Dodging Trains by Sunniva Dee Read Free Book Online

would I swap with? Not even the awful women of Rigita deserve to live through what it has cost me.
    Suddenly, I’m in a mood. It’s dark in my apartment. I need to get my shit together. I stalk to the TV and turn on our local station, allowing Keyon’s father’s big moment to flood my den with superficial fun.
    I inhale. Exhale. I’m a pro at reeling myself in when I start down this track. There’s music at the Civic Center, some quartet of violins playing in long dresses. I grab a bottle from the table–an old Spanish liqueur I’ve liked for a while—and pour another glass over ice while I apply war paint.
    War paint, indeed.
    Mack will pick me up. He’s the best. He’ll be a cowboy, he said, and he’ll escort me to the mayoral mansion. I’m not allowed to wear a mask there. It’s out of security concerns for the mayor, because what if some loony decided to go rogue in his house?
    But I’m Robin Hood, and I need to hide. Black. Is black the color of Robin Hood’s mask? It’s the only color I have. I search the Internet and find out he wears no mask. I don’t care. I paint it on thickly.
    “A quickie before we leave,” Mack pleads when he picks me up. “You’re so fucking hot right now.”
    I don’t feel it. I rarely say no to anyone, especially not to a friend, but I’m nervous, and all I can think about is getting a real-life glimpse of my childhood crush. “Not tonight, Mack—we’re late. I’d rather get going.”
    “Really?” Mack’s brows bunch together. “You’re not putting out? What did I do? Come on, you know I’ll take two minutes flat if I have to.”
    We make it halfway down the staircase before I relent. I roll my Robin Hood tights down enough for him to get in while I lean over the banister. It’s worth it when I hear his happy groans. “I’ll be fast,” he pants behind me. “Can I take your boobs out?”
    “No, this cleavage took some work,” I say, “with the ruffles and all.”
    He squeezes them from the outside, which I don’t mind.
    “Coming,” Mack announces his moment. I jut my butt out to make it better for him, and his hands dig into my hips, holding me there. “Damn, hottest Robin Hood ever,” he groans. Then he draws out of me and tries to pull my undies back up in place. The man is not good at dressing others—good thing he doesn’t have children, I think as I straighten myself out.
    Relieved, he chatters about the party and ties the condom on our way to the car. He tosses it in the big trash bin on the corner while I check my wig in the rearview mirror. It’s all in place. It’s like no one just gave me a ninety-second fuck. Good.
    The Coral Mansion occupies an entire square downtown. People stream up the cobblestoned driveway to the oversized entrance. The front doors are wide open, and even from where we park I glimpse silver trays with flutes held high over waiters dressed like penguins.
    Flickering lanterns and string lights lead the way to the Greek columns that frame the entrance. There seems to be a fire roaring in the lobby. I guess it isn’t every day Keyon’s dad becomes the mayor of Rigita.
    Greeters smile and nod us up the granite steps. My heart’s skipping beats as Mack’s hand finds my spine and guides me up.
    I feel like Cinderella about to get an eyeful of the prince. I’m scared he’ll see me—and somehow hope for it too. Keyon might not even be here. Maybe he went to the Civic Center for the ceremony, and then he got right back on a plane to Florida?
    Paislee. Stop. Fretting.
    “Ma’am, I need you to take your mask off. No masks allowed,” someone stern and customs-officer-like says.
    “It’s not a mask. It’s makeup,” I say.
    “I’m sorry, ma’am. It’s a security issue. There are porta-potties in the front.” The guard jerks his head in the direction of the mobile bathrooms on the sidewalk. “You’re welcome to clean it off there and come back afterward.”
    “I can’t.” I shake my head. “I need this