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"Calm down, buddy," Ryan said, still laughing, giving Jim his usual disarming smile. "We're just having fun. You want to join us in a little strip poker?"
Jim ignored him.
"NOTHING HAPPENED, Jim! I SWEAR!" Mara said, energized by the truth. After all, nothing had happened. Yet.
"You know why I came up here?" Jim asked. "My MOM saw
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your picture in the paper. She gets the Post, you know. And there was some picture of you from some polo match and some guy you were with--this guy!" he said, motioning to Ryan. "I didn't even believe it. It's just not like you. Not my Mara. But I saw the picture--you were dressed like a hooker."
"I'm not a hooker!" Mara cried. Even though she was, technically, still naked. In public. Ahem.
"No, you're worse. You're a slut and a whore. You're nothing better than a two-bit hooker on Worth Avenue."
Mara gasped. She had never been called such awful names. And from her own boyfriend! She didn't know how to react.
"Hey, dude, that's enough," Ryan said, coming up to shield Mara from Jim. His voice was quiet, and he was no longer amused. (He had thought the whole thing was kind of funny, really, since he and Mara were still naked, and hey, everything could easily be explained--it's not as if there wasn't a bunch of half-naked people on the porch.) But this guy was acting way out of line.
"I understand you're angry, but you can't talk to her that way," Ryan said.
Mara couldn't believe what was happening. It was all too much. And she'd had a lot to drink. It was surreal. A total nightmare.
Meanwhile, back on the patio, the music was still blasting and the game continued. Everyone else was totally clueless about the drama going on in the backyard.
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"I'll speak to her any way I want," Jim spat, hulking up. This little fancy pants prep school kid had nothing on him.
"And Mara, you can forget about the discount on that Camry at my uncle's dealership." With those fighting words, Jim took off through the woods.
It was so absurd Ryan actually began to laugh.
"A Camry?" he asked.
"It's not funny," Mara said miserably. "I was counting on that car. It was the only one I could afford to buy and still have money left over for college."
"God, I'm sorry," Ryan said, sobering up.
Mara frowned, but after a minute she, too, began to laugh. There they were, standing naked in the Perrys' front yard. "It is kind of funny."
They walked back toward the house, collecting their clothes along the way.
A few hours later Jacqui walked out of the cottage and found the two of them huddled in Ryan's oversized sweatshirts, sharing a cigarette and watching the sun rise.
"I couldn't sleep," Jacqui explained.
"Glad you made it to the party," Ryan joked.
"Jacqui--are you okay?" Mara asked.
No, she was really so far from okay, it was laughable. The guy she had loved was a two-timing loser with serious identity issues. And the guy she had replaced him with was an even bigger loser
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who was more Li'l Romeo than DMX. Jacqui felt empty and used and completely burned out.
"I'll be okay," she said, hugging herself and shivering.
