Crazy Horse's Girlfriend (9781940430447) Read Online Free PDF Page A

were a package deal. They always had the same orange home perms and Lee Press-On Nails with flowers and shit all over them, even though they were nothing alike. Julia’s a thin, pretty, mixed-blood Choctaw and Chickasaw, Treena a short, round Mexican chick. Julia lives in a foster home and is crazy, parties all the time, but she makes great grades. She’ll launch outta this shithole like a fucking rocket. She’d never met her dad, but she thought he was white. Sometimes her mom would come to visit her at the foster home. Her mom’s a meth-head though, so most of the time it wasn’t exactly a celebration when she came to visit. I mean, one of the last times she came to town, she brought Julia a feral cat as a gift. I mean, Christ. Treena on the other hand could care less about grades, or getting out. Her big thing was dudes. Especially dudes that Julia was into, which killed me. Crazy bitch would go to dances, bars with Julia and just follow her around waiting for one of the guys chasing after her to give up and move onto Treena.
    â€œJust make sure they’re gone by the time Dad comes home at five.”
    â€œOK.”
    I walked into the living room and sat down by the twins. They were so cute, their big, amber colored eyes fixed on the TV like it was God. Big Bird was up and he was their favorite.
    â€œI just love Big Bird,” Carrie said and Mary nodded.
    â€œHe’s so friendly even though he’s so big!” Carrie said, smiling. She watched in a small, satisfied silence for a few minutes but after a while, she began to frown. She turned to face me. “Margaritte, why were all of you guys yelling last night?” She put one of her small, yellow hands on my face and furrowed her brow.
    â€œBecause people are stupid,” I said, patting her hand. “Stick to Big Bird.”
    â€œI do love him,” she said, turning to the TV again. “But he’s not real.”
    â€œYeah he is!” Mary said. She usually let Carrie lead the way, but every once in a while she’d disagree.
    â€œNuh-uh! My teacher told me. He’s not. I love him anyway.”
    I laughed. “You two are silly. You’re the silliest six-year-olds I know.”
    Carrie looked at me incredulously. “No way. Sam’s the silliest. He said that he wanted to live on a planet with only Sams on it. That’s silly,” she said, shaking her head.
    â€œThat is pretty silly,” I said. We watched TV together for a while, Sesame Street ending and Electric Company coming on. I remembered watching these shows, in this order, when I was their age. I remembered Dad’s mom visiting from New York and saying that there were too many ethnic people on the show just loud enough so that everyone could hear. I remembered my mom walking out of the room.
    â€œOK, you two. Be good,” I said. They had moved on to playing with their Barbies, Mary whispering in her ratty Beach Barbie’s ear. She always did that. The freaking Barbie Whisperer, I swear.
    I took a shower, got dressed, walked downstairs and picked up my homework. I knew that when everyone came over, we wouldn’t work. I figured I might as well try to get something done. My grades were shitty, which was sad considering that the goddamn place graduated illiterates. But I just hated school. I read Stephen King under my desk in math. I was always getting caught.
    A few hours later, Jake came ambling downstairs.
    â€œYou OK?” he asked, sitting down on the beat up, frankensteined futon across from my bed.
    â€œYeah. At least Dad went to work. How’s Will?”
    â€œOh, I didn’t see him. He and Megan had a fight over bills and he ran off before I even came in. She was up with the baby anyway, nursing.”
    â€œThat guy,” I said. Will was weird. All I really knew about him was that he was gay, but that he’d never admit it though he brought strange dudes over to spend the night all the