“Sheila,” Caron said. Her sister got up slowly, buttoning her shirt. “We have to talk, kid.” They walked down the other side of the hill together, Caron shivering despite the summer heat. Had she really seen that? Sheila sucking Melissa’s tits? And what did it mean? She looked back over her shoulder. Melissa was picking up something, tossing it over the edge of the bluff, into the water far below. Caron couldn’t be sure, but it looked like a painting that had been slashed to pieces. Melissa was still naked, towel hanging over her shoulder, and her ass was twitchy and provocative. She had a glorious all-over tan, and her body moved with patented allure.
“Sheila…”
“Caron…”
They’d both spoken at the same time. Sheila gulped. Her face was red and she was obviously struggling for composure. “I might as well tell you now,” she said. “If you didn’t guess, I know you saw us, and I know you must be wondering. You’ve been worried about me for a long time, afraid I’d never meet Mr. Right, huh? Well, I haven’t been looking for Mr. Right, Caron. You might say I’ve been looking for Ms. Right. Caron, I’m a lesbian. I’ve been one since I was sixteen, and I don’t intend to be anything else. I’m not ashamed of it. The only reason I never told you was because I didn’t think you’d understand. Well, it’s too late to cover it up now. I’m in love with Melissa and I think she’s sort of in love with me. She’s coming back to Darien with me. I guess we’ll go tomorrow. I know you’d be uncomfortable having us around, especially after you get rid of Lou, so…”
Caron sighed heavily. “You think you’ve got problems of explanation?” she asked, cupping Sheila’s chin. Her eyes were kind and as understanding as she could make them. “Lou isn’t leaving. We’ve—we’ve decided to reconcile, to give it one more try. My God, Sheila, how could you be a les… a les… I can’t even say it! How could you have been that way all these years?”
“I have been, and I am, and I will continue to be,” she replied. “It’s me, Caron, it’s the way I am. I don’t want to change. Wait a minute. Did you just tell me that you and Lou, that you and that slimy son of a bitch…”
“He’s not so slimy if you give him half a chance. Bear with me, huh, kid? I had a choice to make, and I made it, and I hope it’s the right one. But as for you—you’re my sister, you can’t be gay. You’re just a little mistaken. But for the love of shit, it you have to have a girlfriend, can’t you do better than Melissa, of all people? She has the I.Q. of a Chihuahua! She worked in a massage parlor! She made porno movies! She is trashy and cheap and she’s the sluttiest thing I have seen on two legs.”
Sheila sighed. “I know all that. But I love sluts! And who are you to be talking about bad choices? Oh, Caron,” and she embraced her sister. “Don’t be so tight,” she added. “I’m not going to rape you, for Chrissake! You’re not a slut, and that means you’re not my type! See? I can kiss you without sticking my tongue down your throat. Now, if you were about a 38-D around the chest, and if you swung your hips like a truck stop waitress, and if you snapped chewing gum all the time—well, you wouldn’t be so safe. Oh, Caron, did you let him screw you? Is that what changed your mind? Melissa told me he was going to try to get you into bed, but I thought it would never work. Did he? And that’s what made you decide…”
Caron nodded, a little sadly. Sheila hugged her. “He told me,” Caron said, “not in so many words, but plain enough I could have read him if I’d been a bit smarter, that you had your eye on Melissa, too. What are we getting ourselves into, Sheila? You and me? These people come out of nowhere, plant themselves on our doorstep, and the next thing you know they’ve got us both in the sack. Are we that crazy, the two of us? Do we think with our cunts?”
Sheila giggled. It was a pretty flutelike sound, and Caron couldn’t help giggling too. “I guess so,” Sheila said. “After all, we’re women. And when it gets right down, what can we trust, except our cunt and our hearts? If it doesn’t work, we can always cry on each other’s shoulders. You brace me and I’ll brace you. Fair enough, Caron?” And she offered her sister a hand to shake.
“Fair enough,” Caron agreed. They shook, but they didn’t unclasp their hands. I wonder what it would be like, Caron thought. I know how it is with a man, but what about with a woman? Is it really different? Different enough to commit your whole life to? Sheila thinks so, obviously, and I can’t understand her reasoning, any more than she can understand why I’m so ready to give Lou Archer another chance. We’re crazy, both of us. But I don’t care!
Holding hands, they went back up the hill to Melissa. The blonde girl was still naked, her shaven pubes a landmark between her thighs. Caron looked at the hairless slit, tried to imagine Sheila licking it, then tried to imagine herself licking it. Who knows, she thought, who knows what is coming next?
Down below, on the causeway from the mainland, they could see Lou and his VW, racing home with that case of champagne. Party tonight. And tomorrow? Tomorrow would have to take care of itself. For Caron, for Sheila. They were trusting their pussies and their hearts, and maybe this time their trust would be rewarded. It wasn’t too much to ask of life, and Caron knew that the chance was worth the risk.