POISON Over the rest of spring break I tried to work as many extra hours as I could, just to have enough money for the time I spent with Paige. Those places with crazy crap on the walls and cheese sticks on the menu weren’t cheap. Even sex cost more than you’d think. There were bribes to pay. Paige’s parents both worked outside of the house during the day (unlike my mother, who worked out of a home office), so the only real obstacle to us getting any privacy at her place during the day was her sister, who was pretty hard to get rid off. On Monday afternoon while Paige and I were watching TV on her couch, Paige got up and walked over to Autumn, who was sitting at the kitchen table, talking on the phone. “I’ll give you five bucks to get out of the house for an hour,” she said. “Where would I even go?” asked Autumn. “Outside. Go play at the tot lot or something.” “I’m almost thirteen,” said Autumn. “I don’t play in tot lots.” “Then go sit on the swings and talk with your friends.
