Page 33 of Fallen

Loretta toed off her plain sneakers, then slid her feet into the sandals. This time when she looked down at her clothes, she smiled. “Almost pretty.”

“Told you.” Rachael gave her a big, smacking kiss on the cheek.

“My knees are knobby.”

“Your knees are sexy, silly girl.” Rachael snapped open her beer. “Bottoms up.”

Loretta drank as fast as she could, ended up choking twice. Before she was completely finished, Rachael took her can and slung both of them into the open window of a parked car.

“Come on.” Laughing, Rachael took her hand. “We’ve got a lot of partying to do and not much time to do it.”

Hand in hand, they passed a big tent where two Amish girls had set up a table draped with a red and white cloth. The handwritten sign announced HOME-CURED HAM SANDWICH WITH CHOW-CHOW $3. A few yards down, an English man had set up beer kegs on a picnic table laden with napkins and plastic cups, and a sign that read: BEER FOR A BUCK. Just past him, an Amish boy was selling cigarettes for four dollars a pack.

Rachael rushed to the beer table. “Two beers!” she said, breathless with excitement.

The man looked from Rachael to Loretta and frowned. “How old are you?”

Loretta started to speak up, but Rachael cut her off. “We’re twenty-one.”

He frowned, but grabbed two plastic cups and filled them with beer. “Two bucks.”

There were so many stimuli coming at her from so many directions, Loretta almost couldn’t take all of it in. Generators rumbled somewhere on the periphery. Bright lights shone from a dozen or so tents and food trucks. There was the din of voices and the tinkle of laughter. The bass thump of the band in the throes of some old Lynyrd Skynyrd song.

Rachael handed Loretta a plastic glass filled with beer and then raised hers. “Let’s do a toast this time,” she said. “To our first rager.”

Feeling grown-up and sophisticated, Loretta bumped her cup against her friend’s. “And good friends.”

Eyes locked, they drank. Loretta only managed half her cup. Rachael finished all of hers, licked the foam from her lips, and tossed the cup over her shoulder. “I love that song! Let’s go see the band.”

The closer they got to the music, the more crowded it became. Along the way, they passed a pickup truck with the tailgate down. A bearded Englischer, wearing denim overalls and sunglasses even though it was dark, sat on a lawn chair. The sign on the truck touted SHOTS FOR $2.

Rachael’s eyes widened at the sight of it. Squealing in delight, she pulled Loretta over to it and ordered. “Two shots.”

“But I’m not finished with my beer,” Loretta told her.

“It’s called a chaser, silly girl.” She laid four dollar bills on the tailgate.

“For a bunch of Bible thumpers, you Amishers sure can put away the booze.” He poured from an unlabeled bottle into two clear plastic cups. “All’s I got left is moonshine.”

“That’ll do.” Rachael watched him pour.

He thrust two cups at her. “Enjoy.”

Turning her back to him, Rachael handed one of the cups to Loretta and raised her own. “Cheers!”

The two girls locked elbows and drank. There wasn’t much in either cup and Loretta managed it in a single gulp. The alcohol burned all the way to her stomach.

“Fasucha vi feiyeh!” she said, coughing. Tastes like fire!

Rachael threw her head back and laughed. “One more.”

Before Loretta could refuse, Rachael darted back to the truck. The surly man poured again.

“Better be careful with that,” he said.

Ignoring him, Rachael handed one of the cups to Loretta.

“Are you sure about this?” Loretta asked.