Dumplin - Julie Murphy Page 0,11
on my knees as she empties lace bras and matching panties all over her bed.
“For Tim.” She plops down on the edge of her mattress. “I want to look good.”
I hold up a sheer pair of purple underwear by my pinkie. “You bought all this stuff at work?”
“Callie helped me pick out some of it, but I need you to narrow it down so I can return the rest.”
“Oh.” I want to ask her if she told Callie that this was for her first time. We sift through the pile. Pink, white, black, red. Even green. Of course she told her. I know I’m making this into something more than it is. I don’t have the monopoly on Ellen-Tim sex conversations, but it feels like a betrayal.
“Okay,” I say, “white is out. You’re a virgin, which is cool. I mean it wouldn’t be uncool if you weren’t, but what I’m saying is you don’t need to look like something that shouldn’t be defiled. I mean, the whole point is to get defiled, right?”
“Right.” Her voice is definitive as she plucks out the white bra and pantie. “Should I have gotten, like, legit lingerie?”
I shake my head. “I think this is definitely the way to go. It says, ‘I’m ready to have sex’ without putting too much pressure on Tim.”
“I would die without you. Just straight up cease to exist.”
A smile grows on my face. “The black is too intimidating. I mean, it’s super fucking hot, but maybe save it for later.”
She stuffs it into the bottom drawer of her nightstand.
“I like the green, but it’s not quite right.” I bypass nude, red, purple, and blue. “This.” I swipe my hand across her bed, pushing aside every other set except for a tan-and-blush-striped set. “It says ‘summertime virgin, but not for long.’”
El smacks my arm and then reaches for it. The whole thing is trimmed in lace with little pearl buttons as accents. She holds the set close to her chest and slides down on the floor next to me. I turn around and sink to the ground.
She rests her head on my shoulder. I love how we smell after the pool. Like chlorine and sweat. The scent of summer. “Tonight. We’re gonna do it tonight,” she says.
SIX
After leaving Ellen’s, I am drained and the idea of taking fast-food orders all night feels impossible.
I tiredly pull my Harpy’s cap on over my head and tug my ponytail through the back as I take my place on the register.
“Hey, hey, Will,” calls Marcus from the condiment bar. “Lookin’ kinda toasty. You get some sun?”
“I guess.”
“You’re a little on the late side.”
I check my rolls of coins to see if I need to run to the office for change.
“Hey, I’m thinking of pulling together a betting pool for the pageant. You think you could get me some inside intel when the time comes?”
I shake my head and slam my register shut.
“What?” Marcus asks. “You don’t talk anymore? Strong and Silent back there rubbing off on you,” he says, referring to his self-given name for Bo.
I take one deep breath as I check the to-go bag supply underneath the register. “It’s been a long day. Need some space.”
Marcus mumbles something about PMS and to my surprise, from the kitchen, Bo says, “Why can’t she just be having a shitty day? You don’t need to make up some bullshit reason why.”
Ron lets out a low whistle from his office.
Marcus laughs. “Damn.”
“Maybe she saw your face,” says Bo, “and she knew the day was a lost cause.”
He winks at me from the service window. I whip my head around and smile.
I keep my hands busy in between customers, stocking and restocking napkins and condiments. Bo listens to his music, but with only one earbud in instead of two. Marcus is on his phone all night and, from what I gather, is arguing with Tiffanie via text.
Bekah Cotter, with her long, golden hair and compact curves, comes in with a huge group of friends and they sort of camp out with fries and fountain drinks. Callie’s right. Bekah will enter the pageant, and she’ll probably win. She’s one of those pretty girls you try so hard to hate. But she’s nice and kind of talented. Well, if you count baton twirling as a talent.
Bo’s on dining room duty, and when he makes the rounds with the cordless vacuum, Bekah is quick to pick up some spare trash from the surrounding tables. She says something to him. Nothing