Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser

Author:Terry Spencer Hesser [Hesser, Terry Spencer]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 978-0-307-47774-3
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2010-03-10T05:00:00+00:00

12

Fun

For the first couple of months after we met, I practically lived at Donna’s house. In the process, I discovered that her parents were mostly absent. Donna and her sister, who was never home either, had the entire top floor of an old A-frame to themselves. On hot nights, we used to crawl out the window, sit on the roof and make wishes. I mostly wished that we wouldn’t fall down and that my parents were still alive and wouldn’t get a divorce. Donna mostly wished for mystical things like world peace and a cool boyfriend with a motorcycle. She knew about my quirks. I told her almost all my crazy thoughts. Even the ones about my mother and God and unbaptized abortions. She didn’t seem to mind. In return, I didn’t mind that half of her truths were imagined, and I never called her on the lies she told.

Under a beautiful August moon, she turned to me and said, “Twinkie, you keep me outta jail and I’ll keep you outta the loony bin.”

“Deal!” I said, and then hugged her.

She never stopped smoking when she was with me.

Oddly enough, I began to stop counting and praying when I was with her. Maybe it was because I had real things to worry about, like her smoking and lies. Whatever it was that she did for me, for the next few months, I had fun!

In matching orange bikinis, we went to the pool nearly every day to enjoy the attention our budding bodies were creating. Donna’s breasts were full, like breasts on a statue of Venus. Mine were on the small side of medium. She swam and dove and splashed in the pool. I sort of held my breath and waded through what I sensed was a giant puddle of germs. Despite the warnings, we were both good at tanning and got really brown, which made our teeth look even whiter. We were beautiful and we knew it.

Donna was like a guy magnet. I lived in her orbit. However, I didn’t have to be told not to have sex. Having guys put their tongues in my mouth and contaminate my saliva with theirs didn’t hold much appeal for me.

I often hung out with Donna and some guy. A third wheel, to be sure. The only ones who ever seemed to mind were the guys, and they were revolving. A different one each week or month, depending on Donna’s whims. I was constant.

I had no idea why. But after all that praying, counting and worrying and my horror at not being able to control my mother’s thoughts, it all seemed to stop. I fully expected it to return, but in the meantime, I enjoyed my parole by sitting on the shallow side of the pool and watching Donna and some guy splash each other with chlorinated germs in the deep end.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Count.”

I looked up to see Keesha and Anna looking down at me.

“Hi!” I said happily, even though I didn’t like Keesha’s tone.

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