Another You Read Online Free Page A

all talk about the same things. The environment. The reefs dying. Clear-cutting. They move around in a little pack and they talk about forests in Oregon and polluted reefs, and they act so self-righteous, like they’d never flush their toilet if they lived in Florida.”
    “You’re not worried about the future?”
    “I’m worried, right now, about Livan. I think she needs to talk to somebody about what McCallum did to her and also what that stupid woman at student health said. You know what the woman said? She said, ‘Can’t you see past this situation? What exactly do you think it’s done to your future?’ ”
    “It’s difficult to say anything, because I don’t know what the situation is,” he said.
    “He tied her to the bed and had sex with her.”
    “One burger well, one burger medium. How are you doing with that drink?” Myrtis said to Marshall. He looked at his glass. It was half-full. “In a while,” he said. Myrtis nodded and walked away. He looked at Cheryl. She was looking at him intently.
    “Is it possible … just possible, I mean … maybe it was something they were doing and then she freaked out? Or felt bad about later?”
    “She had to piss in the bed,” she said.
    He looked at his hamburger. It looked like the strangest thing in the world. He looked at the drink. It was half-empty. He took a sip and put the glass down. Cheryl picked up the glass and finished it, the ice sliding, causing a small rivulet of bourbon to splash down her chin. She wiped it away. She pushed back her bangs.
    “He asked her to piss in the bed?”
    “No, he didn’t ask her. She was tied up so long that she had to piss right there. She was humiliated.”
    “Cheryl,” he said, “wouldn’t it make sense that if they were there in a hotel, she’d scream for help? That …” He broke off. Jesus: McCallum tying up some kid in Boston. What had he done, polished his apple while she struggled? “God bless” indeed.
    “It wasn’t a hotel,” she said. “It was in Revere. Somebody’s triplex in Revere. When they got there, there were other people, but the next day the place was empty. She had sex with him the first night. She wanted to. I mean, she didn’t go to Boston wanting to, but she agreed. And when she agreed, it made him mad. She said she knew she’d done something wrong. And the next morning the whole house was quiet, and when she woke up, he tied her wrists to the bed.”
    “And you’re telling me some counsellor in student health only wanted to know what impact this was going to have on the rest of her life?”
    She nodded yes. He sensed Myrtis approaching. At least for the moment, she was occupied by people complaining about the blueberry pie; then, at the same table, someone wanted directions for driving the back roads to Portsmouth. Go up to the Texaco station , he heard. And: quarter mile, maybe just a bit over . The song on the jukebox was “Where the Boys Are.” Connie Francis. Good God—Connie Francis. Hadn’t something happened to her, hadn’t she been raped herself, when someone broke into her motel room? I’ll wait im-pa-tient-ly , Connie Francis sang.
    “I just saw that on the tube,” Cheryl said. Cheryl was looking beyond him, nodding, signalling yes to Myrtis. Rubbing her hamburger around in the grease on the plate. Cheryl said, “That movie. Where the Boys Are .”
    “It’s so depressing,” he said.
    “Unbelievably depressing,” she said.
    “Your roommate,” he said. “I meant your roommate.”
    “I’m glad you’ve forgotten her name,” Cheryl said. “I never should have told you.”
    “She needs to see somebody else at student health. I’ll go with her if I need to. You’re right. Of course she’s got to get help.”
    “Go with her!” It was almost a yelp. “She would kill me if she thought I told anybody about this, let alone a teacher. She would never trust another human being as long as she lived.”
    He thought about it. “Then I’ll go to