call her that either, and this made
Cherry smile a little. She wished she could have gotten him to leave with her,
but she also understood. She shouldn’t have waited until right after he did a
line to ask him to leave with her. She wondered not for the first time if he
was completely himself around her, or if he changed himself a little, tweaked
things here and there to make himself come off in a better light.
“Turn here?” Jenny asked.
“Yeah. Thanks for the ride. And for...”
Jenny nodded. “No problem.”
“You wanna come up for a minute, smoke a joint or
something?” Cherry asked.
“God, I would love to, but I don’t think I’d be able to get back
off your couch. Besides,” Jennifer said, checking her watch. “I gotta get to
work in a couple hours.”
“Oh, brutal. You still working at that Italian place?”
“No, fuck that place. The owner was this total skeev, all
hands, you know, always looking at my tits when he talked to me. No, I’m just
doing telemarketer work right now. It sucks, but you know. It’s
couldn’t hold his gaze, her eyes dropped and she stared at the key he always
wore around his neck and had time to wonder what horrible thing a person like
Lance could have that they felt important enough to lock away. He wasn’t
squeezing but she could sense that he had before, that he knew right where to
put his fingers and dig in and Cherry swallowed a lump and was about to try and
scream when the door opened.
Lance’s hand vanished like a magic trick from her throat and
he took a quick step back and turned, all at the same time, toward the person
that had opened the door.
“Carmex! Hey!” Lance said. “Howya doing?”
“We were just leaving,” Carmex said.
Cherry pushed past Lance and went into the hall. Jenny,
Cherry thought. Carmex’s real name was Jenny! Cherry didn’t look back, she
could hear Jen coming along behind her. Cherry looked around and didn’t see Jim
so she leaned in to Tattoo Nik as she went past.
“Tell Jim I had to go,” she said, doing her best to keep her
voice even and not cry. She was shaking. She could still feel his hand on her
neck like it had been covered in a hot slime.
Nothing happened, Cherry told herself over and over. Nothing
happened, nothing happened, nothing happened.
WASHING AWAY
As Carmex drove Cherry finished crying quietly to herself
and tried not to look at the cold sore dominating the poor girl’s face, if that
was even what it was. She didn’t help matters by constantly dabbing at it with
a tube of Carmex...what had eventually become her namesake. She’d had that sore
or another one just like it the entire time Cherry had known her. Why didn’t
the girl go to a doctor or something? Cherry knew there was medication you
could take for that sort of thing.
It was easily the size of a quarter, maybe even larger,
bright red, a little white head in the middle of it that looked more like a
blister. It was not a normal thing. A regular cold sore was no big
deal...Cherry had them before, so she figured had just about everyone else. But
this...this thing was some kind of mutant cold sore brought on by bad nutrition
no sleep too many different kinds of drugs in too high a quantity, all that
plus whatever it was that normally gave you a cold sore. Cherry felt bad for
her. If it hadn’t been for that one massive imperfection shining in the middle
of her face Cherry judged Carmex would have been a beautiful girl, prettier
than her, easily.
And what a fucked up nickname, right? Like calling an amputee
Stumpy or something. It was impossible for Cherry to think of the girl driving
her home as anything other than Carmex, because she’d known her by that name
long before any other. But she never called her that, not to her face. Cherry
knew this didn’t put her in running for anthropologist of the year or a Nobel
Prize or anything, but it was something.
She’d never heard Jim call her that either, and this made
Cherry smile a little. She wished she could have gotten him to leave with her,
but she also understood. She shouldn’t have waited until right after he did a
line to ask him to leave with her. She wondered not for the first time if he
was completely himself around her, or if he changed himself a little, tweaked
things here and there to make himself come off in a better light.
“Turn here?” Jenny asked.
“Yeah. Thanks for the ride. And for...”
Jenny nodded. “No problem.”
“You wanna come up for a minute, smoke a joint or
something?” Cherry asked.
“God, I would love to, but I don’t think I’d be able to get back
off your couch. Besides,” Jennifer said, checking her watch. “I gotta get to
work in a couple hours.”
“Oh, brutal. You still working at that Italian place?”
“No, fuck that place. The owner was this total skeev, all
hands, you know, always looking at my tits when he talked to me. No, I’m just
doing telemarketer work right now. It sucks, but you know. It’s
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