Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 ï>¿The Trailer Park: The Second Year A Story in the Wynter/Trailer Park
Universe by Wizard CopyrightÂ(C) 2006 by Wizard

   Chapter 17

   "Feeling better?" I asked as I walked up to the bus stop.

   "Better than you look."

   "What's wrong with the way I look?" I asked, standing straighter and
running my fingers through my hair.

   "Aside from the fact that one side of your face is a giant bruise,
nothing." Tami leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.  The unbruised
one.

   "Yeah, looking in the mirror this morning I was sure glad I don't have
to shave yet."

   Tami grinned and molded herself to my side.

   We stood like that for about five minutes until the bus came, ignoring
the looks we were getting from the others.

   On the bus I swung into the third seat, and Tami sat down beside me.  It
was like nothing had happened, yet I knew it had.

   The driver had closed the door and started to put the bus into gear when
Paula came running up.  He looked down at her and shook his head.  She
looked up, smiled big, and clasped her hands in front of her in a pleading
gesture.  He relented and opened the door.  Just another average day.

   We picked up eight more kids before we got to Robbie's stop.  She smiled
as she got on, seeing Tami and me sitting together, then squeezed past Tami
and plopped herself on my lap.

   Mr.  Connors, the bus driver, gave me a dirty look but didn't say
anything.

   "You don't look quite as bad as I expected."

   "Good morning to you too."

   She gently turned my head and inspected the damage.  "You used to be
cute."

   "And will be again."

   She inspected me again.  "Maybe.  But maybe I'd better start recruiting
a replacement.  I can't be seen with Frankenstein."

   "Thanks."

   Next to me, Tami shifted but said nothing.

   "Why the hell did you let him hit you if you could beat him up?"

   That was a damn good question.  "I didn't beat him up, I defended
myself."

   "The question stands."

   I let one hand rest on her butt and the other on her thigh.  I lowered
my voice.  "I guess I figured he had a couple of hits coming.  Since I'd
made him out a liar and everything."

   "Why?" Tami asked quietly, almost whispering.

   I looked over at her.  "I decided their were worse things than lying. 
Like bragging without caring about another person's feelings."

   "He could have hurt you," Tami said.

   "He did hurt me," I admitted.  A true hero would have shrugged it off.
"I play football.  I've been hurt before.  I'll get hurt again." I thought
about adding a line about standing up for what's right, but there's a limit
to early morning corn.

   "Thank you."

   "You're my friend," I said as I rubbed Robbie's leg.

   Tami watched my hand for a minute and nodded.

   As we got off the bus, I put my arms around both girls.  Across Tami's
shoulders and Robbie's back.  It certainly wouldn't hurt the rep to be
walking around with two of the hottest girls in school.

   "Mr.  Sims!" I heard as I was whispering something totally inappropriate
into Robbie's ear.  "My office." Mr.  Reed, the principal, was standing a
few feet in front of us, arms folded and foot tapping.

   "Is there a problem?" I asked innocently.

   "Only if you consider being suspended a problem."

   Around us, the halls got very quiet.  There were about sixty kids in the
hall, waiting for school, including the twenty-five or so that had just got
off the bus.  Everybody was staring.  Robbie put her hand over mine on her
waist and squeezed.

   "Getting suspended would definitely be a problem," I admitted.  Mr. 
Reed nodded at my statement of the obvious.  "My parents won't be pleased."

   "You should have thought of that before you put Mr.  King in the
hospital." Several kids gasped.  By now everybody knew about the fight, but
not everybody knew how bad Peter had gotten hurt.  Hell, I didn't know he
was in the hospital.

   Mr.  Reed unfolded his arms and pointed toward the main office.  "Let's
go."

   "You don't understand," I said, not moving and still holding the two
girls.  "My parents aren't going to get mad at me; they're going to be
royally pissed at the school." I saw Tami's eyes open wide when I said
pissed, but I'd chosen my words carefully.

   "Excuse me?"

   "Sure, everyone knows it's school policy to have a teacher supervising
bus loading, but there was no one there to stop the fight.  Let's see, who
could have been on duty?" I mused.  "I believe it was Mr.  Hallowell's turn
for the duty."

   Around me I saw several nodding heads, and noticed that the crowd was
growing.  Mr.  Reed was still standing pointing toward the office.

   "But everybody knows that Mr.  Hallowell does his duty from an easy
chair in the teacher's lounge.  I wonder who's supposed to be in charge of
making sure that Mr.  Hallowell does his job?"

   "The point is..." Reed said, finally dropping his arm.  "This school has
a zero tolerance policy for fighting and you just put a kid in the
hospital."

   "The point is, Mr.  Reed, if this school wants to have a zero tolerance
policy for fighting, then it needs to supervise the students.  And somebody
is responsible to make sure that supervision happens."

   "I'm not sure I care for your attitude."

   "I'm not sure I care for yours." Around me, I heard several sharp
intakes of breath and the kids closest to us moved back, probably expecting
an explosion.  I noticed Mr.  McCoy in the crowd and wondered if he'd want
to take back his invitation.

   "Point one, how many fights have I been in since I moved to this
school?" Reed glared at me without answering.  "None.  How many fights was
I in, in six-and-a-half years at my old school?" I didn't bother waiting
for an answer.  "None.  How many times has Peter King been suspended for
fighting just this school year?  The answer to that would be three.

   "Point two.  There were about thirty witnesses to the fight yesterday.
Can you find one who'll say I threw the first punch?  Or the second?  Or
the third?  I defended myself only after he'd hit me three times.  Can you
find anyone who'll say I taunted him into attacking me?

   "Point three.  Peter King is a sophomore.  What the hell was he doing at
the middle school anyway?

   "Point four.  King has a couple of inches and twenty or thirty pounds on
me.  Do you really think I wanted a fight with him?

   "Point five.  I'm sorry that he's in the hospital, but maybe he'll learn
not to pick a fight with younger, smaller kids.

   "Point six.  The school is supposed to provide supervision to make sure
that things like this can't happen.  It didn't.  If you're not going to
protect me, then I have to defend myself.

   "Point seven.  The administration is supposed to make sure that the
teachers do their job.  What were you doing yesterday afternoon while King
was doing this?" I turned my head so that Reed had a good look at the side
of my face.

   "And point last.  My mother said that if you needed to talk to her about
all this, you could contact our attorney, Bill Sheridan." Bill Sheridan had
a reputation as the crookedest lawyer in this half of the state.  That
meant he won a lot.

   Around me, several kids started applauding, but that died down as Reed
sent dark looks at the crowd.

   Then the first bell rang.  Nobody moved.

   "Shall I go to class, or go home and watch game shows while Sheridan and
the superintendent figure out who's getting fired?"

   There was a long silence, shattered by the second bell.

   "Get to class," he growled to the crowd at large.  "You too.  I will
investigate what you said." Then he stomped off toward the office. 
Literally stomped, like a five-year-old.

   I let out the breath I'd been holding.

   "I can't believe you did that," Robbie said and Tami nodded.

   "Mom wrote the speech," I admitted.

   "You have a very cool mom," Robbie said as we started toward our
classes.

   "I told her everything," I told Tami, looking her in the eye.  "Though
she didn't ask the obvious question."

   Tami paled but nodded.  I knew that she knew that I'd told Mom all about
her and Peter, but that Mom hadn't asked about her and me.  Maybe this mind
reading stuff isn't so hard.



   Chapter 18

   "Ladies."

   Mikee and Kelly turned and looked at me.

   I smiled my most charming smile.  "And what are you up to today?" At
least it didn't hurt to smile anymore, and two weeks had hidden the bruises
so I wouldn't scare the girls.

   "We want to go swimming," Mikee said, and they turned back to staring at
the fence around the pool.  And the locked gate.

   I grinned.  "Well, even if the gate was unlocked, and even if there was
water in the pool, you'd be bumping into ice cubes.  I mean, it's almost
February."

   The girls turned to me again and pouted.

   Damn, they were even cuter when they pouted.

   "Ladies," I said, stepping forward and putting my arms around them, "I
can't offer you a swimming pool, but how about some hot chocolate and a
bathtub.?"

   "You just want to see us naked," Kelly said with a giggle.

   "Well, it has been awhile."

   Both girls grinned.

   "You never come visiting anymore," I accused as I steered them toward my
house.

   "Well, Tami..."

   "You don't need Tami's permission to come see me, whether it's to say hi
or other things." I leered.

   Kelly giggled.

   "What kind of other things?" Mikee asked seductively.

   "We'll think of something.  The family went to Seattle, and you know how
lonely I can get."

   "What about Tami?" Kelly wanted to know.

   "We're just friends."

   "What about Robbie?" Mikee suggested.

   "Went shopping with her dad."

   "So we're third choice?" Mikee said, trying to fake sounding hurt.

   "Sixth, actually.  There was Paula, and Allie, and Alana."

   "Alana wouldn't have anything to do with you," Kelly said with a giggle.

   "Yeah, you're not a senior."

   "Okay, fifth."

   We'd arrived at the steps in front of my trailer.  "I don't know if I
want to be fifth," Mikee said and pulled away.

   "It's okay by me," Kelly said and snuggled close.

   "Me too," Mikee admitted and hugged herself to my other side.

   I grinned, and we went up the stairs and inside.  "Get comfortable," I
told them.  "I'll make cocoa."

   I came back a couple minutes later, carefully juggling three mugs of
cocoa in two hands.  The girls had shucked their heavy coats and were
sitting on the sofa wearing jeans and t-shirts.  I kinda hoped when I told
them to get comfortable that they'd...

   "So what have you two been up to?" I asked as I set down the cocoa and
took a place on the sofa between them.  "I haven't seen you since the
beginning of Christmas vacation."

   "I got a new bike for Christmas.  And a stereo," Kelly gushed.  "And I
got all excellents on my report card."

   "All I got was clothes."

   "What did you ask for?" I asked and took a sip of cocoa.

   "Well, clothes.  But they..."

   "You know the old saying, be careful what you wish for.  What'd you get
on your report card?"

   "Mostly B's.  Two C's.  What'd you get?"

   "One B, the rest A's."

   "I hate smart kids," Mikee mumbled.

   "I guess that's why I like your sister best." I pulled Kelly into a hug.

   Kelly giggled and Mikee fumed,

   I released Kelly, grabbed Mikee, and pulled her onto my lap.  "You know
you're cute when you're mad." I kissed her on her forehead.  Then her
eyelids, nose, and finally her mouth.

   "Hey!  What about me?" Kelly whined.

   "Talk to me when you're a teenager." I saw her face set into a pout of
her own.  Mikee had turned thirteen a couple of weeks before Christmas.

   I kissed Mikee again.  Longer and deeper this time.

   "But I'm almost eleven," Kelly protested.  "And I've got hair on my
pussy, too."

   "You do?"

   Kelly stood and in one move pushed her jeans and panties past her hips.

   Damn.  I could see six or seven hairs framing her slit.

   "Hey!" Mikee protested.  "I have hair, too."

   "But you've had yours awhile.  This is special." I reached up and
stroked Kelly's hairs.

   "Would you two like to be alone?" Mikee asked sarcastically.

   I remembered Tami asking that question and not liking the answer.  So I
kissed Mikee and stroked Kelly.  Damn!  Little Kelly had hair.

   "Have I told you how beautiful you are?" I asked, looking down at
Mikee's face.

   "Not recently."

   "You are beautiful.  The angels must have crafted you to inspire poets."

   Kelly giggled.

   Mikee sighed.  "You know, that would mean a lot more if you didn't have
your hand on my sister's cunt when you said it."

   I gave a short laugh.  "You have a point." I stood, taking my hand away
from Kelly and lifting Mikee to my chest.  I turned toward my bedroom.

   Kelly stood to follow.

   "Sit!  Stay!" I commanded.

   Kelly sat with a pout.  "You don't have to treat me like a dog."

   "You're right," I agreed, turning back to her.  I reached down and
patted her head.  "Good girl." I thought about getting her a cookie but
thought that might be pushing things too far.  I carried my princess away
to my castle.

   I undressed Mikee and laid her on the bed, then stood at the foot
looking down at her.  "You are beautiful, you know.  Raphael and
Michelangelo would cut off their hands that they could not create such
beauty." I stripped off my own clothes.

   Mikee looked puzzled.  "What do turtles have to do with it?"

   You try to get poetic and bump into the low standards of American
education.  What's a guy to do?

   "Alana's more beautiful."

   "Alana is perfection and unattainable.  You..."

   I knelt on the bed and pressed my face to her pussy.  Knowing what Mikee
liked, I stabbed my tongue quickly in and out of her cunt, and I found her
clit with my thumb and gently rubbed it.  In less than a minute Mikee was
moaning.  I wondered if it was possible to make a living as a gigolo
without having to touch wrinkled old women.  Yuch.

   Mikee started driving her hips upward to meet my tongue, and I knew her
orgasm was close.  She must have been real horny.  I knew I hadn't touched
since before Christmas.  Did this mean the hot little seventh grader wasn't
getting any action anywhere else?

   Mikee grabbed my head and held me as she sank back onto the bed.

   "Liked that?" I asked as I kissed my way up her body.

   As I kissed her chin, I caught a flicker of movement and knew that Kelly
was watching us from the doorway.

   "How can anything be so good?" Mikee asked after I'd kissed her mouth,
nose, eyelids and forehead.

   I shrugged.

   "Are you ever going to fuck me?"

   "I..."

   "I'm thirteen.  You fucked Tami when she was thirteen."

   It's hard to argue with logic, especially when you don't want to argue.
My knees were between her thighs, and my cock was hovering above her pussy.
"Are you sure?"

   She nodded.

   I lowered myself until my cock was pressed against her outer defenses.
"Really sure?"

   Mikee hesitated, and I almost pulled away.  "Please fuck me."

   I pressed down, and her lips, slippery with my saliva and her own
juices, parted, and my cock pressed inside.  In the stories I'd read I'd be
thinking this was the tightest pussy I'd ever been in, but it felt about
the same as Tami to me, even though Mikee was a smaller girl and about
three months younger than Tami when I'd first fucked her.

   My cock slid in easily until my balls rested at the bottom of her slit.
I rolled us over, onto my back.  "I'm in," I said, unnecessarily.  "But I'm
not going to fuck you." She looked disappointed, and I almost laughed. 
"This is your first time, so you're going to fuck me." Mikee grinned and
started moving her body around my cock.

   I wondered if Robbie still wanted me to be her first, then decided it
was unfair to Mikee to be thinking about that.

   Kelly, mesmerized, had come about halfway into the room instead of
hiding just outside the door.  I knew the younger girl would want to get
fucked too, and I might.  But not today.  This was Mikee's day.

   "Oh my sweet fucking Jesus!" Mikee yelled as her second orgasm swept her
up.  For once, I wouldn't give her a hard time about her language.  After
all, she'd just lost her virginity.  But damn, was I glad that Mr. 
Smithfield, my next door neighbor, was deaf as a post.



   Chapter 19

   I knocked on the door.

   Robbie opened it and smiled.

   I cleared my throat.

   "And I'll sing you to sleep, after the lovin', with a song I just wrote
yesterday." I sang.

   "What?"

   "Oh wait.  I'm not supposed to sing that for another half-an-hour."

   "What are you talking about."

   "You'll figure it out," I told her as, in one motion, I came in, scooped
her up, and kicked the door closed.  "I have great faith in you," I said as
I climbed the stairs toward her bedroom.

   "What's gotten into you," Robbie giggled.

   "Well, yesterday Mrs McGinty was wearing these black fishnet
stockings..." I nudged her door open with my foot, carried her in, and
deposited her on her bed.

   "Mrs McGinty, huh?" Mrs McGinty, the cafeteria lady, was about sixty
years old, weighed about three hundred pounds, and thankfully wore long
skirts so that I'd never seen her legs.

   "I woke up so horny, and since you said your dad was going to be gone
all day..."

   "You just thought you'd ride your bike over here and have your way with
me?"

   "Actually, I walked.  I was afraid if I rode my bike, I might only have
energy enough to fuck you five or six times."

   "Five or six times?"

   "Before lunch."

   It had been a long two weeks.

   After I'd fucked Mikee, Kelly wanted to lose her cherry, but I managed
to say no.  Until the next day anyway, when her sister threatened to hold
me down for her.

   Then, between practicing for a school concert with the advanced vocals
group, and parents who actually stayed home, I'd never had a chance to be
alone with Robbie for more than a couple of minutes.  And I didn't want her
first time to be a quickie.

   "Did you ever consider I may not want to fuck you five or six times."
She giggled.  "Before lunch.  Or even once, for that matter."

   "But you can't refuse me."

   Robbie turned cold, and I realized that it sounded like I was going to
do this whether she wanted to or not.

   "You don't realize what day this is, do you?"

   "What day is it?" she asked, suspiciously.

   "This is the day that the whole world celebrates the glory of my birth."

   "Your birthday?"

   "And guess what I'd like for my present?" I reached down and captured a
foot and pulled her sock off.

   "How many guesses do I get?"

   "Five." I pulled off her other sock.

   Robbie giggled.  "You want a train set?"

   "Nope.  Fifth birthday." I grabbed the bottoms of her sweat pants and
pulled.  They slid down easily, and I held them up like a matador's cape
and took a short bow.

   "Tinker toys?"

   "Fourth and sixth birthdays.  Would you sit up for a minute?"

   She sat up.  I positioned her arms over her head, grabbed the bottom of
her t-shirt, and yanked it up and off.

   "A chemistry set?"

   "Tenth birthday, and Dad swore never again.  The house stunk for weeks."
I grabbed the bottom of her sports bra and pulled it up and off as well,
then lowered her arms and pushed her back into a reclining position.

   "A cap gun?"

   "I am a pacifist." I leaned forward and grabbed the waistband of her
panties, candy cane striped, and pulled them down her legs, letting them
dangle on her left ankle.

   "Remind me to ask Peter King about that."

   I frowned.  "Next Tuesday."

   "How many guesses left?"

   "One."

   "Your two front teeth?"

   "Christmas when I was eight.  You're out of guesses."

   "Damn, now I'll never know."

   "Maybe I could show you?"

   "Maybe you could."

   I grinned.  I undressed quickly, my erect cock giving away my
excitement.

   "My, what a big..."

   "Let's not go there," I said quickly, images of Peter and Tami invading
my mind.

   Robbie looked surprised, then thoughtful, then understanding.

   I crawled up beside her, letting my cock rest on her leg, turned her
head, and kissed her.

   "Now what?" she asked, sounding timid for the first time since I'd known
her.

   "Hell, if I know.  My present is just looking at you, nude on a bed. 
Anything else is up to you."

   Robbie grinned, then suddenly my cock was in her mouth.  A great way to
start a birthday.

   Robbie sucked on my cock for a couple of minute, teasing the groove
behind my head with her tongue, then seemed to decide something.  She
pushed me onto my back and mounted me, sliding forward until the side of my
rod was pressed against her slit.

   "Like this?"

   "Well, you might want to try headfirst the first time.  Sideways is more
advanced."

   Robbie gave me an eat-shit-and-die look, then grasped me at the base,
sat up, and pressed the head against her lips.  She pressed down with her
hips, and my cock slipped along her slit.  She looked annoyed.

   I reached down and gently pried her pussy open with my fingers, and she
tried again.  This time my head lodged in her pussy, and she pressed
herself down onto me.  "Is it supposed to hurt?" she asked when she'd
swallowed about half my length.

   "Bearing in mind, that I'm not an expert, yes.  It usually hurts the
first time.  You didn't have a cherry to break which is painful, but your
vagina still has to get used to something this big inside it."

   "Have an inflated idea of yourself?"

   "I may not be the biggest in the world, but it's bigger than my finger,
and that's what you're used to.  Do you want to stop?"

   "No."

   She pressed down and took another inch.

   "It's better," she said, but not very convincingly.

   I knew she wouldn't quit.

   I grabbed her waist, rolled her onto her back, and drove my cock hard
into her pussy.

   "Oh God!"

   "Not even close," I said as I lay on her.  "Just your average humble
football hero."

   "Whose life mission is eliminating virginity?"

   "We do what we can."

   "Is this all there is to fucking?"

   "Well, normally, there's some movement involved."

   "Wellllll."

   "I was letting you get..."

   "Tony, would you shut up and fuck me?"

   I aim to please.  I did.



   Chapter 20

   Tami and I were walking around the park, just enjoying the night sky. 
March had come in like a lion, as the saying goes, dumping six inches of
snow on us.  But now, two days later, the snow was gone and it looked like
spring was ready to start.  It was one of those clear Washington nights
when all the clouds were partying somewhere else and every star in the
galaxy was trying to outshine the others.

   "So what are you going to do about the offer?" she asked as we turned
onto Annette Funicello for the third time.

   The park had just added a swing set and other playground equipment at
the south end of the front lawn.  I guided her there, and we sat on the
swings.

   "I figure I have to try, just to see if I can.  But I don't know if I'll
take it."

   Tami started swinging, pumping her legs.

   "What about the talent show?"

   "I'll try for that too."

   I started swinging too, but I'd go back as she went forward.  We were
just out-of-sync.

   It felt good just enjoying the night with Tami.  I liked nights with
Robbie too.  But somehow it was more special with Tami.  Maybe because she
was my first love.  There was just something about her, like the way she'd
ask awkward questions at the worst possible times.

   "So how many girls have you fucked?"

   Any other time I would have choked, but instead I laughed.  I laughed so
hard that I had to stop and hold my side, trying to get my breath back.

   "What's so funny?" she asked.  She didn't stop swinging, but she slowed
down to look at me.

   That was something else about Tami: that look she could give me.  Robbie
had a look just about like it, but different.  Hell, Mikee and Kelly had
looks too.  I wondered if they were born with it, or if there was a secret
girl training camp somewhere.

   "I was just think that one of the things that made you special was your
talent for asking awkward questions."

   "Then I asked an awkward question."

   "It's a gift."

   "With great power, comes great responsibility," she said, quoting
Spider-man.  "I'll try to use my powers for good."

   "Ever watch Nick-at-Night?"

   "Sometimes."

   "Ever seen Murphy Brown?"

   "I love that show."

   "I can see you as Murphy.  Not that bitter, but asking tough questions
and watching your victims squirm."

   "So you think I should take journalism next year?"

   I thought about it.  Nether of us had a clue where life was going to
lead us, but I really could see Tami as Murphy Brown."Yeah, I think you
have to try it."

   "What about you?  Can you see yourself as Jimmy Olsen?"

   I laughed again.  "Sure, why not?  Let's give it a try.  But instead of
Murphy Brown and Jimmy Olsen, we can be Clark Kent and Lois Lane.  But
without the cape and the tights.  They look uncomfortable."

   "You know, if my gift is asking awkward questions, you have a talent
too."

   I knew what was coming.  The mind reading thing was definitely getting
easier.  "Oh?"

   "You're pretty good at evading questions you don't want to answer."

   "Did I do that?"

   "Yeah and you're trying to do it again."

   I grinned, and started swinging again.  Tami started pumping harder,
going higher.  I remembered being a kid and determined to go
around-the-world.  But no matter how hard I pumped, I never made it. 
Damned physics.  Damned gravity.

   "A few." We were almost in sync.  I was just a few feet behind her as
she swung toward the stars.

   "Not just Robbie, huh?"

   "A few."

   "Mikee too?"

   "A few."

   "Not little Kelly?"

   "Would you get the fuck out of my head?  I said, a few."

   "Tony, your language!"

   "I'm sorry," I said, and meant it.  "So how many guys have you fucked?"
Tami had been dating a lot of different guys over the last two months.

   "Two."

   "Two?" I repeated, surprised.  "I thought..." I guess I hadn't thought.
I'd assumed.

   "Yeah, well, I guess when it's right, it'll be right."

   "Oh." I hadn't a clue how to respond.

   "You know, I told him he was the biggest I'd ever seen.  And when it was
over, I told him he was the best I'd ever had.  I guess I'm just a born
liar."

   "Tami, I..."

   "Oh shut up.  It isn't your fault, it's mine."

   "I..."

   "Did you hear the latest about Peter?"

   I knew several Peters, but there was no doubt who she was talking about.
"No."

   "He's expelled.  The first expulsion in twelve years."

   "What happened?"

   "I guess he asked Allie out."

   "Allie Smidt?" I'd caught up to her and we were swinging together.

   "Uh huh.  And she pretty much laughed in his face.  It was at the
basketball game at the high school.  Then some freshman made a comment
about Peter always hunting the middle school and not getting a girl from
high school.  Then Peter attacked him.  When a couple of teachers tried to
break it up, he attacked them too."

   "I'm sorry."

   "No you're not."

   "Would you please stop reading my mind.  I was trying to make the
appropriate civilized response."

   "But you're not?"

   "No, I'm not.  I mean, if I was the first fight Peter ever started I
might be.  But he picked that role a long time ago.  I may have branded him
a liar, but he treated you like a piece of meat.  Or some prize he'd won at
a carnival." I looked at her as we swung side by side.  "I would have done
it for any of my friends."

   "I believe you."

   We swung in silence.  Each of us trying to push up to the stars.

   Tami stopped pumping and slowed.

   "Are we ever going to be us again?"

   I didn't know.  I didn't know what us had been.  I didn't know why it
died.  Was it one lie?  Was it something else?  Was Robbie and me an us? 
It was good, but it was different.  Was it an us?  Would that die too, and
there be a different us?
   I pumped harder.  Maybe this time I could go all the way.