They sat on the rocks and drank Coffee Coolattas from Dunkin’ Donuts. “This is awesome,” Ruby had told Olivia at the drive-through window. But it wasn’t; it was too sweet for Olivia.
“Isn’t this just the yummiest thing you’ve ever had?” Ruby said happily.
She slurped the last of her Coffee Coolatta, then stretched out on the rocks as if she was about to take a nap. She closed her eyes, squirmed around until she found the most comfortable position.
Olivia tried to shape her demands, but before she could say anything, Ruby said, “You know how Pooh says, ‘I have a rumbley in my tummbly?’ That’s what I have.” She opened her eyes, squinting up at Olivia. “You know. Winnie-the-Pooh. When I was a kid, that’s all I wanted. Pooh sheets and jelly that came in a Pooh glass, but my mother was always like, “Oh sure, Ruby, let’s give Walt Disney money to advertise for him. That makes a lot of sense. He should pay us to wear clothes with Pooh or Peter Pan or whoever.’” Ruby sighed and closed her eyes again. “I guess she was right. But I want my kid to have like a huge stuffed Pooh. And Tigger—”
“This isn’t exactly what I wanted to discuss,” Olivia said.
Ruby propped herself up on her elbows. “You going to drink that?” she said, pointing to Olivia’s Coffee Coolatta. “Because it’s melting and it’s not good melted. You need to drink it when it’s all slushy.”
“Here,” Olivia said.
Ruby grinned and took a big swallow, then winced immediately. “Oh,” she said. “A cold headache. Man, I hate those. I told you I hate pain, remember?”
“Look,” Olivia said, “the thing is, I want my stuff.”
“Your stuff is gone,” Ruby said. “Really, I’m sorry. I am. But I can’t undo it.”
The heat was becoming oppressive. But up on these rocks, there was something like a breeze, and the air from the ocean was clean and soothing.
“I want it back,” Olivia told her. She was surprised that actually she didn’t want it back. Not really. The image of that girl in her dress, taking her money, kept Olivia from wanting any of it. Except the tape. That was her most valuable possession. But she trusted Ruby so little that she worried if she told her the thing she most wanted returned, it would be the thing she was least likely to get.
“To tell you the truth,” Ruby said, “I was surprised how little you actually had. I mean, no offense, but it was pretty slim pickings. I kept the guy clothes because, let’s face it, I’m a fucking whale and nothing fits me anymore. Except his clothes. I like the drawstrings on the pants, so I can make them even bigger.” She sighed. “Because I’m out of control here. Growing like crazy. At first, it wasn’t so bad. Three pounds the first three months. Then I had like a growth spurt, you know? But I was cool about it. This is fucking out of control, though.” She lowered her voice. “I looked in the mirror yesterday and I cried. I mean, I’m only fifteen years old. I look like John Candy or somebody.”
Olivia was still seduced by the rise and fall of this girl’s voice. Her stories took Olivia in. But she had to keep her head now. She knew better. So she said, “Where is everything? We can drive around and get it all back.”
Ruby laughed. “Like duh, Olivia. I stole your stuff to get money. I didn’t like go to the Salvation Army and give it away. I don’t need a—what’s it called? A charitable contribution on my tax return or anything.”
How much money could she have even gotten for such a measly group of things? Olivia wondered. It wasn’t even worth stealing.
“What a joke,” Ruby continued. “I mean, I hardly got anything for it. The pearls were okay. But that was about it.”
At the word pearls, Olivia’s heart lurched. They were in the jewelry box with the tape. She imagined Ruby’s hands grabbing at the stuff—tape, pearls, all of it—and Ruby quickly judging what was worthwhile, what was worthless.
“Oh,” Ruby said, “and you had this ring with like a purple stone in it—”
“Amethyst.”
“Right. That was okay, too. Antique.”
Olivia swallowed hard. The ring had been a gift from her old boyfriend Josh, and although she no longer wore it, she liked having it, knowing she had it. There had been a time when she had worn it every day.
“We’ll buy it all back,” Olivia said. There’s a ridiculous notion, she thought. Buy back stolen goods. She rotated her left hand; it might be sprained, from their wrestling match earlier.
“I know you’ll never believe this,” Ruby said, “but I’m not a total moron. Like I even got A’s and stuff in school. Some of my teachers consider me a total disappointment. My English teacher even told me I had potential.”
“You’re right,” Olivia said. “I don’t believe you.” Who knew? Maybe Ruby was the class valedictorian, a bundle of contradictions, a good girl gone bad.
“It’s true!” Ruby said, insulted.
“Fine,” Olivia said. “You’re a genius and you and Ben are madly in love—”
“We are!” Ruby shrieked. “What do you think? This was like the Immaculate Conception or something?”