Four Girls and a Guy - Suzanne Jenkins Page 0,47

dignified with your shiny dome. I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you. And you’re still beautiful.”

“I can’t wait to not have to worry about my looks anymore,” she said.

“When will that be?”

“Probably never,” Poppy Karas said, watching the Michigan countryside flash by. “When I die.”

Epilogue

Spring Break

While Edwin worked full time at the senior center that week, Alison flew home to San Diego. It would be the first time she’d seen her family in months, and the trepidation as the plane got closer to the airport grew exponentially. She got out her phone as soon as it landed.

Touchdown. Miss you already.

She’d fought it, resisted it, and finally gave in to love. She loved Edwin. Eddie. It wasn’t a conventional love, that was for sure. Their sexual encounters were made up of role-playing, which he’d initiated, and she wasn’t sure if he was doing it for her or it was really for him and he was in the closet.

“You’re missing the point,” Edwin said. “It’s not about hiding or pretending you’re something you’re not. It’s about enjoyment. Pure and simple.”

“You make me feel normal,” she said, shocked.

“Alison, you are normal. No matter what you decide to do, you’re normal, do you understand me? If you decide to have surgery in the future, you’re still normal.”

“I really don’t think that is part of who I am,” she said. Shaking her curls, she ran her fingers through her hair. “This might be history, though. I’m seriously thinking of getting it cut off.”

“Well, that’s up to you,” Edwin said. Her hair was really something; thick and curly, it hung over her face like a mane when she was on top of him. Seeing it go would take some getting used to. But he was determined to take life one day at a time.

The plane stopped at the terminal, and Alison looked out the window at San Diego Bay and the beautiful palm trees swaying. Her mother had wanted to pick her up, but she refused. Knowing Lisa Saint, there would be a barrage of questions that would put Alison on the defensive, and she didn’t want to start the week out acrimoniously. Lisa could do it without much effort.

She got an Uber and thirty minutes later was pulling up to their road. She sent a group text to her mom and dad and brothers, Jeff and Steve, and their wives.

I’m pulling up to the house. Anyone home?

By the time the car got there, they were all waiting on the porch, big smiles for the weary traveler. Seeing them waiting for her, sadness for something unknown welled up inside her, and she had to fight bursting into tears. She hadn’t cried in front of her family since she was six. They’d be terrified if she let it happen now.

Everything is fine, you idiot, she thought.

“Mom, Dad, guys,” she called, getting out of the car.

They met her on the terrace for hugs.

“You’re looking a little thin, sister. What’s up?” her brother Steve whispered, concerned.

“Probably just stress,” she said. “How are you?”

“I’m going to be a dad,” he said softly, his arm around her shoulder.

“Aw, congratulations!” she whispered. “Do the others know?”

“We’ll tell the folks later. Darcy wanted you to know first for some reason. Let’s get you settled.”

The evening was fun and relaxing. Sitting in a comfortable chair around the firepit in the lit-up backyard, memories of growing up in that house flooded her brain while trying to keep one ear open to Lisa expounding on what a young grandmother she would be, making Alison catch her brothers’ eyes to wink. It had meant the world to her to have two older strapping brothers. They were her idols. They were close enough in age that their mother would let them skinny-dip together after dark. Alison remembered Lisa having them use the outdoor shower that all houses close to the beach had, and then rather than get into pjs right away, corral them into the pool for one last swim while she and John had their nightly cocktails at the poolside.

Watching the boys’ bodies mesmerized her, their little penises so vulnerable, flopping around while they dove into the water. Tonight, her father noticed her staring at the pool.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

“Ha! Hi, Dad. I was just remembering skinny-dipping with the boys.”

Her parents chalked her fascination up to penis envy, but John knew there might be something else at work, and although he didn’t address it, he knew it was a ticking time bomb, something he’d rather not have to deal