Almost Eden Read Online Free PDF Page B

frozen Kool-Aid pops for later. Then I changed into my bathing suit, grabbed a book and a glass of leftover Kool-Aid, and went to lie in the sun. If I couldn’t go swimming, I could at least work on my tan.
    I was rubbing lotion on my hairy legs when the light-bulb went on upstairs. Now was the perfect time to experiment. Beth kept her stuff in a bathroom drawer; she probably had a razor or some of that hair removal guck in there. I would try both, I decided, to see which did a better job.
    The house was dead quiet as I tiptoed across the kitchen. I pushed open the bathroom door slowly so it wouldn’t creak and give me away, opening it just enough to slip inside. I didn’t see Beth standing there in her housecoat until it was too late already. She had one foot propped on the toilet lid, and was using a wad of toilet paper to wipe at a trickle of blood running down her bare leg.
    At first I was too stunned to move. Then Beth looked up and saw me. You can bet I moved pretty quick then, fumbling for the door knob behind my back.
    “Get out of here you little brat!”
    Opening the door, I backed out. “Are you okay?”
    Beth’s face was so red and twisted I thought she was maybe going to explode. She reached for a bar of soap. “ GET OUT! ”
    I ducked, pulling the door shut. The soap thudded against the other side. “At least now I know why you’vebeen in such a crappy mood!” I shouted at the closed door. Then I made a beeline outside.
    Man-a-livin’ anyways, if she didn’t want someone to walk in on her, she should’ve locked the stupid door. Still, I was pretty embarrassed. I picked up Tommy to cuddle. Beth wasn’t hurt. She just had her period. That didn’t take much to figure out. Only who knew a person could bleed like that? I mean, we’d seen the film and had the talk in school and everything, but that kind of detail had never come up. I’d sort of imagined it would be like a leaky faucet. A drip here, a drip there. Not an actual trickle.
    So far Naomi was the only one I knew who’d started already. On the first day the pool opened we’d all gone swimming only Naomi said she couldn’t go because of “you-know-what” and you bet we all knew exactly what “what” was. I’d made up my mind right then that there was no way I was going to miss out on swimming because of some stupid period. I’d use those tampon things instead of pads–that’s all there was to it.
    Tommy wriggled out of my arms and I remembered to breathe.
    What if it happened this summer? I wasn’t ready. No way could I ask Dad to buy me what I needed. He wouldn’t have the foggiest clue. No way could I buy what I needed myself. Even if I could stand the embarrassment, I’d seen the boxes lining the shelves at Rexall Drugs. Regular, super, super plus, ultra super. How was I supposed to know which one to buy? What if someone I knew walkedinto the store when I was paying for it? What if there was a
boy
at the cash register that day?
    After what just happened, I didn’t think it would be a good idea to ask Beth to help me. Not until she cooled off, that was for sure. Which wasn’t going to be any time soon, judging by the look on her face.
    This wasn’t the sort of problem I wanted to talk to God about either, though it was sort of his fault. I mean, He was the one who made us the way we were and everything.
    I had little choice, really. I’d have to swipe what I needed from Beth. God would understand. I hoped.
    Sweat poured off me so I moved into the shade, not daring to go back inside. A good hour later Beth stuck her head out and told me to go fetch Lena from next door. “Dad will be home soon. Auntie Nettie phoned and invited us
for faspa.
”
    For once I didn’t argue.
Faspa
at Auntie Nettie’s was always more than the usual coffee, buns, and cheese. There’d be homemade sausage and meat pies, probably plum
platz
and chokecherry
piroshki
, and for sure one of her famous chocolate cakes.
    Only Lena had other ideas. She