… Whether I'm gonna be your wife or
Gonna smash up your bike, I
Haven't decided yet
But I'm gonna get you back
Their Cokes are hot and sticky, the van AC is blowing warm air, and they're still days and nights from the Pacific.
But at least the radio is still playing.
Madeline's absence is like the cut on Florence's eye: healing, but still raw. They don't talk about her much....except when old stories creep in, or the ache on Florence's face seems to fill the car.
But at least they're developing a connoisseurship for gas station hot dogs.
Anna May is taking a turn driving, largely because it lets her get a break from Scarlet. (Emily refuses to vacate shotgun.) Since leaving the city, they've barely spoken, except through Sam and Emily.
Should we stop for the night?
You tired, Sam?
Should we take a bathroom break?
Do you have to go, Emily?
She's tired, and hot, and frankly, she'd like to stick her feet in some cool water without all these women around her.
She pulls off at the next exit that advertises a motel without asking.
"Are we stopping?" Florence asks sleepily from the backseat. "Can I get a blue Slurpee?"
"Are we stopping?" Scarlet repeats.
"We're stopping," Anna May says grimly, "and I'm getting a room to myself."
Anna May does not get a room to herself.
Florence shares with Sam and Emily, and she gets to pick, because her eye is still weeping...and only partially because of the scar.
Anna May gets stuck with Scarlet, because there is a God, and she's on his shit list.
"I'll take the bed by the window," Scarlett says, putting her bag down on the faded comforter.
"You will not," says Anna May, who honestly doesn't care. "Your reflexes are blunted. What if the Firm finds us?"
"My reflexes are not in the least bit blunted," Scarlet argues.
Anna May snorts. "That's what you think."
Scarlet picks up her duffel and deposits it on the other bed. "Happy?"
No, Anna May is not.
"I'm going down to the pool," she declares.
The pool closes after nine, but Anna May is more than pleased to disable the security cameras and hop the fence, just to sink her toes into the cool water, her eyes closed...
"Happy?"
"I was."
Scarlet nods and sits down next to her. "And then I came back."
That isn't quite right.
Happy is Scarlet and Anna May sharing a bed and raising a child, Florence and Madeline in the next room.
Happy will never happen again.
"The water's nice," Scarlet says, rolling up her pants and dipping her legs.
Without another thought, Anna May shoves her in. "Still nice?"
Scarlet floats on her back, soaking wet in her clothes. "Jealous?"
Without another thought, Anna May jumps.
And Scarlet kisses her right back.
