Page 16 of Rigid

“Really?” I cocked an eyebrow. “A pile of mush?”

“Like wet sawdust. Or, remember when we went to Georgia to see your brother? The grits? Remember the grits?”

I nodded.

“That bowl of grits.” She leaned back and gave a quick nod. “That’s going to be my self-esteem if this keeps up.”

“And going on a date with Jonny the football player will fix that?”

“His name’s Richard.”

“You want to go on a date with a guy named Dick?”

She let out an exaggerated sigh. “Richard.”

Eddie had more self-esteem than any other 16-year-old girl on earth. She was beautiful, and to keep her reminded of it, I made it a point to tell her every day. She inherited my height, and stood almost 5’-10”. Tall and lean, her blue eyes and well-developed chest set her apart from the masses at school.

But.

They were a magnet for the testosterone-filled teenage boys.

“Richard, Dick, Jonny, Frank, Pete. It doesn’t matter. Tell him you’ll go out with him. Just set the date a month from now. Hell, tell him your schedule is booked up until then.”

“That’s a ridiculous idea.”

“It’s a great idea.”

She shook her head. “Have you always been this way?”

“What way?”

“Sadistic?”

I grinned. “Most of my life, yeah.”

She scanned me from head to toe, and then looked me in the eyes. “Figures.”

The timer on the stove beeped, saving me from further criticism.

“Go wash your hands,” she said. “It’ll be ready in a minute.”

“I washed them when I got home from--”

She shot me her signature stink eye, a side-eyed glare. “You’ve been handling that nasty vape thing, and who knows where else your hands have been. Wash ‘em.”

“Love you, Ed.”

As she opened the oven door, she glanced over her shoulder. “I love you, too, you sadistic jerk.”

FIVE

Sandy

In hindsight, I realized I should have never agreed to it. I was really enjoying our night out – it was riding on the motorcycle that I should have refused to do.

Smoke agreed to go on a date with Cholo and Lex. The men, of course, insisted that we ride on the motorcycles. I didn’t object, but I later realized I should have. With his club brother riding at his side, he was comfortable, and he was different.

He was fun, funny, had a more machismo demeanor, and seeing the differences made him far more attractive. I wanted to despise him for being the way he was about relationships, but I couldn’t.