Page 90 of All That Glitters

Tony cracked up, shaking his head at the memory. “And David sawed it off with his knife.”

“My mom was so pissed at you guys.”

“It wasn’t my fault,” he laughed. “I said we should just paint the rest of your hair. That’s back when you wore those goofy-looking braids.”

“They were not goofy-looking!” she said, nudging him playfully.

“You looked like Pippi Longstocking.”

She took a swig of wine. “And what about you, and those rice bowl haircuts?”

“My mom could not cut hair.”

“At least you didn’t have David doing it with his pocket knife.”

They laughed, the sound echoing softly in the cellar. Debbie looked at the wine bottle as Tony passed it to her.

“Remember the first time we tried alcohol?” she said.

Tony busted up. “Oh, yeah. And you laughed so hard it came out your nose.”

“Hey,” she said, playfully swatting his arm. “I was talking about the part where we thought we could make a parachute out of my bedsheets and jump off my roof.”

Tony laughed. “Not one of our brighter ideas.”

“Nope,” she said, taking a swig from the wine bottle and shaking her head. “Oh, and those fiberglass bat wings. Remember those things?”

He laughed, giving her a big nod. “We were just determined to kill ourselves, weren’t we.”

“Pretty much,” she said, smiling with a big nod.

“You know something,” he said, his voice taking on a softer, more reflective tone. “All my best memories have you in them.”

She nodded. “Mine too.”

“Do you really have to go to Europe?” he asked.

Debbie paused. “Veronica told you about that?”

“Yeah.”

She took a breath. “I don’t have to. It’s just something that sounded fun.”

“Well, if you’re accepting votes on it, I vote you don’t,” he said, looking down at the bottle and picking at the label. “I mean, without you around, who am I gonna have to pick on?”

She smiled playfully. “Just say it. You’d miss me.”

“Fine,” he said, matching her playfulness. “I’d miss picking on you.”

She gave him another playful nudge. As he passed the bottle back to her, he happened to catch her legs in her short black dress. The hem had ridden just above mid-thigh; and for a split second, Tony forgot how to form words. Or even function.

The sudden change in his expression didn’t escape Debbie. She looked down at her dress then back at him. Something playful and flirtatious gleamed in her eyes.

“Did you just check out my legs, Harding?”

His eyes went back to hers. He bit his lip. “Can I plead the Fifth?”

She smiled and shook her head. “That’s only for guilty people.”