Page 62 of Redemption
I chuckled. “Texas has its own talk too. Like we call wash rags worsh rags. The fridge is an icebox, and there is no cola except for Dr. Pepper.” Shaking my head, I went on, “I remember an uncle on my mom’s side, he was all drawl and an old Texan. In fact, you won’t believe his name. Orinthal Claudius Buluxey.
She chuckled. “You’re kidding.”
I shook my head. “Oh, no babe, I would not kid you about this man. So when I was about five, I couldn’t pronounce his name and decided to call him. OCB. He stared at me when I called him that, saying he wasn’t an ABC. He said to call him Uncle Bux.”
Cinnamon laughed.
I nodded. “He called himself a Texican. Saying only those born in the great state of Texascancall themselves that. The man was a character and he taught me something I didn't understand until years later when I was full grown. He told me to always abide by three rules and I would never go wrong.”
She stared at me. “And what were they?”
“Number one was…Never sign nothing by neon.”
“What the heck does that mean?” she asked in confusion.
“Maybe like… don’t do business in a bar?” I shrugged. “Or never sign anything while you're drunk?”
“Ohhh, that is funny and rule two?”
“Make sure you can do all the INs,” I replied as I wiggled my brows playfully.
Pausing, she tilted her head at me. “Ins? Like in and out?” she purred the words. “Cause you do that one really well.”
I laughed and shook my head. “No, he said…Fishin', Cookin', Readin' and Writin'.”
Laughing, she shook her head too. “And the third rule?”
I shrugged and said, “Do God’s will, whatever the hell it may be.”
“Oh, wow!” She laughed louder. “Maybe we can talk the same talk, after all.”
I tested the water spray of the shower to make sure it was the right temperature then turned to grin at her. “All you need to say isI want. Then I will get it for you.”
She stared at me. “What?”
I lifted her up, swung her over and set her into the shower. “I mean, I want to make you happy.”
“Y-you already have.”
“No, I want you to have all that you want. Dresses, 50 pairs of shoes. Diamonds or pearls if you like them. You can go to college. Have Sunday dinners, flowers every day. I want you to eat all the best food and try stuff you have never done.” I stepped in the shower and shut the sliding door.
“I don’t want anything fancy, Redemption. What would I do with diamonds? Besides, you have already given me what I never had before.”
I looked down at her. “Oh, yeah?”
Nodding, she said, “Orgasms, for one.”
I paused and stared at her. “What?”
“I-I never had those, not with anyone,” she explained. “When I was at the Cotton Candy, the other girls would talk about that. Saying things about what hot sex they had. I had no idea what they were talking about. To me, it had been work. Just…performing, same as dancing on a pole. I never felt anything except disgust.”
I braced her face with both hands and looked into her eyes. “You may be shocked when I say this, but that makes you a virgin, Joanna.”
She scoffed. “No…I wasn’t.”
“In that way you were,” I went on. “I feel like you are brand new.”
Looking stunned, her mouth popped open.
