Story: A Big Girl  g9   
      
   by Pedro Vila   
      
      
      
       Many years ago when I was young and single, before the hard times, I   
   knew some school boys.  I was in my early twenties, living in my own rented   
   house, and selling pot.  That's how I got to know them.  They were still in   
   eighth grade, but street wise.   
      
       Bobby, Greg, and Mitchell came to my door in the morning instead of   
   school, sometimes, and we got stoned.  It was during the late seventies,   
   outside the rainy city of Seattle, and it was raining that day as well.   
      
       I remember that day the most because Mitchell had to bring his younger   
   sister along.  She found out about me and said she'd tell unless they   
   brought her too.   
      
       She was probably nine and was dressed in jeans and a denim jacket with   
   long scraggly hair just like the boys.  Hers was blonder but still dirty   
   and no bangs, with that classic part down the middle like people wore in   
   those days.  Her face was nothing special, it could have passed for a boys,   
   and she had natural bags under her eyes.   
      
       Her name was Crystal and she didn't say anything.  The boys were   
   embarrassed to have had to bring her, and she tried to act like it was no   
   big deal, but it was to her.  She wanted to be tough and grown up acting   
   just like them.   
      
       Mitchell kept apologizing and I told him it was no big deal.  They sat   
   in the same places as always on my couch and tried to make small talk about   
   cars and rock bands.  I showed them the LP I had just bought of Nazareth,   
   "Hair of the Dog".  You remember that one, don't you?   
      
       Well anyway, The boys were impressed and wanted to play it right away.   
      
       They got up from the couch and went to my stereo.  I took the time to   
   kneel in front of Crystal.  She tried to act tough, but she was a little   
   scared of me.   
      
       "Crystal." I said.   
      
       "What?"   
      
       "If you're going to be here, you better be cool about it.  You narc on   
   me and I'll take you down.  Are we cool?"   
      
       "Fuck yeah.  I ain't no narc." She was talking tough, but her eyes were   
   ready to flinch from me.   
      
       I then held out my hand to shake hers.  "We got a deal?" She shook it   
   and relax some.  I smiled to her and made her feel welcome.  Mitchell was   
   looking at me, surprised that I let her get away with being here.   
      
       That all changed when I got my stash out.  I had an ounce of Columbian   
   gold and I started to roll one.  Bobby said, "Oh cool!" and Greg grinned   
   ear to ear.  Mitchell wanted to roll one too, but he always used the   
   rolling machine.   
      
       I licked my joint and closed it with one hand.  Mitchell was still   
   trying to get one right.   
      
       I lit up and passed it to the nearest boy.  I few hits and they were   
   rocking out to the title track.  I took the joint to Crystal and held it   
   out to her.  She looked at it, trying to decide if she could handle it.  I   
   could tell she'd never gotten high before.   
      
       Mitchell started to bitch about me sharing it.  "Man, don't waste it on   
   her.  She's just a dork."   
      
       "I am not." Crystal whined.   
      
       I stared Mitchell down.  "Hey, man.  If I say she's cool, she's cool,   
   okay?  It's my grass."   
      
       He looked hurt, but only because he was half stoned.  "Sorry." he   
   mumbled.   
      
       I looked back at his stick of a sister and said, "You don't have to if   
   you don't want to.  It's cool."   
      
       She took it and took a smoke then immediately started coughing.  The   
   boys laughed and I got her a glass of water.  She gulped it and I could see   
   her eyes were already red.  When the joint came around again, she took   
   another hit though.   
      
       We sat back and listened to the record.  They were high and I was   
   buzzing.  I looked over to Crystal and wondered about what it would be like   
   to fuck her.  I had some magazines that had little girls fucking and would   
   get off on them when I was high.  Something about smoking pot that made me   
   kinky.   
      
       She became aware of me staring at her after a while and looked at me.  I   
   smiled and mouthed the word, "Cool" to her.  She smiled back, dazed   
   looking.   
      
       After the second side of the album played, I got up and got a box of   
   twinkies and tossed one to every one.  I had empty wrappers on the table in   
   seconds flat.  I was going to put on something different when Greg begged   
   for "Dark Side of the Moon".  I shook my head and played it for them for   
   the hundredth time.   
      
       I lit up Mitchell's joint and passed it.   
      
       That's how we spent the day until it was past lunch.  Then I had to take   
   off and I kicked them out the door.  The boys didn't wait for Crystal and   
   she was last to walk out as they were already heading up the street.   
      
       I said to her, "Hey." She turned.  "You don't have to come with them,   
   you know.  You're cool.  You can come here anytime, okay?"   
      
       She said, "Thanks and walked off towards them, but she kept looking   
   back.   
      
       Telling her that made her feel independent.  I hoped she'd come back on   
   her own.   
      
       The boys skipped school a couple of more times, but Crystal wasn't with   
   them.  I asked once but they agreed, "Fuck her." I thought about that and   
   agreed myself, only not the way they were thinking.   
      
       The next week, it was just Bobby and Greg.  Mitchell got busted with pot   
   and was grounded.  The two didn't stay long either.  It was like they were   
   going to get busted by their parents as well and didn't want to take any   
   chances.   
      
       They left before the record was half over.   
      
       But at noon, I got a knock on my door and opened it to find Crystal   
   standing there.  I smiled big and let her in.  I was glad to see her.   
      
       We sat on the couch together.   
      
       "I heard your brother got busted."   
      
       "Yeah." She seemed intimidated.   
      
       "You going stay for a bit?"   
      
       "Maybe."   
      
       I smiled.  "You want to smoke some pot?"   
      
       She brightened up.  "Yeah!"   
      
       I rolled up a thin joint and she watched me like a hawk.  Something   
   about the way she was looking at me made me feel like I was the coolest guy   
   in the world.   
      
       She finally got a little talkative as I was finishing up the roll.  "How   
   did you learn to do that?" she asked.   
      
       "What?  The joint?"   
      
       "Yeah."   
      
       "Somebody taught me.  You want me to teach you?"   
      
       "Fuck yeah."   
      
       I smiled.  Little girl trying to be a big girl.  "Come over here.  I'll   
   show you." I reached for the grass and got a paper out for her and held it   
   between my thumb and fingers of both hands.  "You start by holding it like   
   this." I handed her the paper and took another one out for me.  She did   
   everything like I showed her.  She sprinkled grass on it, and she rolled it   
   around a bit to even it out.   
      
       I watched closely as she stuck her tongue out to lick it shut.  It was a   
   small pointy tongue coming from her small mouth.  She saw me looking at her   
   mouth and blushed.  I slowly smiled back.  I realized she had a crush on   
   me.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)