There's Blood on the Moon Tonight (43 page)

Relieved, Rusty slid out of the booth before they could change their minds. He didn’t want a repeat performance of yesterday’s events. He grabbed Josie by the hand and nearly dragged her from the diner.

Bud watched Josie head for the door, enjoying the way she filled out that
Godfather
T-shirt; the way her butt strained the denim in her old blue jean cut offs, switching side to side like a thing alive. Funny thing, she’d worn those same shorts the year before, and they had been flat on her hips and behind. Now they were chock-a-block with sweet Josie goodness.
Maybe too much so
…

Every man in the diner turned on his stool to watch Josie O’Hara leave the restaurant. Even Minister Milo Tipple leaned back to sneak a peek, nearly falling off his seat. Bud could hardly blame the men. The frayed hem of Josie’s shorts failed to cover that teasing swell of the lower buttocks. That pleasing pinch of female flesh beneath the swollen back pockets. Such a sight made it nigh impossible for any straight man to keep his eyes in his own head.

Annoyed, Bud cleared his throat, until one by one the older men returned their chagrined focus on the coffee cups in front of them. To Bud’s surprise, the only one left staring was Ralph Emerson Tolson.

             
            *******

Josie went over to the concessions counter where Rusty was counting out the change. She had already gotten the box office ready, and it was almost time to unlock the front doors. Joel would be here soon for his breakfast. Before that happened, though, she needed some privacy with her trusty old sounding board.

Rusty looked up from his counting and did a double take. Josie had an embarrassed, stricken look on her face. “What’s up, Big Red?” he asked, putting the change aside. “This about Buddy boy and you?”

Her eyes downcast, Josie nodded. Rusty jumped up on the counter and made himself comfortable beside her. Josie leaned her head on his shoulder. “Rustoleum, what do you know about sex?”

Rusty squirmed on the counter, uncomfortable with the question. “Probably no more than you, Red. Pretty much what we learned in Sex Ed., what we’ve seen in the movies.” He sniffed. “What’s on your mind, girl?”

Josie shrugged; her eyes still on her canvas Nikes. Her little toe peeked out the side of her right shoe. She wiggled it. “Because I need to know what a guy’s thinking when he’s…
excited
…and that’s something Miss Ibeken didn’t cover in health class.”

Rusty took a deep breath. “Joe…have you and Bud had sex already?”

“As if! You know me better than that, Gnat! We just started this thing yesterday! I’m not a slut, you know!”

He held his hands up in surrender. “All right, all right! My bad. But look here, girl. If we’re gonna be talking about this stuff, you can’t be yelling at me ‘cause I asked the wrong question or said the wrong damn thing. After all, I’m a lot less experienced than you!”

“Shite, Rusty, just ‘cause Buddy boy and I kissed some doesn’t make me experienced. Jeez alou!”

“I’m talking about puberty, Red. In case you hadn’t noticed, I haven’t reached it yet.”

Josie didn’t know what to say to that. “Gee, love, I’m sorry. It’s not something I think about to tell you the truth. I’m sure you will soon enough. I mean, I didn’t hit it meself until I was fifteen! Anyway, I don’t think it’s a prerequisite for answering the questions on my mind.”

“Okay. I can sure try.”

Josie took a deep breath of her own. “All right, first off, I’m not interested in having
real
sex any time soon.”

“Course not. You don’t want to get pregnant.”

“Well, there’s that, naturally, but mostly because I’m too young. I mean, just ‘cause I look like this doesn’t mean I’m ready up here,” she said, tapping her head with one finger. My guess is, neither is Bud.”

“So what’s the problem? Are you worried about Buddy boy getting worked up, maybe forcing himself—”

“No!” Josie snapped. She saw the irked look on Rusty’s face and apologized. “I’m sorry. I know you’re trying—but no, I’m not worried about that
at all
. Bud would never force himself on me.”

“I don’t get it then.”

“He gets…
Hard
!” she blurted out.

“Huh?”

Josie sighed. This was turning out to be tougher than she thought. It was times like these when she wished she had another female perspective in her life.
“Buddy boy gets erections,”
she whispered to her feet.

Rusty laughed so hard he almost fell off the counter. “Well, of course he does! The way you
flirt
with him and all! That touchy feely shit gets a dick’s attention, Joe.”

“Really?” The thought made her feel awful. “Does it hurt when the penis gets hard like that? Bud acts like it hurts…and don’t call it a
Dick
. That’s so vulgar.”

Rusty giggled. “Sorry, Church Lady. Now to your query regarding penile pain,” he said teasingly. “I can’t speak from experience, mind you, but not from what I’ve read. But I believe it can become quite uncomfortable if…”

“Go ahead,” she urged her reluctant friend, “
If
?”

“Well…if a release isn’t attained.”

“Release?” Josie said, blinking. “Oh! You
mean
ejaculation!
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
” she said, being vulgar herself.

Rusty’s eyebrows rose up comically on his forehead. “Now who’s being nasty? But that’s exactly right, Red.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
You see, once an erection is attained, seminal fluid begins to build up in the testes.”

“Testicles.”

“Yeah. Us
vulgar
guys call them balls or nuts.”

Josie shook her head. “Why do boys have so many names for their privates?”

“Tits, that’s another discussion altogether. Now where was I?”

“Sperm builds up.”

“Right. So it’s not the penis that hurts after being erect for so long…at least I don’t think it does,” he said scratching his head. “It’s the testicles that get sore from all that pent up pressure. Even if the erection goes down, the pressure in the nuts remains the same—for a while, anyway. Blue balls, is what they call it.”

“Blue balls?”

“Uh-huh, and I think the only way to relieve the ache is to take a cold shower, or ideally to…”

“To attain release,” she said, getting it.

“And Bingo was his name-o.”

It was just as she had suspected. She took another deep breath and asked the next question on her mind. “So is there another way to attain release without having sex?”

“Josie! Do you mean a blow job?!”

The good humor left Josie’s face at once. “Excuse me? Do I
look
like Tansy feckin’ Wilky?”

“I’m sorry,” said Rusty, clearly relieved. “I should’a known better. To my knowledge, though, the only other way is masturbation.”

Josie nodded but said nothing more, too embarrassed to seek further advice.

“You want to know how?”

Looking down at her feet again, she nodded.

“I’ve never done it myself, but I think every guy knows how. It’s like a baby bird knowing how to fly. From what I’ve heard, some dudes do it several times a day.”

“Really?” Josie turned to face Rusty once more. Now that she knew her questions hadn’t disgusted him, her curiosity lost all inhibition. It also explained Tubby’s earlier indecency. She realized it was probably her skimpy bedtime attire that had gotten the poor kid all worked up.
Several times a day!
Wow! Boys never ceased to amaze her with their peculiarities. They were like monkeys, really.

“See, once a dude hits puberty it doesn’t take much for him to get a boner.”

“Jaysus pleezus. Do y’all really call ‘em that?”

             
Rusty snickered. “
Boner
? Sure. Among other things. Morning wood. Stiffie. Chubby…and like I was saying, Tits, a dude can get one for no reason at all.”

“Och! That’s so feckin’ weird.”

“Ain’t it, though? I can hardly wait myself.”

“So every time he gets a—an erection,” Josie couldn’t bring herself to say boner. “He’s building up pressure in his…”

“Balls. Yeah. And like a water hose in a cartoon that’s built up too much pressure behind a knot, you’ve got to relieve that pressure somehow.”

Josie nodded. “Gnat, you said you’ve read about this stuff? You’re not talking about our Sex Ed. book, are you? Because I don’t remember—”

“Nah, it’s a book I ordered online. I bought it because I was worried about not reaching puberty yet. I was hoping it would tell me if it was abnormal or not. I’ll drop it off at your house. It explains all about masturbation; even how to do it. Pictures and all.
Shiiit
. It sure beats explaining it to you!”

Josie hugged Rusty, relieved in a way that he hadn’t reached puberty. It made the whole discussion more clinical and less sexual in nature. She looked at him anew. His childlike build. The smooth coffee skin that never got pimples. His baby-fine jaw line. If you didn’t know Rusty, it would be easy to mistake him for a twelve-year-old kid. “Is it abnormal?” she asked him, as gently as she could.

“Well, it sure as hell ain’t normal! Thing is, Joe, I haven’t even begun the early signs yet. Pimples, hair, none of that shit. Sometimes I wonder if that’s why I’m so scared of everything.”

“Oh, yeah! Pimples, they make the man! That and a few curlies on your gnads. They’ll give you courage, sure.”

“You what I mean, Joe.”

“Stop it, Rusty. You’re not scared of everything.”

“So why did I piss my fucking pants yesterday?”

“Well, so did I…a little. You’re being too hard on yourself. To me you’re every bit as brave as Bud.” Rusty stared at Josie as if she’d lost her damn mind. “Don’t you give me that frosty look! What I
mean
is, it takes a lot more courage for you to stand up to your fears than it does for a big bloke like Bud.” Rusty’s eyebrows arched quizzically. “Listen, after what Bud went through, seeing what he did as a kid, well, it’s bound to effect how a person thinks and reacts to pressure. That sort of thing either breaks you or makes you stronger. In Bud’s case, we know it made him fierce. I’ll never forget something me dad said to Ham a long time ago. He said: ‘A man is made up of the storms he’s weathered…the rest is up to his heart.’ Now, I’ve got no idea where he got that, since me dad rarely picked up a book, and at the time I didn’t understand it at all. Now I think I do… I am what I am due to me father’s untimely death, how much I miss him, my mother’s alcoholism, and me silly damn brother who counts on me very every little thing! Storms I’ve weathered, see? They bring out the best…or the worst in you. The
heart
in you” She studied her friend for a moment. “In your case, love, I believe they’ll bring out the very best. Whether you know it or not, Rusty, you’ve the heart of a lion. You just haven’t weathered very many storms, that’s all! When you do, this grand heart of yours will shine through in a big damn way. In the meantime, don’t be in such a hurry to face those squalls. Lord knows they’ll find you soon enough. Besides, Simba, I love you just the way you is.”

Rusty could only stare back at her. He and Josie had shared many heart-to-hearts before, but seldom like this. It made sense, what she was saying. Gave him hope like never before, even though his mom and dad must’ve told him the same thing a hundred different ways. You can love your parents and family, respect what they think and feel, but when it really comes down to it, it’s your best friends who know the shortcut between your ears. Finally, he hugged her, grateful that she was indeed his
best
friend.

“Thanks, Joe. The feeling, as you know, girl, is mutual.” Rusty heard a knocking at the glass door and turned around. “Uh-oh. Look’s like trouble’s found us.”

Joel had his freckled face pressed to the glass, peering inside. Josie turned on the marquee and unlocked the front door. The museum was now open for business. She wasn’t surprised to see an empty sidewalk behind her brother. The museum did little walk in business; it made most of its money on large mainlander groups, who reserved their tours weeks in advance.

Joel was sporting his baggy beach-jams and a Snoopy T-shirt. His curly red hair was bushy and wild. He looked a little like that Jody kid from
A Family Affair
, which was weird, since her dad had looked like Uncle Bill, played by the always stoic Brian Keith (that is, if Mr. Keith had had red hair and freckles). Joel tucked his fishing pole and tackle box beside the front entrance, trying to be sly about it. He almost got past Josie but she was too fast for him. She grabbed her brother, kissing and hugging him as he fought off her mushy affections. “Your breakfast is in the back room, Freckle Butt. Put it in the microwave for a sec. Those eggs are ice cold by now.”

“Hey, Rusty!” Joel said, ignoring his dopey sister. Rusty slapped Joel five on the kid’s way back to the break room, behind the concessions counter. There was a small kitchen back there.