Fat Girl, Terrestrial: A Novel

Three: Daring Truth to Bare Her Bosom

21 When Hazard Planet turned ten years old, growing so snailishly he thought he’d never be tall enough to slip into the burlap sack and slide down the giant rippling slide in the Save-On parking lot by himself, barely a quarter of an inch taller than he’d been at nine, his hopeful parents gave him a poplin jacket a size too big and a green canvas tent for his birthday. He hung the jacket in his closet and set up the tent in the backyard. At first, he wouldn’t allow his sister, Vivica, to enter, posted NO GODZILLA GIRLS ALLOWED! bring snacks. But he soon grew bored of lying alone in the tent, reading comic books, and he invited his sister inside. Vivica told him she wasn’t interested in reading moronic superhero escapades with him in his midget pup tent, “But,” she said, “I’ll come in if you obey my every command.” “No way!” Hazard huffed. three Daring Truth to Bare Her Bosom 22 Another day alone idly vanquishing arch villains with a fatal flaw and Hazard relented, agreed to one game of Truth or Dare. “I ain’t doing nothing dopey, though,” Hazard said. “You can’t make me eat a turd.” Vivica stood up, bowing the top of the tent, nearly pulling the stakes out of the ground. “All right, all right! Sit down. Jeez.” Vivica sat and said, “Truth or dare?” “Who said you could go first?” Vivica stared at Hazard unblinkingly. “Let’s flip a quarter,” he said. She sat still, arms crossed. Hazard sighed loudly, pulled at his shoelaces. “Truth,” he muttered. “Why are you always trying to catch a look at me in the bathroom, perv?” “I never!” “This isn’t Lie or Dare, midge. Do you want to play the game or not?” Vivica filliped Hazard’s calf. “Ow!” “Well?” “I only did it that once,” Hazard said, pulling his legs under him. “Four times, this month alone. At least.” “Maybe twice.” Vivica grimaced in a way that made Hazard start. “I don’t remember!” “What is it you think you want to see?” “Nothing. You ain’t got nothing I want to see.” Vivica stood up, pulled her shirt over her head, and unclasped her training bra. “Is this what you’re looking for?” she asked, without intonation. Hazard stood up and steadied himself with the pole of the tent. He backed up toward the door flaps then stopped. 23 This seemed to him like a truth and a dare combined somehow . “Can I touch them?” he whispered. Vivica shrugged. Because her head was bent forward under the tent, Hazard thought she might be trying to scratch her ear with her shoulder. He waited. She shrugged again more slowly, cocked her head to the side, and raised her eyebrows. Hazard took a step toward his sister. He looked behind him. The front flaps were zippered shut. He wondered if the tent material could be seen through and cursed himself for not wondering about this sooner. He knew Vivica wouldn’t stand there half naked and wait while he checked. Another step. He was close enough to reach up and touch her now. He’d have to stretch, but her breasts were within reach. He looked at the disks of ham pink flesh surrounding the nipples , surprised at how they paled to a girly bubblegum color the farther they widened. They weren’t so different from his own really, just puffier and redder, as though a giant bug had bitten them and made them swell. His own chest began to itch. Yes, they looked to him like something a bottle of Calamine lotion could cure. He reached up and touched the bottom of a breast, and it felt like velvety Jell-O. He felt himself stiffening, felt his blood rushing through his arms and legs, into his ears, heating up his stomach. Vivica bent down slowly, to give him a better feel he thought, and he cupped a full breast in his hand, as though he were catching rainwater or holding a baby bird. Now he had a handful of custard. Just as he was beginning to let himself enjoy the scalding feeling welling up inside him, Vivica reached between his legs and squeezed so hard his vision immediately began to swim. The last thing 24 he saw before he fell to his knees was...