Her bloated face was pale.
“Did you find him?” Samson asked her.
Heather looked confused. “Huh? Who? Find who?”
“Ralph. I heard you calling for him. ‘Ralph! Ralph!’”
“Hardy har har har. You’re as funny as a pregnant pole-vaulter.”
Samson, a wide dazed smile on his face, staggered to the bathroom, hugged the doorframe, and peered inside. “Ralph? Ralph, you in here?”
Jeremy slumped against the wall and wrinkled his nose at Shiner. “I think she barfed in there.”
“I do believe you’re right.”
“It’s gonna stink.”
“There’s probably a john upstairs.”
“I’ll ask.” He pushed himself off the wall again and headed for Tanya. Tanya would know. Aware that Shiner was probably watching him, he walked very carefully. And he didn’t look at Karen. He stepped between the edge of the table and the sofa. He bumped Randy’s arm, but the boy didn’t wake up.
Tanya raised her head and smiled at him. “Hey, Duke. How’s it going?”
“Great,” he said. “I was just—”
“Get over here, sit down.” She took her feet off the table and set her glass on it. Taking Jeremy’s hand, she towed him past her knees and pulled him onto the sofa beside her. “You having a good time?” she asked.
“Yeah. Terrific.”
“Good, good.” She wrapped an arm across his shoulders. “You’re a good fella, Duke. You’re a real good fella. Know what I like about you?”
He shook his head. The motion of it made him dizzy.
“You got loyalty. Loyalty and guts.” She rubbed his shoulder. Staring into his eyes, she nodded agreement with herself. “I didn’t wanta see that guy die. You wanta see that guy die?”
“No.”
“’Course not. But I don’t hear you whining about it and bugging out. No, sir. You got loyalty and guts.”
“Thanks,” he said.
“You’re a true friend. We’re all true friends. We’re family, you know?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re gonna wipe out those fuckin’ trolls. We’re gonna lay ’em waste.”
“Damn right.”
She turned toward him. Her leg pressed his leg. She pulled him against her chest and kissed him.
Tanya’s kissing me, he told himself.
He couldn’t believe it.
He wondered if Shiner was watching.
He didn’t care.
He’d dreamed of this since the first time he saw her, and now it was happening, really happening.
Her full lips were soft and warm and moist. And open. Her breath was going into his mouth. Her breasts were pushing against his chest. Her hands were rubbing his back. He put his arms around her and hugged her tight. Her tongue thrust into his mouth.
Then her face eased away from him.
It can’t be over yet, he told himself. He felt cheated, as if he’d just awakened from a dream—the best dream ever, one that had just started. The loss of it made him ache. At the same time, he felt an intense joy. How could he feel so horrible and so wonderful at the same moment?
Her lips and the skin around them looked wet.
That’s my saliva, Jeremy thought. Mine. God.
Looking into his eyes, she squeezed his leg. “Come with me,” she said.
Stunned, he rose from the sofa. Tanya scooted over, easing Randy’s head onto the cushion, and got up. She led the way to the stairs.
Shiner was no longer standing by the wall. Jeremy looked around. She was gone.
Had she actually left?
Doesn’t matter, he thought. Oh, God, where are we going? Away from the others. Someplace where we can be alone. What’s going on?
We gonna do it?
His mouth was dry, his heart thumping as he climbed the stairs behind Tanya.
I don’t even know how! What if I mess up and she laughs at me?
At the top of the stairs, she took hold of his hand.
“Where’re we going?” he asked, his voice coming out hushed and ragged.
“My room.”
Her words seemed to suck out the last of Jeremy’s breath. He gasped for air as he walked with her.
“I’ve got something for you.”
His legs trembled as he climbed the broad carpeted stairs to the second floor of the house.
He wondered where her parents were. Shiner had said they might be upstairs, staying out of the way. But this was Friday, so maybe they’d gone out.
What if they come back and catch us?
Jeremy walked with Tanya down a hallway and entered a room. She flicked a wall switch, and lamps came on. She shut the door.
Jeremy was standing inside the biggest bedroom he’d ever seen. It had an enormous bed with lamps on either side, a bureau, a dressing table with a mirror, a roll-top desk, a television with a VCR, a compact-disk player, a recliner, a sofa, and shelves that were crowded with animal dolls, trophies, framed photographs, and