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followed her friend into the house. Caterina was perched on her usual sofa in the living room, watching television. Alessa’s father was in a recliner on the left and Uncle Danny overwhelmed his recliner on the right. Both men were smoking big fat cigars and Rhonda cringed at the pungent smell and cloudiness of the smoke filled room.
    Caterina said, “Well, you’re home early. What happened?”
    “Nothing happened,” Alessa replied. “Rhonda and I were just tired. Would it be okay if she slept over tonight?” Her tone was pleading.
    Caterina turned her head away. Alessa knew she didn’t like her to have friends sleep over; she had enough mouths to feed already. Her mother now said, “I guess it’s okay if Rhonda’s mom says she can.”
    Quickly, Alessa guided her friend through the smoked-filled room and into the kitchen, from where Rhonda could call her mother. As she passed Uncle Danny, she could see his jaws tighten with rage. For an instant, she wanted to curl her fingers into a fist and punch him in the face so that his hated features were obliterated forever into a soggy mass of flesh. He knew tonight was going to be a sexless one for him and the thought was obviously pissing him off.

Chapter Five

     
    O ut of earshot in Alessa’s bedroom, Rhonda turned to her.
    “What happened tonight?” she inquired. “Did you and Carl have a fight?”
    Alessa explained how the boy had forced himself on her while making out.
    Rhonda was incredulous. “What a piece of shit!” she exclaimed angrily. “He’s going to be real sorry he did that to you!”
    “It’s okay, Rhonda,” Alessa replied. “I don’t really care about the sex part. I’m just worried about getting pregnant. He didn’t use a rubber.”
    For some odd reason, she felt the need to defend Carl. Rhonda calmed down a bit, once she had understood what was upsetting Alessa. But she was still intent on warning Carl that if he ever forced himself on her friend again, she would kill him. And it was time she confronted him about the blow jobs he was also getting from other girls at school.
    Rhonda managed to alleviate Alessa’s worries about being pregnant, assuring her that it wasn’t a big deal. Even if the worst happened, she could always get an abortion. Carl would have to pay for it, of course. Alessa managed to put the evening’s events, along with Carl and Uncle Danny, away in her mind for the time being and just focused on enjoying Rhonda’s company.
    They were listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd on Alessa’s radio when Rhonda remarked, “Your Uncle Danny is kind of creepy. Whenever I’m around, he looks at me weird. I noticed he always has this mean expression when he is looking at you. What’s up with him?”
    “He’s just a miserable prick,” Alessa blurted out, with more anger in her voice than she had intended to reveal. “I ignore him and you should too. I don’t really give a fuck what he thinks. My family is just plain fucked up.”
    Rhonda laughed as she thought about her own family—her mother. Zoe was a good person and Rhonda loved her very much. But she did have some peculiarities too, starting with all the men she brought home. That, of course, was how Rhonda had sexually matured way ahead of her time and become promiscuous as a young teenager. Zoe was very open about sex and her daughter had never felt uncomfortable about being sexually active. She knew about birth control, abortions, adoptions and all the other things that women far older than her were usually aware of. Rhonda had never needed to worry about getting pregnant, because she had been on the pill since she had started her period at the age of twelve. Of course, Zoe had advised her not to tell the boys she was on the pill; that was the only way she could convince them to use a rubber.
    “After all,” Rhonda’s mother explained, “the pill may prevent pregnancy, but it doesn’t prevent disease.”
    Alessa was aware that her friend’s knowledge and experience