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“Mrs. Hampton,” Lisa mused as they walked away. “I like the sound of that.”
~~~
Donja woke with a start and realized that Maestro, the family Schnauzer of eight years was on the bed. He was licking her face. She blew air in his face and he backed away as she raised a hand and wiped at her nose and mouth.
Maestro came back for more.
“Eww!” Donja sputtered. She pulled his writhing body tight and hugged him as she recalled the day her dad brought him home, a tiny silver and black bundle. She fell in love with him and for weeks on end she refused to put him down. Finally, after a month of calling him ‘baby puppy,’ her mom named him Maestro and it fit perfectly.
He wiggled free of her embrace, hopping all over the bed, and then he dashed in and licked at her face. She pushed him away. He bailed off the bed like a silver bullet and took a stance next to the nightstand, trembling with a pathetic whine.
“Okay already,” Donja mumbled as she sat up with a groggy yawn. A fleeting glance to the opposite side of the bed revealed Debbie sleeping with her mouth gaping open and one leg hanging off the bed. Donja rose to her feet and Maestro went ballistic, jumping up and down like a maniac.
Debbie, roused from slumber, sat up a bit disoriented. She rubbed at her eyes, sunlight spilling through the open window. “What the heck?”
“It’s his potty time.”
Debbie swung her feet to the floor and pushed her black locks behind her ear. “Would you let him out already?” she said gripping her head.
“Someone’s in a mood.”
“Bite me.”
Donja laughed, slipping her feet, with shiny black toenails into her flipflops.
Debbie stood up, stretching. “Can we go to the Burger Shack, I want a caramel latte?”
“Sure,” Donja blurted, “but we gotta get back, no shopping and don’t even ask. I need a manicure and pedicure before the party.”
“Oh crap, me too but I do need a pack of ciggys. I can’t have a latte without a smoke.”
“Are you buying?” Donja asked with raised brows.
Debbie smirked then threw her pillow.
Donja dodged it, laughing and darted out the door, Maestro yapping to high heaven.
~~~
Cruising down Main Street in St. Joseph with the windows down Donja and Debbie were singing along with the sultry voice of Chelsea Wolfe. Just shy of the St. Joseph River, Donja took a sharp left onto Ship St. and then down the steep descent to Silver Beach. Cars were parked everywhere, and she turned off the music as they eased past the train station with a half visible sun looming over the liquid horizon. Finding a parking spot, she grabbed her beach bag from the back seat. Debbie came around the hood as she slammed the door. “Do I look all right? I’m on my damn period and I feel bloated.”
Donja cast a surreptitious glance out across the sand dunes to the crowded beach and then back to Debbie’s skull pentagram swimsuit. “You look fine.”
“I feel fat.”
“All right. You look fat.”
“You witch! Don’t be crude!”
“You asked, so get over it!”
Debbie lit a cigarette and took a long drag. Donja snatched it and took one of her own, holding it briefly before she exhaled, “I’m nervous.”
“And it shows, you’re always bitchy when you’re nervous.”
“Sorry, but this driving me nuts.”
“Chill, he might not even be here.” Debbie smirked, blowing smoke.
