Black Ice “We could kiss somebody,” Lee said, looking across the food court. She was at the mall with her friends on a Saturday night looking for a little trouble —nothing that would land them on the eleven o’clock news or in the city morgue, but something before Francie’s mother picked them up for the night. Jenny sat up in the plastic chair attached to the table and took a fry from Francie’s tray. ”OK, I’m game. Who you wanna kiss?” “I don’t know,” Lee said thoughtfully. She yawned and arched her back, letting her hair fall down behind the chair. She had the hair every girl in seventh grade wanted, long, blonde, with soft curls at the end. She knew this without doubt. Only twelve, she had gotten “the package” early, as her mother liked to say—the legs, the hips, the tits. “What about Rick Boyd?’ Francie asked sheepishly. Francie had long red hair, but wasn’t the sort of girl anyone called Red. Instead, her friends just called her Francie or other names when they wanted to be cruel. “Like Rick Boyd knows your name,” Lee smirked. “No. It shouldn’t be anybody we know.” “Yeah, it should be a stranger,” Jenny quickly agreed. Lee bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling. They were easy. Jenny, her best friend, always agreed with her, and with enough prodding, Francie would do anything. Usually there were six of them, but a couple of the girls hadn’t been allowed to come because of the weather and another was at her dad’s in Virginia. Lee almost hadn’t come herself; she had dreaded a night with so much Francie in it. Things, however, were beginning to look promising. She licked her lips. “Or, we could kiss somebody gross.” “But why?” Francie’s voice slid dangerously close to a wail. “Because it’s some fun,” Lee said. Across the neon-gilded food court, a family sat eating pizza, while two ladies with upswept hair and white smocks picked through salads. A janitor pushed a large trashcan on squeaky wheels, briefly drowning out a Muzaked Get the Party Started. It was a light crowd for a Saturday night; freezing rain had been mentioned in the forecast. “Oh my God,” Lee said, suddenly sitting up, “the Clown!” Jenny spit out her Coke, coughing and laughing. Taunting the clown at Shoe Carnival had long been considered sport at the mall. Kids would sneak away from their parents to stick their tongues out at him, throw spitballs, flip him off. This had made him an angry clown, one who didn’t like children of any age. “He’s gross,” Jenny said. “I hate all those little beard hairs sticking out through his make-up.” “He’s perfect!” Francie added, out-gushing Jenny. “Thank you.” Lee put her feet in the chair in front of her and leaned back. “That’s why I’m giving him to you.” “Me?” Francie asked. “You need him the worst of all.” Francie’s mouth slightly quivered. “I don’t understand.” “No shit.” Lee started looking through her Louis Vuitton purse for lipstick. The purse, the Rolex and the gold earrings had all been gifts from her mother, which her mother had bought with her boyfriend’s American Express. When she looked up, Francie was staring at her, her face drained of color. “Consider it practice for Rick Boyd.” “But I—” “If you’re scared, I’ll do it,” Jenny said nonchalantly. Lee painted her lips a deep red as she watched the panic spread across Francie’s cheeks. She knew Francie feared being frozen out. It was something they did to each other from time to time. Lee always chose the victim and how long the group would ignore her in school. When it was over, the girl came back to the group docile, grateful to be in the good graces and protection of Lee again. Francie turned in her seat and put her face a couple of inches from Jenny’s. “I’m not scared. I’ll kiss the stupid clown.” Pleased more than she let on, Lee stood up. “Well, all right then. Let’s go.” Shoe Carnival was one floor below the food court, about fifteen feet from the escalators, so whenever the Big Wheel of Savings was spinning, the escalator itself was awash in red and yellow lights. Tonight, though, no flashing lights or distorted circus music blared from the store. “Where is everybody?” Jenny asked, stepping off the escalator. “This stupid town. A little bit of sleet and everybody freaks out.” Lee said. An older Asian woman stood cleaning the Rings ‘n Things cart, a bottle of Windex in one hand and a wad of paper towels in the other. Hundreds of rings were displayed in velvet cases along the counters, while chains of various lengths hung from tiny silver hooks. The cart had fake wagon wheels and a silk canopy made to look like the top of a Chinese temple. The woman took a step closer to the cart and glared at the girls as they walked by. Without breaking stride, Lee said loudly. “We didn’t steal anything, lady.” Francie walked behind them with her head down. The day after Lee had ordered each of them to steal a necklace last fall, Francie anonymously returned hers. “I can’t wait to move to Miami,” Lee said. Jenny grabbed Lee’s arm. “You’re moving?” “Once my mom gets things settled with Frank.” “They’re getting married?” “My mom thinks so.” Jenny shuddered. “He’s so old.” “Are you L.D.? He’s got a penthouse on the beach. He bought my mom a Mercedes.” “It’s gross. She still has to do it with him.” “My mom says the older they are, the less you have to do.” “Wait,” Francie called out, two steps behind them. “What if we get into trouble?” Lee walked back to Francie. “We’re not going to get into trouble,” she said smoothly and took her by the hand into the store. Shoeboxes were everywhere, in the racks, on the floor, all over the counter. Five or six benches with slanted footrests sat in front of rows of empty chairs. Discarded foot rulers littered the floor as helium balloons floated aimlessly above. Stepping over boxes, the girls walked slowly down the deserted aisles. “He’s not here,” Jenny said, pushing her short, blonde hair behind her ears. “Maybe he’s on a break,” Francie said. Lee checked her image in a mirror at the end of the aisle. “No, he’s always here,” she said and turned, almost bumping into the man standing beside her. “Can I help you?” The man, dressed in a red sports coat, was holding a shoebox. Lee hadn’t been in a beauty pageant since her mother moved to Miami two years ago, but she remembered how to look the judges in the eye and tilt her head pleasingly. “We’re just looking,” she said. The last pageant had been a mother-daughter one. They had always placed, had even won a couple, but this pageant had been a bust. Neither she nor her mother had tripped or coughed, but they didn’t break the top ten. For weeks after, Lee’s mother couldn’t pass a mirror without lifting her shirt to check the flatness of her belly or the slender spread of her hips. “I’m in the back, doing inventory. Just yell if you need anything,” the man said. The girls exchanged looks, and tried to keep from giggling as they headed to the front of the store. Kitty corner on a small stage, the Big Wheel of Savings stood silent. It was over six feet tall and divided into slices like a pie. Each slice offered savings—the red was “10% Off!,” the blue,“$5 savings!,” the orange, “Buy two pair, get the second half-off!” After a customer selected his or her shoes, the clown would spin the wheel. Where the arrow landed determined the customer’s deal. Lee climbed onto the red and gold stage and walked toward the back. She popped her head into the space behind the wheel. “Hey clown, whatcha doing?” Hidden neatly from view, the clown sat on a metal folding chair smoking a cigarette. He didn’t look up. “Beat it, brat. I’m on a break.” “Aren’t those supposed to be bad for you?” “I said I was on a break, you little shit. Get outta here.” The space was tight, but Lee easily slipped in, pulling Francie with her. “It’s just that we’ve always wanted to talk to you, but never had the nerve.” “Oh yeah?” he said, finally looking up. His face was smeared with white greasepaint. Crude, red circles had been painted over his cheeks while stars the color of bruises encircled his eyes. “My friend has a thing for clowns.” He eyed Francie. “Really.” Francie stared at the corner where the wall joined the floor. Lee took a baby step toward him. “She’s got a huge collection of clowns in her bedroom. She even sleeps with one.” “Aren’t you a little old to sleep with dolls?” he asked warily. Jenny poked her head through the opening. “It depends on the doll.” “Jenny!” Francie hissed. “Francie’s got clown posters, clown hats, clown t-shirts. You name it,” Lee said. “Well that’s great, kid. A fan.” Lee stepped behind Francie. “She’s never been this close to a real clown before.” “You do all of Francie’s talking?” he asked, blowing smoke at them. “Well, she’s nervous.” “Oh yeah?” He placed the butt under his gigantic, red clown shoe and ground it out. Dozens of cigarette burns pockmarked the carpet around his feet. “Now,” Lee said and ruthlessly pushed Francie’s head to the clown’s. Francie stumbled, but managed to land her lips on the side of his greasy, white face. “Uggh,” Francie took a step back. “What in the hell—” The clown tried to stand up, but fell back into the chair. Jenny started jumping up and down on the other side of the wheel. “No! No! No! You gotta kiss him on the lips. The lips!” “What’s going on?” The man in the jacket was suddenly behind Jenny. “I have no idea,” the clown said. “What did you do?” “Nothing, I swear. This girl just kissed me.” The man pushed Jenny to his side absently. “What are you doing? They’re kids!” Lee took Francie’s hand and stepped out from behind the wheel, bringing Francie with her. Without turning their backs on the store manager, they inched their way toward Jenny. The manager paid no attention to them. Gritting his teeth, he spoke in a low, menacing tone to the clown. Spit flew out of his mouth. “I swear to God. This is it.” “I didn’t do anything, Dad.” The clown had stepped out and now stood in front of his father on the stage. He had lost his gruffness, sounding much younger than before. As quickly and quietly as they could, Francie and Jenny walked out of the store with their heads down, trying desperately to be invisible, but Lee walked out backwards, slowly blowing kisses to the clown through the air. “You are insane,” Jenny said, collapsing onto the couch. Laughing hysterically, the girls had run to the Squat Spot by Victoria’s Secret on the first floor. There were several Squat Spots throughout the mall—groupings of couches and chairs with “Kick Back” and “Take A Breather” signs permanently screwed onto the plastic coffee tables. Each showcased an intense color scheme like orange and midnight blue or purple and scarlet. The one the girls ended up in was cherry and black. The spots were supposed to be homey, a place for people to recharge between stores, but instead the furniture was hard and dirty. “I do what I can.” Lee curtseyed before taking a seat. Jenny reached into her purse and handed a small mirror to Francie. “You’ve got some make-up on your face.” “Oh my God,” Francie said, looking at her cheeks and lips smeared with clown make-up. “I got to get this off.” Her voice broke like she might cry as she walked away from them to go the bathroom. Jenny waited to speak until Francie was out of earshot. “You’re so mean.” “Yes,” Lee said, satisfied. “Yes, I am.” “So, who you going to kiss?” Lee started to draw tiny circles in the air with her foot, the way she had seen her mother do countless times. Their last visit had been months ago, Fourth of July, during which Lee had started her first period. After three rum and cokes, her mother announced to everyone during the fireworks that her little girl had started womanhood with a bang. Lee breathed in the stale mall air. “I’m still thinking about it. How about you?” “I don’t know. I guess there’s always Pimple King.” Lee bit off a piece of dried skin beside her thumbnail. She knew why her mother hadn’t asked her back. After seeing them in their matching bikinis, Frank had said that Lee was starting to look more like her mother while her mother looked less and less like herself. Lee’s mother didn’t speak to her for the rest of the trip. On the last day, she showered Lee with gifts while a taxi waited outside to take her to the airport. Parting gifts. Lee spit the dried skin out. “No, clown beats him.” “What about the guy at the information desk? Retardo?” “Clown still wins.” “Oh,” Jenny shivered. “I wish I had my coat.” Lee turned suddenly and grabbed Jenny’s hands. “Jenny! The skating rink guy!” Jenny squinted her nose. “He chews tobacco.” “I know.” Lee grinned. “That beats the shit out of the clown.” “Who does?” Francie stood over them, her face red from scrubbing or crying. “The dude at the skating rink,” Lee said. “He’s gross, but not grosser than the clown.” Francie sat beside Jenny. “He’s totally grosser. He chews tobacco. He doesn’t wash his hair.” Jenny enumerated his qualities with her fingers. “And Jenny’s going to French him,” Lee said. Jenny turned her head sharply toward Lee. “What?” “Kissing him with your tongue makes it way grosser than the clown.” “That’s not fair,” Francie said. “Nobody said anything about French kissing.” Lee sighed. “Oh Francie, when are you going to learn life’s not fair?” “He’s probably in the back,” Lee said looking across the rink to the rental area. A bright yellow partition, waist-high and cold to the touch, separated the ice from the walkway that ran around it. The counter itself was a couple of steps below the rink. Behind the counter, a tall, freestanding wall, also the color of sunshine, stood. “Go for Gold!” and “Champions Skate Here!” had been painted all over the wall in primary blues and reds. In front of the counter, six small benches sat empty. Nobody was on the ice. “Maybe he’s on his Zamboni,” Francie said and started laughing. “What do I say?” Jenny said, cutting her off. “Ask to rent skates. When he hands them to you, lean over and do him,” Lee said. “Don’t forget you have to French him,” Francie said sarcastically. “Don’t worry.” Jenny glared at Francie. Lee stood with her hands on her hips. “Don’t come back without any tongue.” “God. OK. I got it.” The girls walked around the rink and in the entrance. They knew it well. Every Tuesday afternoon in kindergarten they had taken lessons with Miss Wendy, who had almost skated in the Olympics before they were born. About fifteen feet from the desk, a Coke machine stood in the corner. Lee and Francie stopped by it, pretending to search their pockets for change as Jenny walked to the desk and tapped the small silver bell. “Bullshit,” Lee coughed. Jenny hit the bell harder, throwing a dirty look at Lee. After a minute, a boy of about seventeen strolled around the partition. He was short, but muscular, with blonde hair curling around the edges of his baseball cap. There was a hint of peach fuzz above his lip. In his right hand, he held a plastic Mountain Dew bottle; a murky pool of tobacco and brown spit swirled inside. “Oh God,” Lee said loudly. “Can I help you?” the boy asked. Jenny cleared her throat. “Yes. Please. I would like to rent some skates. Yes.” The boy looked over at Lee and Francie giggling by the Coke machine. “What size shoe do you wear?” “Seven.” “OK,” he said, but didn’t move. “Aren’t you one of the O’Connors?” Jenny stammered. “Uh … no… I just wanted to skate. Before the mall closes.” The boy shrugged his shoulders, turned and walked to the back. Jenny turned around. “He knows who I am!” she said in a loud whisper. “So?” Lee said. “If you’re too scared, I’ll do it.” Francie did a mean imitation of Jenny’s voice. “Shut up, Francie. You’re lucky to even be here at all.” “Uhhh … here you go.” The boy was back, holding a pair of white skates. Jenny slowly turned back around. She bit her lip and then pointed to the toe of one the boots. “What’s this?” she asked. When the boy leaned across the counter to look, she grabbed his wrist, closed her eyes and roughly put her lips to his. The boy, still holding the skates, pushed her off. “What are you doing?” His face was flushed. Jenny wiped her mouth on her sleeve and pulled a couple of quarters out of her pocket. Throwing them on the counter, she said, “Dude, go get yourself a toothbrush.” Francie was jumping up and down by the Coke machine, squealing, but Lee stood beside her, quiet. Sometimes she couldn’t believe it, what she could get people to do. Before turning to leave, she looked over her shoulder at the boy. He was still standing there, holding the skates in mid-air. “That was so mean.” Lee patted Jenny’s back like a proud couch with a promising athlete. Jenny stood in the back of the video arcade with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. “I did him a favor. He had the worst breath I’ve ever smelled.” “I suppose that’ll be your excuse for no tongue.” Francie sat on the floor, which along with the walls, was covered in deep red carpeting. A couple of dim lights hung overhead, but most of the light came from the games themselves. It was dark, loud and slightly sticky. Jenny sat beside her and put her hands to her mouth. “My lips are burning.” “You didn’t French kiss him,” Francie said. “At least I kissed his lips.” Lee took a seat and stretched her legs out in front of her. “He was chewing which is grosser, but it doesn’t matter. I haven’t gone yet.” Francie and Jenny leaned in. “Who are you going to kiss?” Francie asked breathlessly. Lee grinned, her face wicked and cocky. “The worst man in the mall.” “Who?” Francie begged. “The shuttle bus driver.” Jenny drew in a sharp breath and sat back. Francie shook her head in slow agreement. “You’re right. He’s the worst.” “He’s not right,” Jenny said. “I know. That makes him the best.” Jenny and Francie looked at each other, but neither spoke. “All I’m going to do is jump on and kiss him. You don’t even have to get on.” “My mom will freak if we’re a minute past nine-thirty,” Francie said. “It’s only nine o’clock,” Lee said. “Quit being such a baby.” “Excuse me if I don’t want to end up on the back of a milk carton,” Francie said. Jenny sat hugging her knees. “It’s probably just a rumor. I mean, if it were true, they would’ve never hired him.” “Oh, I got it. If it’s a rumor, he’s not so bad, so you win.” “That’s not what I’m saying, Lee.” Lee stared hard at Jenny. “He is what he is, and everybody knows it.” Jenny took a deep breath. “OK, then. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” “Oh, my God. You’re chicken-shit. You’re a great big baby chicken-shit like her.” “I’m not chicken-shit,” Jenny said. “OK, then.” Lee turned to Francie. “How about you? Are you chicken-shit?” Francie looked like she might cry, but shrugged her shoulders. “No. Let’s go.” “Can you believe this?” Lee said, spinning around on the icy sidewalk. Everything—the road, the cars, even the “Pick Me Up!” banner they stood under—was covered in a thick layer of ice. Tiny pellets of sleet cut through their sweaters. Francie huddled alone in the forest green shelter while Jenny and Lee stood out in the biting wind. Lee glanced over her shoulder. “She’s such a baby.” “Yeah,” Jenny said, turning away from Lee. A long line of cars was leaving the mall, their taillights glowing in the freezing rain. “Everyone’s leaving,” Jenny mumbled. Lee pretended not to hear her. She felt feverish, giddy looking for the shuttle. Much to her delight, she heard the low rumble of the shuttle’s motor before seeing its lights. “It’s here!” she called. “It’s here!” Francie walked out of the shelter. “I’m cold,” she said. The headlights grew brighter and larger, simultaneously blinding and illuminating the girls. Francie looked away and Jenny shielded her eyes, but Lee stared straight ahead, as if she were bidding the shuttle to her. Slowly, she took a step back. The shuttle, painted royal blue with “Shopping Excitement!” and bright orange stars on the side, pulled to a stop. Lee tried to peer in through the darkened windows, but the van sat with the doors closed tight, its heavy motor humming. Not quite sure what to do, she took a step toward the shuttle when the doors popped open. Francie jumped. A set of bright lights snapped on, revealing the soft gray interior and a man behind the wheel. “You girls want a ride?” Lee callously pushed Jenny in front of her. “You first.” Jenny slipped on the ice, but managed to get up the shuttle steps without looking at the driver. Lee climbed on after her, coolly taking one step at a time. The man had a large, fleshy face with one piercing blue eye. The other eye was milky. Somehow, the blue had been knocked out of its iris and was now floating where there should have only been white. His hair, slicked back, clung to his neck. He was dressed professionally enough in black pants, a short-sleeved white shirt and black tie, but still Lee shivered. He was much bigger than she’d thought. “How about you?” The man looked at Francie. Lee and Jenny had stepped past the first row of seats, but Francie hadn’t moved. “Come on, “ Lee hissed. Francie stiffly climbed the first step. The driver spit a piece of chewing gum into the small trashcan by his seat. “How about it, girl? You getting on or not?” Francie opened her mouth, turned and stepped off. “Dammit,” Lee said under her breath, climbing off the shuttle. Jenny mumbled sorry to the driver and quickly ran down the steps after them. Despite the many signs on proper usage, there were always toilets backed up in the bathroom across from the movie theatres. Yards of toilet paper clung to the damp floor as fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. The attendant—an old black woman who wore dark lipstick and an oversized, blonde wig—was supposed to keep the restroom clean, but mostly she sat on her stool, handing out paper towels, mumbling about the people who didn’t leave tips. The seven-thirty movies had not yet let out, so except for the attendant, the girls were the only ones in the bathroom. Lee pounded on the door of the last stall. “Come out now!” “No,” Francie said. She had locked the door. “God, when are you going to grow up?” “I don’t know.” Francie sounded like she might cry again. Lee paced back and forth in front of the stalls. The air was syrupy with deodorizer, suffocating any hint of a foul odor. “So much for the element of surprise, Francie. We can’t get back on without him knowing something’s up now.” Jenny sighed. “I think it’s over for tonight.” “No. We’re going back.” “We can’t. The mall’s getting ready to close.” “We’ve still got ten minutes, Jenny.” Francie spoke from behind the stall. “My mom is picking us up at 9:30 sharp.” Lee spun around. “Fine. Go home with your stupid mother. We’ll get a ride with my stepbrother. Jenny, give me your phone.” “It’s in my coat. In Francie’s mom’s car.” “Shit. My battery’s dead,” Lee said. “We’ll just call from the pay phones.” “What do I tell my mom?” Francie asked faintly from behind the door. Lee started walking toward the exit. “Tell her we ditched you for some friends with balls.” Halfway out, she turned back. “Don’t you dare tell her what we’re doing. You tell her, and I swear to God, I’ll beat the living shit out of you.” Jenny stood still for a moment, listening to Francie sob softly. “You coming or not, Jenny?” Jenny nodded, but first she walked over to Francie’s stall and put her face in the gap between the door and metal frame. “Tell your mom I bumped into my mom, and she gave Lee and me a ride home.” Francie didn’t say anything, but her sobbing slowed down. “Trouble,” the old woman said, shaking her head as Lee and Jenny walked by. She was folding a stack of brown paper towels. “Trouble. Trouble. Trouble.” “Even her stupid parrot calls her baby.” Lee said, disgusted. The orange lights in the PICK ME UP! spot cast a fake glow over the sidewalk, but did nothing to dispel the cold wind. “You need to check your make-up,” Jenny said. “Your freckles are showing.” Lee pulled a silver compact out of her purse and opened it. “Shit.” “We could lie,” Jenny suddenly said, but Lee had stepped back into the shelter for more light. Excited, Jenny rushed in. “We could say we did it, but not actually do it. Francie’ll believe anything. We could just wait five minutes and then run back.” Lee felt a trace of relief, unbidden, flicker in her stomach, but then she heard the shuttle’s low rumble. She dropped the compact in her purse. “Why would I do something like that?” Slowly, the shuttle lumbered to a stop, its doors opening immediately this time. “You back?” The man leaned forward, holding the doors’ lever in the open position. His arm had the look of once being muscular, but was now just beefy and hairy. “Yeah,” Lee said. The wind kicked up bits of dead leaves as she and Jenny climbed the steps and walked toward the back. Two women wearing red pea coats were sitting in the middle row. Their hair was curly and black, and they had short, flat noses; they were sisters. Brightly colored shopping bags filled the racks above and the seats beside them. In the front row, two small boys and a girl were wrestling. The driver looked in his rear view mirror. “Boys, I can’t drive until everyone’s hiney is planted in their seat.” “Sit down,” the larger woman said to her children. “I thought you were just jumping on and off,” Jenny said under her breath. “But I wasn’t doing anything,” the little girl whined. The woman grabbed the girl by her shoulder. “Sit.” Sleet bounced off the roof, filling the shuttle with a thin, metallic drumming as they circled the mall without making another pickup. The man turned onto the main drive and headed out to the parking lots. “This is getting bad,” he said to himself. The girl’s mother pointed out the window. “This next one is us.” Jenny whispered into Lee’s ear. “Do it now, and we can get off with them.” “At least, it’s not black ice. I’m scared to death of that,” the other woman said. The older boy swung around and growled. “I’m not afraid of black ice.” Looking in the mirror, the driver spoke in a low, even tone. “Oh, really? One minute you’re driving along and the next you’re in a ditch. Your head’s through the windshield and you got a permanent grin cause your neck’s slit ear to ear. How does that grab you?” Immediately, the children stopped squirming. The girl climbed onto her mother’s lap, sucking her thumb as the women looked at one another. Jenny grabbed Lee’s arm, but Lee didn’t move. The man turned off the main drive and pulled up to the lone car in the lot. “You kids be good for your mothers,” the man said, opening the doors. The children scampered down the steps, while the women gathered their bags. “I hope I didn’t scare them too much. I wanted them to behave for you on the ride home.” The taller sister lifted her head. “Yes,” she said, but the word came out garbled. She cleared her throat. “Thank you.” She looked over her shoulder at Jenny and Lee before climbing down the steps. “Are you doing this or not?” Jenny hissed. “Let’s get back to the mall first.” Through the icy window, Lee watched the women placed their bags in the station wagon. The children began wrestling and in the fray the little girl fell to the ground. Crying, she lifted her arms above her head. Her mother scooped her up and gently kissed her before putting her in the back seat. Only after the family had driven away, did the man turn to face Lee and Jenny. “You girls forget where you parked?” Lee stuck her chin out. “No.” The man closed his eyes and breathed deeply as if picking up a scent in the air. First he opened his mouth, then his eyes slowly, and stared at Lee for a moment before turning and putting the shuttle back into drive. To keep up with the sleet, he turned the windshield wipers to a higher setting. They stopped in three more empty lots. Every turn, he would grunt as if he, and not the gas, were powering the shuttle onward. “I want off,” Jenny said quietly. “OK. When we get back to the mall.” Lee watched Jenny move to the edge of her seat. The wind had picked up, causing the shuttle to rock slightly as they cruised back. The first stop was Ivey’s, the department store where Lee had made everybody smoke cigarettes in the women’s bathroom last year. No one came out, so the driver closed the doors and pulled back onto the road. The shuttle was hot. Lee opened her mouth and licked her lips when she felt a sharp pain on the back of her arm. “Quit pinching me,” Lee snapped. “Do it NOW or I’m getting off without you.” “I said at the theatres.” Jenny clamped her jaw shut and stared straight ahead. They stopped next at the skating rink and then at Belk’s, the big department store on the other end of the mall. The theatres were next, but instead of stopping, the man turned the wheel sharply and started driving quickly through the parking lot. Jenny grabbed Lee’s arm, her lips pursed together in a horrible “o”, but before Lee could speak the man hit the brakes, causing the girls to smack into the seat in front of them. “Why aren’t you using a handicapped spot, Mr. Darkbloom?” The driver asked, opening his doors for an elderly couple getting out of a small, blue car. The man came up the steps first. “Because I don’t need one,” he said. He wore a grey suit under a black overcoat. “Besides, you always pick us up.” “Hello, Eddie,” the woman said. “Don’t pay any attention to Viv. He always gets feisty on movie nights. How are you?” The driver closed the doors and headed back to the mall. “Me? I’m right as rain.” “Or in this weather right as sleet.” The old man laughed loudly at his joke. Jenny turned to Lee. “Now or never.” As they pulled up to the theatres, the old man stood to his feet and held his hand out for his wife. He tipped his hat to Lee and Jenny before turning and pointing to the windshield. “Be careful, Eddie,” he said, climbing down the steps after his wife. Without a word, Jenny got up and walked down the aisle. It took Lee a second too long to believe Jenny would actually leave her. When Lee finally stood up and stepped into the aisle, she saw the man staring at her in his rear view mirror. Instantly, her stomach cramped. His complexion, pale when they had first got on, was now blotchy and red; his mismatched eyes had narrowed into slits. She swallowed, but could not break the stare between them. He closed the doors, and Lee sat down slowly. Through the window, she saw Jenny staring at the shuttle as they pulled away, her face blank as a ghost’s. “Hey,” Lee called in a voice strange to her ear, “I’m the next stop.” The man didn’t answer. He was craning his neck to see through the sleet and snow as he pulled onto the main drive. “Excuse me,” Lee said. “I’m the next stop.” The man drove slowly past the B and C lots, taking them further from the mall. From the rear view mirror, a lemon scent card swung back and forth. Lee moved to the edge of her seat. “Really, my mom is waiting in the next lot.” “Girls like you don’t have mothers.” Lee felt the blood drain from her face. “That’s not true.” “It’s true. It’s always true,” he said, driving past the last four lots. Lee closed her eyes. “People know you have me.” “Yeah, but I’m sick. People’ll forgive you anything when you’re sick. They forgave me that girl in Hatteras, and that girl in Farmville. They always forgive you when you’re sick. Just like they’re gonna forgive me for you.” Lee tilted her head back, her eyes closed tight. She concentrated on not crying. Over the din of the heater, the wipers and the sleet, she heard a faint creak, like the opening of a door to a dark basement staircase. The thrill had been swallowed by terror, and inside the devil a small, terrible snake of recognition surfaced. She had pushed and pushed and pushed, and now the control was his and she sat here, a terrible child. “I’m sorry,” she tried to say as they drove past the water filtration plant, ugly and real in the cold spotlights. The man checked his side mirror before pulling into the exit lane. The stoplight was red. There was no traffic in either direction. “Please sir, I didn’t mean any trouble.” The light turned green. “Trouble,” the man grunted, pulling out of the mall into the growing storm, “Let me tell you about trouble. Trouble finds me.”

Black Ice

“We could kiss somebody,” Lee said, looking across the food court. She was at the mall with her friends on a Saturday night looking for a little trouble —nothing that would land them on the eleven o’clock news or in the city morgue, but something before Francie’s mother picked them up for the night.

Jenny sat up in the plastic chair attached to the table and took a fry from Francie’s tray. ”OK, I’m game. Who you wanna kiss?”

“I don’t know,” Lee said thoughtfully. She yawned and arched her back, letting her hair fall down behind the chair. She had the hair every girl in seventh grade wanted, long, blonde, with soft curls at the end. She knew this without doubt. Only twelve, she had gotten “the package” early, as her mother liked to say—the legs, the hips, the tits.

“What about Rick Boyd?’ Francie asked sheepishly. Francie had long red hair, but wasn’t the sort of girl anyone called Red. Instead, her friends just called her Francie or other names when they wanted to be cruel.

“Like Rick Boyd knows your name,” Lee smirked. “No. It shouldn’t be anybody we know.”

“Yeah, it should be a stranger,” Jenny quickly agreed.

Lee bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling. They were easy. Jenny, her best friend, always agreed with her, and with enough prodding, Francie would do anything. Usually there were six of them, but a couple of the girls hadn’t been allowed to come because of the weather and another was at her dad’s in Virginia. Lee almost hadn’t come herself; she had dreaded a night with so much Francie in it. Things, however, were beginning to look promising. She licked her lips. “Or, we could kiss somebody gross.”

“But why?” Francie’s voice slid dangerously close to a wail.

“Because it’s some fun,” Lee said. Across the neon-gilded food court, a family sat eating pizza, while two ladies with upswept hair and white smocks picked through salads. A janitor pushed a large trashcan on squeaky wheels, briefly drowning out a Muzaked Get the Party Started. It was a light crowd for a Saturday night; freezing rain had been mentioned in the forecast. “Oh my God,” Lee said, suddenly sitting up, “the Clown!”

Jenny spit out her Coke, coughing and laughing. Taunting the clown at Shoe Carnival had long been considered sport at the mall. Kids would sneak away from their parents to stick their tongues out at him, throw spitballs, flip him off. This had made him an angry clown, one who didn’t like children of any age. “He’s gross,” Jenny said. “I hate all those little beard hairs sticking out through his make-up.”

“He’s perfect!” Francie added, out-gushing Jenny.

“Thank you.” Lee put her feet in the chair in front of her and leaned back. “That’s why I’m giving him to you.”

“Me?” Francie asked.

“You need him the worst of all.”

Francie’s mouth slightly quivered. “I don’t understand.”

“No shit.” Lee started looking through her Louis Vuitton purse for lipstick. The purse, the Rolex and the gold earrings had all been gifts from her mother, which her mother had bought with her boyfriend’s American Express. When she looked up, Francie was staring at her, her face drained of color. “Consider it practice for Rick Boyd.”

“But I—”

“If you’re scared, I’ll do it,” Jenny said nonchalantly.

Lee painted her lips a deep red as she watched the panic spread across Francie’s cheeks. She knew Francie feared being frozen out. It was something they did to each other from time to time. Lee always chose the victim and how long the group would ignore her in school. When it was over, the girl came back to the group docile, grateful to be in the good graces and protection of Lee again.

Francie turned in her seat and put her face a couple of inches from Jenny’s. “I’m not scared. I’ll kiss the stupid clown.”

Pleased more than she let on, Lee stood up. “Well, all right then. Let’s go.”

Shoe Carnival was one floor below the food court, about fifteen feet from the escalators, so whenever the Big Wheel of Savings was spinning, the escalator itself was awash in red and yellow lights. Tonight, though, no flashing lights or distorted circus music blared from the store.

“Where is everybody?” Jenny asked, stepping off the escalator.

“This stupid town. A little bit of sleet and everybody freaks out.” Lee said.

An older Asian woman stood cleaning the Rings ‘n Things cart, a bottle of

Windex in one hand and a wad of paper towels in the other. Hundreds of rings were displayed in velvet cases along the counters, while chains of various lengths hung from tiny silver hooks. The cart had fake wagon wheels and a silk canopy made to look like the top of a Chinese temple. The woman took a step closer to the cart and glared at the girls as they walked by.

Without breaking stride, Lee said loudly. “We didn’t steal anything, lady.”

Francie walked behind them with her head down. The day after Lee had ordered each of them to steal a necklace last fall, Francie anonymously returned hers.

“I can’t wait to move to Miami,” Lee said.

Jenny grabbed Lee’s arm. “You’re moving?”

“Once my mom gets things settled with Frank.”

“They’re getting married?”

“My mom thinks so.”

Jenny shuddered. “He’s so old.”

“Are you L.D.? He’s got a penthouse on the beach. He bought my mom a Mercedes.”

“It’s gross. She still has to do it with him.”

“My mom says the older they are, the less you have to do.”

“Wait,” Francie called out, two steps behind them. “What if we get into trouble?”

Lee walked back to Francie. “We’re not going to get into trouble,” she said smoothly and took her by the hand into the store. Shoeboxes were everywhere, in the racks, on the floor, all over the counter. Five or six benches with slanted footrests sat in front of rows of empty chairs. Discarded foot rulers littered the floor as helium balloons floated aimlessly above. Stepping over boxes, the girls walked slowly down the deserted aisles.

“He’s not here,” Jenny said, pushing her short, blonde hair behind her ears.

“Maybe he’s on a break,” Francie said.

Lee checked her image in a mirror at the end of the aisle. “No, he’s always here,” she said and turned, almost bumping into the man standing beside her.

“Can I help you?” The man, dressed in a red sports coat, was holding a shoebox.

Lee hadn’t been in a beauty pageant since her mother moved to Miami two years ago, but she remembered how to look the judges in the eye and tilt her head pleasingly. “We’re just looking,” she said. The last pageant had been a mother-daughter one. They had always placed, had even won a couple, but this pageant had been a bust. Neither she nor her mother had tripped or coughed, but they didn’t break the top ten. For weeks after, Lee’s mother couldn’t pass a mirror without lifting her shirt to check the flatness of her belly or the slender spread of her hips.

“I’m in the back, doing inventory. Just yell if you need anything,” the man said.

The girls exchanged looks, and tried to keep from giggling as they headed to the front of the store. Kitty corner on a small stage, the Big Wheel of Savings stood silent. It was over six feet tall and divided into slices like a pie. Each slice offered savings—the red was “10% Off!,” the blue,“$5 savings!,” the orange, “Buy two pair, get the second half-off!” After a customer selected his or her shoes, the clown would spin the wheel. Where the arrow landed determined the customer’s deal. Lee climbed onto the red and gold stage and walked toward the back. She popped her head into the space behind the wheel. “Hey clown, whatcha doing?”

Hidden neatly from view, the clown sat on a metal folding chair smoking a cigarette. He didn’t look up. “Beat it, brat. I’m on a break.”

“Aren’t those supposed to be bad for you?”

“I said I was on a break, you little shit. Get outta here.”

The space was tight, but Lee easily slipped in, pulling Francie with her. “It’s just that we’ve always wanted to talk to you, but never had the nerve.”

“Oh yeah?” he said, finally looking up. His face was smeared with white greasepaint. Crude, red circles had been painted over his cheeks while stars the color of bruises encircled his eyes.

“My friend has a thing for clowns.”

He eyed Francie. “Really.”

Francie stared at the corner where the wall joined the floor.

Lee took a baby step toward him. “She’s got a huge collection of clowns in her bedroom. She even sleeps with one.”

“Aren’t you a little old to sleep with dolls?” he asked warily.

Jenny poked her head through the opening. “It depends on the doll.”

“Jenny!” Francie hissed.

“Francie’s got clown posters, clown hats, clown t-shirts. You name it,” Lee said.

“Well that’s great, kid. A fan.”

Lee stepped behind Francie. “She’s never been this close to a real clown before.”

“You do all of Francie’s talking?” he asked, blowing smoke at them.

“Well, she’s nervous.”

“Oh yeah?” He placed the butt under his gigantic, red clown shoe and ground it out. Dozens of cigarette burns pockmarked the carpet around his feet.

“Now,” Lee said and ruthlessly pushed Francie’s head to the clown’s. Francie stumbled, but managed to land her lips on the side of his greasy, white face.

“Uggh,” Francie took a step back.

“What in the hell—” The clown tried to stand up, but fell back into the chair.

Jenny started jumping up and down on the other side of the wheel. “No! No! No! You gotta kiss him on the lips. The lips!”

“What’s going on?” The man in the jacket was suddenly behind Jenny.

“I have no idea,” the clown said.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing, I swear. This girl just kissed me.”

The man pushed Jenny to his side absently. “What are you doing? They’re kids!”

Lee took Francie’s hand and stepped out from behind the wheel, bringing Francie with her. Without turning their backs on the store manager, they inched their way toward Jenny.

The manager paid no attention to them. Gritting his teeth, he spoke in a low, menacing tone to the clown. Spit flew out of his mouth. “I swear to God. This is it.”

“I didn’t do anything, Dad.” The clown had stepped out and now stood in front of his father on the stage. He had lost his gruffness, sounding much younger than before.

As quickly and quietly as they could, Francie and Jenny walked out of the store with their heads down, trying desperately to be invisible, but Lee walked out backwards, slowly blowing kisses to the clown through the air.

“You are insane,” Jenny said, collapsing onto the couch. Laughing hysterically, the girls had run to the Squat Spot by Victoria’s Secret on the first floor. There were several Squat Spots throughout the mall—groupings of couches and chairs with “Kick Back” and “Take A Breather” signs permanently screwed onto the plastic coffee tables. Each showcased an intense color scheme like orange and midnight blue or purple and scarlet. The one the girls ended up in was cherry and black. The spots were supposed to be homey, a place for people to recharge between stores, but instead the furniture was hard and dirty.

“I do what I can.” Lee curtseyed before taking a seat.

Jenny reached into her purse and handed a small mirror to Francie. “You’ve got some make-up on your face.”

“Oh my God,” Francie said, looking at her cheeks and lips smeared with clown make-up. “I got to get this off.” Her voice broke like she might cry as she walked away from them to go the bathroom.

Jenny waited to speak until Francie was out of earshot. “You’re so mean.”

“Yes,” Lee said, satisfied. “Yes, I am.”

“So, who you going to kiss?”

Lee started to draw tiny circles in the air with her foot, the way she had seen her mother do countless times. Their last visit had been months ago, Fourth of July, during which Lee had started her first period. After three rum and cokes, her mother announced to everyone during the fireworks that her little girl had started womanhood with a bang. Lee breathed in the stale mall air. “I’m still thinking about it. How about you?”

“I don’t know. I guess there’s always Pimple King.”

Lee bit off a piece of dried skin beside her thumbnail. She knew why her mother hadn’t asked her back. After seeing them in their matching bikinis, Frank had said that Lee was starting to look more like her mother while her mother looked less and less like herself. Lee’s mother didn’t speak to her for the rest of the trip. On the last day, she showered Lee with gifts while a taxi waited outside to take her to the airport. Parting gifts. Lee spit the dried skin out. “No, clown beats him.”

“What about the guy at the information desk? Retardo?”

“Clown still wins.”

“Oh,” Jenny shivered. “I wish I had my coat.”

Lee turned suddenly and grabbed Jenny’s hands. “Jenny! The skating rink guy!”

Jenny squinted her nose. “He chews tobacco.”

“I know.” Lee grinned. “That beats the shit out of the clown.”

“Who does?” Francie stood over them, her face red from scrubbing or crying.

“The dude at the skating rink,” Lee said.

“He’s gross, but not grosser than the clown.” Francie sat beside Jenny.

“He’s totally grosser. He chews tobacco. He doesn’t wash his hair.” Jenny enumerated his qualities with her fingers.

“And Jenny’s going to French him,” Lee said.

Jenny turned her head sharply toward Lee. “What?”

“Kissing him with your tongue makes it way grosser than the clown.”

“That’s not fair,” Francie said. “Nobody said anything about French kissing.”

Lee sighed. “Oh Francie, when are you going to learn life’s not fair?”

“He’s probably in the back,” Lee said looking across the rink to the rental area. A bright yellow partition, waist-high and cold to the touch, separated the ice from the walkway that ran around it. The counter itself was a couple of steps below the rink. Behind the counter, a tall, freestanding wall, also the color of sunshine, stood. “Go for Gold!” and “Champions Skate Here!” had been painted all over the wall in primary blues and reds. In front of the counter, six small benches sat empty. Nobody was on the ice.

“Maybe he’s on his Zamboni,” Francie said and started laughing.

“What do I say?” Jenny said, cutting her off.

“Ask to rent skates. When he hands them to you, lean over and do him,” Lee said.

“Don’t forget you have to French him,” Francie said sarcastically.

“Don’t worry.” Jenny glared at Francie.

Lee stood with her hands on her hips. “Don’t come back without any tongue.”

“God. OK. I got it.”

The girls walked around the rink and in the entrance. They knew it well. Every Tuesday afternoon in kindergarten they had taken lessons with Miss Wendy, who had almost skated in the Olympics before they were born. About fifteen feet from the desk, a Coke machine stood in the corner. Lee and Francie stopped by it, pretending to search their pockets for change as Jenny walked to the desk and tapped the small silver bell.

“Bullshit,” Lee coughed.

Jenny hit the bell harder, throwing a dirty look at Lee. After a minute, a boy of about seventeen strolled around the partition. He was short, but muscular, with blonde hair curling around the edges of his baseball cap. There was a hint of peach fuzz above his lip. In his right hand, he held a plastic Mountain Dew bottle; a murky pool of tobacco and brown spit swirled inside.

“Oh God,” Lee said loudly.

“Can I help you?” the boy asked.

Jenny cleared her throat. “Yes. Please. I would like to rent some skates. Yes.”

The boy looked over at Lee and Francie giggling by the Coke machine. “What size shoe do you wear?”

“Seven.”

“OK,” he said, but didn’t move. “Aren’t you one of the O’Connors?”

Jenny stammered. “Uh … no… I just wanted to skate. Before the mall closes.”

The boy shrugged his shoulders, turned and walked to the back.

Jenny turned around. “He knows who I am!” she said in a loud whisper.

“So?” Lee said.

“If you’re too scared, I’ll do it.” Francie did a mean imitation of Jenny’s voice.

“Shut up, Francie. You’re lucky to even be here at all.”

“Uhhh … here you go.” The boy was back, holding a pair of white skates.

Jenny slowly turned back around. She bit her lip and then pointed to the toe of one the boots. “What’s this?” she asked. When the boy leaned across the counter to look, she grabbed his wrist, closed her eyes and roughly put her lips to his.

The boy, still holding the skates, pushed her off. “What are you doing?” His face was flushed.

Jenny wiped her mouth on her sleeve and pulled a couple of quarters out of her pocket. Throwing them on the counter, she said, “Dude, go get yourself a toothbrush.”

Francie was jumping up and down by the Coke machine, squealing, but Lee stood beside her, quiet. Sometimes she couldn’t believe it, what she could get people to do. Before turning to leave, she looked over her shoulder at the boy. He was still standing there, holding the skates in mid-air.

“That was so mean.” Lee patted Jenny’s back like a proud couch with a promising athlete.

Jenny stood in the back of the video arcade with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. “I did him a favor. He had the worst breath I’ve ever smelled.”

“I suppose that’ll be your excuse for no tongue.” Francie sat on the floor, which along with the walls, was covered in deep red carpeting. A couple of dim lights hung overhead, but most of the light came from the games themselves. It was dark, loud and slightly sticky.

Jenny sat beside her and put her hands to her mouth. “My lips are burning.”

“You didn’t French kiss him,” Francie said.

“At least I kissed his lips.”

Lee took a seat and stretched her legs out in front of her. “He was chewing which is grosser, but it doesn’t matter. I haven’t gone yet.”

Francie and Jenny leaned in. “Who are you going to kiss?” Francie asked breathlessly.

Lee grinned, her face wicked and cocky. “The worst man in the mall.”

“Who?” Francie begged.

“The shuttle bus driver.”

Jenny drew in a sharp breath and sat back.

Francie shook her head in slow agreement. “You’re right. He’s the worst.”

“He’s not right,” Jenny said.

“I know. That makes him the best.”

Jenny and Francie looked at each other, but neither spoke.

“All I’m going to do is jump on and kiss him. You don’t even have to get on.”

“My mom will freak if we’re a minute past nine-thirty,” Francie said.

“It’s only nine o’clock,” Lee said. “Quit being such a baby.”

“Excuse me if I don’t want to end up on the back of a milk carton,” Francie said.

Jenny sat hugging her knees. “It’s probably just a rumor. I mean, if it were true, they would’ve never hired him.”

“Oh, I got it. If it’s a rumor, he’s not so bad, so you win.”

“That’s not what I’m saying, Lee.”

Lee stared hard at Jenny. “He is what he is, and everybody knows it.”

Jenny took a deep breath. “OK, then. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”

“Oh, my God. You’re chicken-shit. You’re a great big baby chicken-shit like her.”

“I’m not chicken-shit,” Jenny said.

“OK, then.” Lee turned to Francie. “How about you? Are you chicken-shit?”

Francie looked like she might cry, but shrugged her shoulders. “No. Let’s go.”

“Can you believe this?” Lee said, spinning around on the icy sidewalk. Everything—the road, the cars, even the “Pick Me Up!” banner they stood under—was covered in a thick layer of ice. Tiny pellets of sleet cut through their sweaters. Francie huddled alone in the forest green shelter while Jenny and Lee stood out in the biting wind. Lee glanced over her shoulder. “She’s such a baby.”

“Yeah,” Jenny said, turning away from Lee. A long line of cars was leaving the mall, their taillights glowing in the freezing rain. “Everyone’s leaving,” Jenny mumbled.

Lee pretended not to hear her. She felt feverish, giddy looking for the shuttle. Much to her delight, she heard the low rumble of the shuttle’s motor before seeing its lights. “It’s here!” she called. “It’s here!”

Francie walked out of the shelter. “I’m cold,” she said.

The headlights grew brighter and larger, simultaneously blinding and illuminating the girls. Francie looked away and Jenny shielded her eyes, but Lee stared straight ahead, as if she were bidding the shuttle to her. Slowly, she took a step back. The shuttle, painted royal blue with “Shopping Excitement!” and bright orange stars on the side, pulled to a stop.

Lee tried to peer in through the darkened windows, but the van sat with the doors closed tight, its heavy motor humming. Not quite sure what to do, she took a step toward the shuttle when the doors popped open. Francie jumped. A set of bright lights snapped on, revealing the soft gray interior and a man behind the wheel.

“You girls want a ride?”

Lee callously pushed Jenny in front of her. “You first.”

Jenny slipped on the ice, but managed to get up the shuttle steps without looking at the driver.

Lee climbed on after her, coolly taking one step at a time. The man had a large, fleshy face with one piercing blue eye. The other eye was milky. Somehow, the blue had been knocked out of its iris and was now floating where there should have only been white. His hair, slicked back, clung to his neck. He was dressed professionally enough in black pants, a short-sleeved white shirt and black tie, but still Lee shivered. He was much bigger than she’d thought.

“How about you?” The man looked at Francie.

Lee and Jenny had stepped past the first row of seats, but Francie hadn’t moved. “Come on, “ Lee hissed.

Francie stiffly climbed the first step.

The driver spit a piece of chewing gum into the small trashcan by his seat. “How about it, girl? You getting on or not?”

Francie opened her mouth, turned and stepped off.

“Dammit,” Lee said under her breath, climbing off the shuttle.

Jenny mumbled sorry to the driver and quickly ran down the steps after them.

Despite the many signs on proper usage, there were always toilets backed up in the bathroom across from the movie theatres. Yards of toilet paper clung to the damp floor as fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. The attendant—an old black woman who wore dark lipstick and an oversized, blonde wig—was supposed to keep the restroom clean, but mostly she sat on her stool, handing out paper towels, mumbling about the people who didn’t leave tips. The seven-thirty movies had not yet let out, so except for the attendant, the girls were the only ones in the bathroom. Lee pounded on the door of the last stall. “Come out now!”

“No,” Francie said. She had locked the door.

“God, when are you going to grow up?”

“I don’t know.” Francie sounded like she might cry again.

Lee paced back and forth in front of the stalls. The air was syrupy with deodorizer, suffocating any hint of a foul odor. “So much for the element of surprise, Francie. We can’t get back on without him knowing something’s up now.”

Jenny sighed. “I think it’s over for tonight.”

“No. We’re going back.”

“We can’t. The mall’s getting ready to close.”

“We’ve still got ten minutes, Jenny.”

Francie spoke from behind the stall. “My mom is picking us up at 9:30 sharp.”

Lee spun around. “Fine. Go home with your stupid mother. We’ll get a ride with my stepbrother. Jenny, give me your phone.”

“It’s in my coat. In Francie’s mom’s car.”

“Shit. My battery’s dead,” Lee said. “We’ll just call from the pay phones.”

“What do I tell my mom?” Francie asked faintly from behind the door.

Lee started walking toward the exit. “Tell her we ditched you for some friends with balls.” Halfway out, she turned back. “Don’t you dare tell her what we’re doing. You tell her, and I swear to God, I’ll beat the living shit out of you.”

Jenny stood still for a moment, listening to Francie sob softly.

“You coming or not, Jenny?”

Jenny nodded, but first she walked over to Francie’s stall and put her face in the gap between the door and metal frame. “Tell your mom I bumped into my mom, and she gave Lee and me a ride home.”

Francie didn’t say anything, but her sobbing slowed down.

“Trouble,” the old woman said, shaking her head as Lee and Jenny walked by. She was folding a stack of brown paper towels. “Trouble. Trouble. Trouble.”

“Even her stupid parrot calls her baby.” Lee said, disgusted. The orange lights in the PICK ME UP! spot cast a fake glow over the sidewalk, but did nothing to dispel the cold wind.

“You need to check your make-up,” Jenny said. “Your freckles are showing.”

Lee pulled a silver compact out of her purse and opened it. “Shit.”

“We could lie,” Jenny suddenly said, but Lee had stepped back into the shelter for more light. Excited, Jenny rushed in. “We could say we did it, but not actually do it. Francie’ll believe anything. We could just wait five minutes and then run back.”

Lee felt a trace of relief, unbidden, flicker in her stomach, but then she heard the shuttle’s low rumble. She dropped the compact in her purse. “Why would I do something like that?”

Slowly, the shuttle lumbered to a stop, its doors opening immediately this time. “You back?” The man leaned forward, holding the doors’ lever in the open position. His arm had the look of once being muscular, but was now just beefy and hairy.

“Yeah,” Lee said. The wind kicked up bits of dead leaves as she and Jenny climbed the steps and walked toward the back. Two women wearing red pea coats were sitting in the middle row. Their hair was curly and black, and they had short, flat noses; they were sisters. Brightly colored shopping bags filled the racks above and the seats beside them. In the front row, two small boys and a girl were wrestling.

The driver looked in his rear view mirror. “Boys, I can’t drive until everyone’s hiney is planted in their seat.”

“Sit down,” the larger woman said to her children.

“I thought you were just jumping on and off,” Jenny said under her breath.

“But I wasn’t doing anything,” the little girl whined.

The woman grabbed the girl by her shoulder. “Sit.”

Sleet bounced off the roof, filling the shuttle with a thin, metallic drumming as they circled the mall without making another pickup. The man turned onto the main drive and headed out to the parking lots. “This is getting bad,” he said to himself.

The girl’s mother pointed out the window. “This next one is us.”

Jenny whispered into Lee’s ear. “Do it now, and we can get off with them.”

“At least, it’s not black ice. I’m scared to death of that,” the other woman said.

The older boy swung around and growled. “I’m not afraid of black ice.”

Looking in the mirror, the driver spoke in a low, even tone. “Oh, really? One minute you’re driving along and the next you’re in a ditch. Your head’s through the windshield and you got a permanent grin cause your neck’s slit ear to ear. How does that grab you?”

Immediately, the children stopped squirming. The girl climbed onto her mother’s lap, sucking her thumb as the women looked at one another.

Jenny grabbed Lee’s arm, but Lee didn’t move.

The man turned off the main drive and pulled up to the lone car in the lot. “You kids be good for your mothers,” the man said, opening the doors. The children scampered down the steps, while the women gathered their bags. “I hope I didn’t scare them too much. I wanted them to behave for you on the ride home.”

The taller sister lifted her head. “Yes,” she said, but the word came out garbled. She cleared her throat. “Thank you.” She looked over her shoulder at Jenny and Lee before climbing down the steps.

“Are you doing this or not?” Jenny hissed.

“Let’s get back to the mall first.” Through the icy window, Lee watched the women placed their bags in the station wagon. The children began wrestling and in the fray the little girl fell to the ground. Crying, she lifted her arms above her head. Her mother scooped her up and gently kissed her before putting her in the back seat.

Only after the family had driven away, did the man turn to face Lee and Jenny. “You girls forget where you parked?”

Lee stuck her chin out. “No.”

The man closed his eyes and breathed deeply as if picking up a scent in the air. First he opened his mouth, then his eyes slowly, and stared at Lee for a moment before turning and putting the shuttle back into drive. To keep up with the sleet, he turned the windshield wipers to a higher setting. They stopped in three more empty lots. Every turn, he would grunt as if he, and not the gas, were powering the shuttle onward.

“I want off,” Jenny said quietly.

“OK. When we get back to the mall.” Lee watched Jenny move to the edge of her seat. The wind had picked up, causing the shuttle to rock slightly as they cruised back. The first stop was Ivey’s, the department store where Lee had made everybody smoke cigarettes in the women’s bathroom last year. No one came out, so the driver closed the doors and pulled back onto the road. The shuttle was hot. Lee opened her mouth and licked her lips when she felt a sharp pain on the back of her arm.

“Quit pinching me,” Lee snapped.

“Do it NOW or I’m getting off without you.”

“I said at the theatres.”

Jenny clamped her jaw shut and stared straight ahead.

They stopped next at the skating rink and then at Belk’s, the big department store on the other end of the mall. The theatres were next, but instead of stopping, the man turned the wheel sharply and started driving quickly through the parking lot. Jenny grabbed Lee’s arm, her lips pursed together in a horrible “o”, but before Lee could speak the man hit the brakes, causing the girls to smack into the seat in front of them.

“Why aren’t you using a handicapped spot, Mr. Darkbloom?” The driver asked, opening his doors for an elderly couple getting out of a small, blue car.

The man came up the steps first. “Because I don’t need one,” he said. He wore a grey suit under a black overcoat. “Besides, you always pick us up.”

“Hello, Eddie,” the woman said. “Don’t pay any attention to Viv. He always gets feisty on movie nights. How are you?”

The driver closed the doors and headed back to the mall. “Me? I’m right as rain.”

“Or in this weather right as sleet.” The old man laughed loudly at his joke.

Jenny turned to Lee. “Now or never.”

As they pulled up to the theatres, the old man stood to his feet and held his hand out for his wife. He tipped his hat to Lee and Jenny before turning and pointing to the windshield. “Be careful, Eddie,” he said, climbing down the steps after his wife.

Without a word, Jenny got up and walked down the aisle.

It took Lee a second too long to believe Jenny would actually leave her. When Lee finally stood up and stepped into the aisle, she saw the man staring at her in his rear view mirror. Instantly, her stomach cramped. His complexion, pale when they had first got on, was now blotchy and red; his mismatched eyes had narrowed into slits. She swallowed, but could not break the stare between them. He closed the doors, and Lee sat down slowly. Through the window, she saw Jenny staring at the shuttle as they pulled away, her face blank as a ghost’s. “Hey,” Lee called in a voice strange to her ear, “I’m the next stop.”

The man didn’t answer. He was craning his neck to see through the sleet and snow as he pulled onto the main drive.

“Excuse me,” Lee said. “I’m the next stop.”

The man drove slowly past the B and C lots, taking them further from the mall. From the rear view mirror, a lemon scent card swung back and forth.

Lee moved to the edge of her seat. “Really, my mom is waiting in the next lot.”

“Girls like you don’t have mothers.”

Lee felt the blood drain from her face. “That’s not true.”

“It’s true. It’s always true,” he said, driving past the last four lots.

Lee closed her eyes. “People know you have me.”

“Yeah, but I’m sick. People’ll forgive you anything when you’re sick. They forgave me that girl in Hatteras, and that girl in Farmville. They always forgive you when you’re sick. Just like they’re gonna forgive me for you.”

Lee tilted her head back, her eyes closed tight. She concentrated on not crying. Over the din of the heater, the wipers and the sleet, she heard a faint creak, like the opening of a door to a dark basement staircase. The thrill had been swallowed by terror, and inside the devil a small, terrible snake of recognition surfaced. She had pushed and pushed and pushed, and now the control was his and she sat here, a terrible child. “I’m sorry,” she tried to say as they drove past the water filtration plant, ugly and real in the cold spotlights.

The man checked his side mirror before pulling into the exit lane. The stoplight was red. There was no traffic in either direction.

“Please sir, I didn’t mean any trouble.”

The light turned green. “Trouble,” the man grunted, pulling out of the mall into the growing storm, “Let me tell you about trouble. Trouble finds me.”