Unkempt: Stories by Courtney Eldridge

Author:Courtney Eldridge [Eldridge, Courtney]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2013-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Frankie. Actually, I heard her before I saw her, because Frankie was wearing all those chains on her leather jacket. I mean, I was waiting there, at the end of the terminal, and then, along the top of the heads, I see this mohawk. Although, I have to say, Frankie’s hair didn’t stick up like a mohawk, it was flatter, more like a pelt And I don’t mean that in a bad way, but anyway. I’d assumed it was some weirdo, just some guy, you know, then I saw that it was a girl, and then I saw her talking to Jenna . . . My chin practically broke a toe in the fall.

Frankie had this thick leather wallet in her back pocket, attached to this heavy chain, swinging from her belt loop, and those lace-up boots, with her jeans rolled up to the knee. And, man, was she solid. I think that was the first time I understood what they mean by butch. I mean Karen—my cousin Karen—she plays softball and has a couple dogs and a pickup, the whole thing. But Frankie was really butch. Is that an awful thing to say?

Well, it took me a minute to take it all in, that there was my daughter with her punk-dyke girlfriend or whatever she was, and here we were, all together. I stood and smiled, trying to get their attention, and Jen pretended she hadn’t seen me, even though I knew she had. But I could tell that Frankie had been looking for me in the crowd. And when she saw me, I mean she had the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. Like this little explosion, the way she lit up—amazing. She completely won me over, then and there.

You must be Peg! she said, and I said, How did you guess? Frankie said, I can see the resemblance, and I said, Really? No one ever said that about us, so I looked at Jenna, to see what she thought, but she was looking away, making that sour face of hers. I’m Frankie, she said, and held out her hand, arid I said, Nice to meet you, Frankie, I’m so glad you could come. Then Frankie leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek, and that was a little awkward. I know women kiss in the East, but we don’t, really. So I was just a little surprised, that’s all.

Then, when I leaned over to give Jen a hug and kiss—and I was about to tell her that her hair looked nice, because she’d dyed it again. She’d gone platinum blond, and it looked great. Then, when I leaned over, Jenna went stiff on me: Would you please quit gawking? She practically hissed in my ear, before pulling away. Maybe I was gawking, but still. I said, Why don’t I go get the car? Good idea, Jenna said, looking away again.

You should’ve seen them on the way home, though. I mean,

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