The Truth About Twinkie Pie Part 15

I went still.

The kind of still where you're trying so hard not to move that all you can think about is that you don't know what the heck to do with your hands. They felt like birds that wanted to flap around and take off. I stuck them behind my back.

"They-I didn't know."

Mace had said they were just friends. Was she lying?

Haven gave Allie a look. "It wasn't a real one. It was during this stupid game at a party. Someone wanted to play Spin the Bottle and they kissed. They had to. It's, like, in the rules. I don't even think he wanted to."

"Yeah... probably not a big deal," I managed to say.

I could feel Haven and Allie looking at each other.

I shrugged and tried to act all light. "Anyway, DiDi says there's plenty of time for kissing when I'm married."

"I'm not waiting that long!" Haven threw herself on the bed dramatically.

"Me either," said Allie, falling next to Haven.

"Me either," I said, flopping between them. I gave this little fake laugh and tried not to think about Trip and Mace kissing. I just wanted to change the subject. And suddenly, I knew exactly what I wanted to change it to.

I sat up. "Will you help me with something?"

"Yes! Yes!" Haven and Allie scrambled up and started jumping on the bed. "Is it Boy Stuff?" said Allie.

"No." I smacked her on the arm. "It's-remember I told you about the... about my mama's lipstick?"

"Yes," Allie sighed. "Strawberries and Snow!"

Haven laughed. "Nice try, Al-it was Cherries, right? I texted my mom about it. She said she'd ask some people after she got back next week."

Allie shrugged. "Cherries, strawberries. Who cares? It still sounds like dessert."

"Well, I want to get it for DiDi-"

"Yes! For her birthday!" Allie said.

"We don't usually give gifts, because DiDi is all nuts about saving for my college tuition and all-" I stopped talking. It suddenly felt like Haven's entire beautiful house had ears and was listening to every word I was saying. The girls had been to our apartment and had seen that DiDi slept on the sofa. It was pretty obvious you couldn't find a swirly silver dress in my closet if you hired a detective.

I took a breath and ran back to where I'd dropped my jeans on the floor and pulled Ida's printout from the pocket. It was all folded and rumply. "Well, I got this list of places that sell old lipstick-"

Allie wrinkled her nose.

"Okay, okay. Remember I told you it doesn't mean old like Old. They're what you call a Special Reissue. I figure I can buy DiDi a whole box of them and it won't matter that-" My eyes stung with tears. "Nothing will matter, because it'll be like we have a piece of Mama with us every day."

The girls paused a moment, and I could tell that they weren't pausing because it was awkward, but because they wanted to give me a moment of silence, like teachers do in school when they want to show that something is too big for words. My heart swelled wide as the sky.

"She'll love it," said Haven.

Allie looked serious. "This isn't just a birthday gift, Leia. This is a mission in memory of your mom. It's, like, big-time important."

Haven was all ready to start searching on her laptop, when Allie said, "Wait, I have a better idea! Let me see the first number." And she pulled out her cell phone with a wicked grin. When the poor person on the other end answered, she had the entire conversation in a dead-on imitation of Mace's mom, ending with a big "What do you mean, you don't carry that color? That's preposterous! My daughter is president of the Young Entrepreneurs Club, and she could teach you a thing or two!" We all ended up collapsed on the bed, screaming and laughing hysterically.

Haven went next, holding her nose and trying to talk in this whiny, high-pitched voice, but she couldn't stop herself from cracking up every other word. It was so funny I didn't even care that the answer to that call was no, they didn't have Cherries in the Snow, either. Next to the times I'd spent with Trip, this was probably the happiest I'd been since moving here.

"Okay, my turn!" I reached for the phone. I knew there was one thing I was good at and that was pretending to be DiDi.

The girls were tickling me and trying to make me laugh. I wiggled away. "Stop it, now. I'm getting into character." I dialed the next number on the list. Cla.s.sic Cosmetics, Inc.

It rang three times and then this woman answered. I could tell by her voice that she was more than thrilled to be spending her time telling me about old makeup. "Good-afternoon-and-thank-you-for-calling-Cla.s.sic-Cosmetics-this-is-Jamie-your-sales-a.s.sociate-how-can-I-help-you-today?"

I cleared my throat. "Why, good afternoon. I'm looking to order some of Revlon's Cherries in the Snow lipstick. Please."

Allie whispered, "Demand to speak to the supervising buyer!"

"Shut up!" Haven said. They started throwing cookies at each other.

I could hear Jamie clicking away on her keyboard.

Click, click, clickety, click, click, click.

"Yes, ma'am. It looks like the original Revlon's Cherries in the Snow Super l.u.s.trous formula was discontinued some time ago-"

"Oh well, thank you-"

"However, Revlon does occasionally reissue the Cla.s.sic Gold Case-and-"

Clickety, clickety, click, click.

"And we currently have them in stock. How many did you want?"

"Wait." My voice caught. The cookies stopped flying through the air. "You-you have it? You really have it?" The girls screamed and started jumping up and down on the bed.

"Are you over eighteen years of age, ma'am?"

I waved my arms for them to quiet down. "Yes. Yes, absolutely."

"Name of the person we will be s.h.i.+pping to, please."

"Ahem." I grinned at the girls. "This is Delta Dawn Barnes."

Click, click, click, clickety, click.

"Spell the last name, please."

"B, A, R, N, E, S."

I raised my fist in the air and the girls went into this silent version of a screaming cheer.

"And how will you be paying today, Ms. Barnes?"

"Wha-uh... pay?" I looked at the girls.

Allie jumped up and whispered, "I have my bag downstairs with my emergency credit card! And, girlfriend-" She stuck out a hip and snapped her fingers. "This is an emergency!"

I reached out and squeezed her tight. "Get out!"

"Mmf!-Get where?"

I laughed. "Out. It's just this thing DiDi and I-oh, never mind-thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll pay you back with babysitting money!" We hugged again and Allie ran downstairs. "I'll have that credit card in just two minutes, ma'am!" I sang into the phone.

Sales a.s.sociate Jamie was just out of her mind with excitement over my improved financial situation. "That's fine, Miss Barnes. While we're waiting, you can give me the name and address of the credit card holder."

"Sure thing," I said, and gave her Allie's information while Haven and I did a little hula dance in celebration.

Click, click, clickety-click, clickety-clickety-click.

Sales a.s.sociate Jamie repeated everything to me. "Is that correct?"

"Yes! Yes! All correct!"

It's funny how sometimes things just come together so perfectly. Eating Easier-Than-Pie Pudding. Doing Girl Stuff with Haven and Allie. And finally, finally, really and truly, finding Mama's lipstick. I felt just about ready to burst. It reminded me of when Mr. McGuire told us about this theory on how the universe was born. It was something about there being so much good stuff like stars and planets and galaxies all bunched up together in one teeny-tiny place that it was just a matter of time before it all exploded and we found ourselves in the real world like it is now. The Big Bang, it was called. The explosion that changed everything.

Click, click, clickety-click, clickety-clickety-click.

"And will we be s.h.i.+pping there as well, Miss Barnes, or would you prefer the Red Cedar Road address?"

At that second, Allie came back into the room doing this really funny super-slow-motion run and holding up that credit card like it was the Olympic torch. Haven waved her in, making a noise like roaring crowds.

I almost swallowed my head whole, trying not to spit into the phone. "I-I'm sorry, ma'am-Cedar who?"

Click.

Click.

Clack.

"We have on record here that a month ago, we delivered a dozen Revlon's Cherries in the Snow lipsticks to a Miss Delta Dawn Barnes at 39 Red Cedar Road, Verity, South Carolina. This is you, Miss Barnes, isn't it?"

"... Miss Barnes?"

thirty-one.

Sometimes when you look at a phone, it just doesn't make sense. I mean, it's this little piece of plastic that you hold while people tell you impossible things.

"Are you there, ma'am?"

Haven and Allie were watching me.

"What?" I said. "What..." It was like I had Gone Grammatical in a bad dream where the words couldn't come out. "Just... never mind."

"You wish to cancel the order, Miss Barnes?"

"I don't... yes."

"That's no problem. Thank you for shopping at Cla.s.sic. Will you stay on the line to answer a few questions for our customer survey-"

I hung up.

Haven and Allie were standing at my shoulders. Haven reached out a hand.

"What happened?"

I couldn't speak. I went into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and said to myself over and over, 39 Red Cedar Road, 39 Red Cedar Road, 39 Red Cedar Road. Verity, South Carolina. I put down the top of the toilet seat so I could sit and think.

Verity was where our old trailer burned down.

Verity was the last place where Mama had been alive.

Verity was where we lived before we moved in with Lori. Verity was-I tried to make sense of everything that was churning and tumbling in my head, but all I could think was...

What If.

Impossible Pie

* 2 cups milk * cup Mayflower baking mix (or Bisquick works fine, too) * stick b.u.t.ter, softened * 4 eggs * 1 teaspoon vanilla * 1 cups sugar * A 7-ounce bag of sweetened flaked coconut This is the thing. Sometimes you think something is impossible, but it turns out it's completely possible. You just need to look. Seriously, in your pantry this whole time you've had the ingredients to make pie. Just look at this list. I will bet it's all in there right now!

Put the first 6 ingredients into a blender in the order listed. Blend for 3 minutes. Add the coconut, and give it another quick blend till mixed. Pour into a greased 9-inch pie pan and bake for 45 minutes at 350F.

Put a knife in the center. If it comes out clean, it's done. See? You had it the whole time. You just never knew.

Serves 8.