While we were on the bike, Snake Girl acted like she was happy enough to be with me. Kept her arms around me, put her head on my shoulder. Once we got to the ranch, though, she was back to staring at Liam. The trailer was packed and the stereo was up so loud it made the floor shake. I couldn’t hardly hear anything Snake Girl said.

I leaned down to her and said, “Let’s go outside where it’s not as crowded.”

She didn’t stop looking at Liam, but she nodded and followed me out through the living room to the porch.

For a couple minutes we sat on the glider, not talking. Not even rocking.

“So what do you do?” I said. “Where do you work?”

“Not anywhere right now. Sandy said Liam might be looking for some people.”

“Who’s Sandy?”

“That blond bitch,” she said. Man, she was mad about that girl.

“You wanna walk up in the meadow? It’s pretty out there at night with the stars and all.”

“No thanks.”

I couldn’t think of anything else to talk about, but when I put my arm around her, she let me. She even let me kiss her for a minute, before she turned her head. She tasted like cigarettes so I didn’t really care. I gave up, and then she reached down and unbuckled my belt. I was thinking we should go somewhere more private, but she started unzipping me right there. Didn’t want to kiss me or talk to me and now she had her hand on my dick? Took me long enough to sort it out. She wanted me to go away and that was how she figured to do it.

I was gonna tell her to stop, but then I decided what the hell? Being on the receiving end of that kind of brush-off was a lousy feeling, but maybe it wasn’t any lousier than going home alone without a hand job.

The snake’s head on the back of her hand was weird, but if I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, I could kinda forget about it. Turned out to be about as exciting as doing it myself and a lot more awkward. When it was over, she got up and went back inside. I zipped up, thinking about going out to the meadow by myself. Instead I went back inside, where the party had shifted gears. People were making out all over the place, and Liam and the blonde had disappeared. I sat down on the end of one sofa and took a few hits off a bong on the coffee table. Then I took more than a few hits.

Dee sat next to me for a while, jiggling her foot until it made the whole sofa shake. I didn’t try nothing, because probably the trip to Myrtle Beach was a one-time thing. Besides, she wouldn’t even kiss me.

“So, did you lose your date?” she said.

“She only came out here for Liam.”

Dee’s foot jiggled faster.

“Sorry,” I said. I didn’t guess her life was all that fun sometimes. Not that I could figure why she stuck with Liam. He was good-looking, but the way he acted was messed up. Dee shrugged and stood up.

“I knew what I was getting into with him. I wonder if that bimbo he’s with does.”

Later, Snake Girl wandered in and sat on the sofa next to me like we were strangers. That was alright with me. She picked up the bong and started smoking. Just like I had on the porch, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. I wished I could go home, but I was too fucked up to ride.

“Whose little girl is this?” said some woman with a sloppy drunk voice.

I sat up and opened my eyes. Wavy stood in the trailer doorway, wearing her nightgown and looking lost.

High as a fucking kite, Dee made a beeline for the door, saying, “Wavy, baby, what are you doing here?”

Wavy dodged Dee’s hand and Yvonne and Neil’s legs, doing whatever they were doing on the other sofa. Before I could get on my feet, she came around the coffee table and wedged herself in beside me on the sofa.

“Hey, is everything alright?”

Wavy nodded.

“Is she okay?” Dee said.

“Yeah, she’s fine.”

“Should I maybe take her back home and put her to bed?”

Wavy scooted closer to me, resting her hand on my belly to steady herself. It seemed like an invitation, so I put my arm around her.

“I’ll take her home,” I said.

Snake Girl, who’d been crashed out on the other end of the sofa, sat up and said, “Where did she come from?”

“She’s Liam’s daughter,” Dee said.

Wavy glared at her.

For the first time since Liam left the room, Snake Girl looked interested in something. She held her arms out and said, “Aww, she’s so cute. Come here, sweetie, you wanna come sit on my lap?”

Wavy ignored Snake Girl and slid her arm around my neck. Then she laid her head on my shoulder. Her hair was wet.

“She won’t come to you,” Dee said. “She won’t sit on anyone’s lap except Kellen’s. He’s your boyfriend, isn’t he, Wavy?”

Wavy nodded. Surprised me. So I was her boyfriend?

“How’d your hair get wet?” I said.

She pressed her cheek against mine and whispered, “Swimming.”

“You want a snack or something before Kellen takes you home? We have yummy brownies,” Dee said.

“Those brownies have pot in ’em.” I wished Dee would shut up and let Wavy talk to me. Her coming there like that, to talk to me, it meant something.

Before anybody else could say something stupid, Wavy put her lips to my ear and said, “Come into the meadow.”

It made my skin prickle all over. I’d wanted to go out to the meadow before, and I’d got myself stuck at that stupid party. I scooted forward to the edge of the sofa and said, “Saddle up.”