"You don't like it?"
"I'd rather see that handsome jaw of yours," she said.
"Your wish is my command. I'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes." This time they kissed on the lips, though not as long or as deep as on top of the hill. This was a brief, dry kiss, the promise of more to come later.
Samantha grabbed her jacket and went downstairs to find those other two kids in the kitchen. The little redheaded boy looked on the verge of tears. He ran out of the room as though someone had lit his rear end on fire. The fat girl asked, "Samantha, what happened to you? You're different."
"I don't know, but I feel so much better than last night. Do we have any fruit?" She opened the refrigerator door to root around for anything healthy to eat. She certainly didn't want to end up like this other girl, fat and alone. Samantha shivered at the thought.
Buried in a bottom drawer she found a pear and sat down at the table to wait for Joseph. "Samantha, what's he done to you?" the fat girl asked.
"He hasn't done anything to me. What kind of question is that?" She sliced off a piece of the pear and held it out. "You should try some of this instead of eggs. There's a lot less fat in fruit."
"What?"
"I'm just saying, not to be mean or anything, but you could stand to lose a few pounds. About a hundred fifty or so."
The fat girl's eyes welled up with tears. "How could you say that?"
"I'm sorry. What's your name again?"
"Prudence. Don't you remember me?"
"Prudence, that's it! What an old name, like someone's grandma or something. I suppose you're too young to be anyone's grandma though. Have you considered changing it? Or maybe go by your middle name. What's your middle name?"
"Elizabeth," Prudence said.
"That's almost as bad, but at least then you could go by Liz or Lizzie, that would be cute."
Prudence started to cry even harder, tears streaming down her fat cheeks. "Why are you acting this way?"
"I'm sorry. Go ahead and keep being Prudence. Gain another hundred pounds while you're at it. It's none of my business." Samantha pushed away from the table, leaving the remains of the pear. She started to pace around the front hall, wondering why Joseph needed so long to shave that silly beard.
Prudence waddled out of the kitchen, her face red but her cheeks dry now. "Are you leaving again?" she asked.
"What we do or don't do is none of your business."