“You’re still young,” I said, patting her cheek.
Bailey loved any kind of physical contact and grinned at my gesture. “Yes, I’ll totally believe in stupid shit when I get all mature. Sounds about right.”
Ignoring her teasing, I focused my attention on Tawny. “When will you get married?”
“In a couple of months. Not planning to stress it. We’ll just get a nice room at one of those cool themed hotels. Something up high too. I don’t know if we’ll get Elvis to marry us, but we’ll have fun gambling and doing all the touristy Vegas stuff. I’ve never been on a vacation before so anything we do will seem amazing. I’m easily impressed that way.”
“Can I come?” Bailey asked. “I won’t interrupt your fucking or anything. I just want to be in your wedding. I’m hoping to catch the bouquet. I would have caught Farah’s if I’d been able to beat up the other women. Too bad I promised I wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, you got suckered there,” Tawny said, punching the bag. “Of course, you’re coming. It’s my wedding. I want my best friends there.”
Awkward now, I tried to disappear, but Bailey bumped me with her hip.
“I’ll pay for the conspiracy theorist to come alone. What if we see a UFO and she misses it?”
“Are you sure?”
“Fuck yeah. I’m all kinds of giving and supportive and shit. Tawny has trained me well. Besides, I don’t want to be the only one there without a man.”
My mind flashed to Aaron and my plan. I suspected Bailey would love taking part in it.
“I told Aaron I can’t see him anymore,” I said, smiling despite how much I hated saying the words. “He said he would wait.”
Bailey frowned at me. “You shouldn’t make him wait. A guy could die without sex.”
“That’s not true,” Tawny said, hitting the bag with a look of determination on her sweaty face. “Do you want to see Aaron?”
“Of course. He’s amazing.”
“Eww,” Bailey teased. “You’re kinda gross when you get all horned up.”
“I’m not horny.”
“Are you sure? You look at little horny around this area,” she said, waving her hand around my face then breasts and finally at my hips. “Aaron’s a great guy. You should have him write you a poem.”
Ignoring the poem idea, I kept smiling like it would give me strength. “I don’t want to make him wait, but I can’t get kicked out of the house and give up school. That’s why I’m going to sneak out.”
“Good for you,” Bailey said, punching the bag. “I’m tired. Let’s get ice cream.”
A grinning Tawny hit the bag again. “Sneak out how?” she asked me. “You live out on that road and don’t have a car. Is Aaron picking you up?”
Tawny sensed I had a plan. Bailey didn’t, but she was the one whose help I needed.
“I want to tell Larry that I’m spending the weekend at Bailey’s then sneak over and spend it with Aaron.”
“Oh, cause I’m not good enough to spend the weekend with?” Bailey muttered, offended for a moment. “Ooh, I love lies and trickery. Do I get to lie?”
“Yes. In fact, I don’t think Larry will want me to spend the weekend away. He’s a dick that way, so maybe you could come over and remind him of who you are.”
“I don’t get it.”
Tawny wrapped an arm around Bailey’s shoulder. “Go over there and throw your weight around. You’re Bailey Fucking Johansson after all.”
“Hell yeah, I am. I’ll scare the fucker to death. Should I smack him around a little too? I’ll do it because he’s mean to you and you’re nice to everyone. I really should smack him no matter what you say.”
“If he mouths off, feel free to slug him. I doubt he will though. He’s afraid of strong women. It’s why he scared off Raven. She wouldn’t take his shit.”
For a moment, I hated myself a little for being a loser who did take his shit. Then, I reminded myself I needed to go to college and get a job in an office and be different than the loser women in my family.
Bailey started bouncing around and punching the bag. “I know how to fight because my pop showed me. He wanted me to be tough, so men wouldn’t take advantage of me.” She paused for a moment and frowned. I sensed she realized men took advantage of her often. Despite her family’s power and brothers’ violent tendencies, Bailey was a bang and hang girl. Guys never took her seriously. She was hot, but forgettable and they treated her accordingly.
Tawny hugged Bailey. “I like when you get all tough. It gives me something to aspire to.”
Bailey hugged Tawny back, but she wasn’t convinced by her friend’s lies. All of Bailey’s new nice girl tricks hadn’t changed anyone’s mind about her. I saw a little sadness about this fact in her blue eyes then she smiled.
“I like making old jerks cry. This plan of yours should be fun.”
“Can you come over tonight?” I asked Bailey.