Broken Pasts Read Online Free

proudly as I took
the gift in my own hands and examined it. There were little red and
pink hearts painted on each bead. “It's a Kukui nut necklace,”
she stated authoritatively. “And it has magic, too. It will
bring you love.” She paused and giggled. “And penises.”
    “ Rhea!”
I said, trying my best not to laugh. I put a hand on my hip and
couldn't hold back a smile.
    “ Hey,”
Jamie said, leaning against the door frame behind me. “Can't
complain about that. I say, amen. Nice job, Rhea.” Rhea
grinned and gestured at me wildly, feisty and colorful in her bright
pink shirt and yellow spandex pants. What can I say, the girl had
style.
    “ Put
it on,” she whispered excitedly. I detached the card, smiled
at the hastily scrawled 'I love you' and slipped off the eye of Horus
necklace. I put the new necklace on in its place and did a
ridiculous and completely embarrassing, wine inspired runway show.
    I
had just traded a symbol of protection for a symbol of love.
    I
should've worn both the necklaces.
    ***
    Rhea
spent the remainder of the afternoon in her bedroom playing video
games while Jamie and I looked at magazines whose sole intention was
to destroy a person's self image and sense of beauty.
    “ Jamie,”
I said and I tried to keep my voice low so Rhea wouldn't hear. I
mean, I could at least pretend that she wouldn't hear. How is it
that little kids always manage to eavesdrop on the worst
conversations? They were all natural-born sleuths, I swear it.
“Have you ever had an … ” I stared at the article
in my hand and fought through a lump in my throat to articulate my
question. “An orgasm?” Jamie looked up suddenly, face
horrified.
    “ You're
not just bringing this up now, are you?” she asked, face locked
into this terrible expression of dismay. She still looked pretty
with her smoky eyes and red rouged lips, even in the baggy gray sweat
suit she was wearing. I looked away and shrugged.
    “ I'm
not saying I haven't had one. I'm just not … sure.”
Jamie put her wine down, closed her magazine and took me by the hand.
    “ If
you're not sure if you've had one, then you haven't had one. You
would know.” I frowned and tried to peek around the corner
without leaving my stool. Rhea already had penises on the brain.
The last thing I needed was her running back to Glen's house and
telling him that Mommy never had an orgasm. Wouldn't that be nice?
    “ Well,
when … ” God, I can barely say his name. I
shook myself of the fear and continued. “When Gary and I first
got together, the sex was great, but – ” Jamie cut me
off.
    “ But
it wasn't orgasmic,” she said with a sigh. “Dear God.”
Jamie stood up, opened the freezer and pulled out the bottle of
Jäger. “We're going to need this,” she said as she
retrieved a pair of glasses. “This is okay. This is normal.”
I raised my eyebrows and swept a bit of stray hair from my forehead.
It sounded more like Jamie was reassuring herself rather than me.
“The average age for a woman's first orgasm is twenty-eight, so
that means some are earlier and some are later. You're just on the …
the later side.”
    “ Where
did you read that fact?” I asked skeptically. “That
doesn't sound right.” Jamie ignored me and gestured at the
living room window with a raise of her chin.
    “ Can
you please close those curtains?” she asked as she poured our
drinks. “Some weirdo's driving up and down the street. I
don't like to be stared at when I'm wearing the world's ugliest sweat
suit.”
    “ You
could've packed a bag,” I whispered as she started to talk over
me.
    “ You
do masturbate, right? Most women have their first orgasm while
masturbating.”
    “ What's
masturbation?” Rhea asked as she skipped into the kitchen and
sniffed the glass of Jäger that was sitting in front of my
abandoned magazine. “Gross, that smells like black licorice.
I hate black licorice, but I like the red kind.”
    I
groaned and grabbed the blue and white