Now in her late twenties, she had changed quite a bit. This wasn't the sister he remembered. She seemed sharper, poised and confident. She wore her brown hair quite short, and just then it was swished around in sassy disorder. A slight ribbon of midriff peeked between her sleeveless white blouse and knee-length denim skirt.
His eyes were still wide open. "I didn't think you'd come."
"God knows why I'm here, I certainly don't."
"I'm really pleased. Sis, you're really-."
She threw him a bored look and interrupted, "Don't call me, Sis. Don't ever call me, Sis." She smiled apathetically. "Other than being arrested and facing execution, how do you like Florida?"
"Dad and I loved your humor," he said. "We'd fall off our chairs and mom never got it. I should phone you just to get a laugh."
"You're talking about earlier, before you finked me out to the cops for supposedly doing drugs."
"I didn't report you, mom did. She called some teen hotline. That started it."
"Geez Louise, you ratted me out to mom, and I landed in juvie rehab."
"Wasn't like that. I was leaving for college, and my little sister was doing her best to ruin her life. I was worried about you. I thought if mom were aware of what was going on, the family could talk about it. But she imagined you acting out scenes from Reefer Madness. She wigged out, called Juvenile Hall or someplace."
"Okay, so I was kind of bent, did a little grass, maybe some pills. Nothing heavy. I tried some junk because it was new. Something to do."
"You couldn't wait to be eighteen. I was afraid you'd never make it. You were stealing from mom's purse, trying to be a mall chick, boosting junk, smoking and drinking. Even stole a car and wrecked it."
"I didn't steal that car. Okay, I did wreck it...not on purpose. Butchie Cooper couldn't make out with me so his smooth-talking old daddy thought he'd give it a try. He thought I'd be thrilled and express my gratitude, if he let me drive his brand new shiny silver Buick. So, I drove his brand new shiny silver Buick. The crash was the only thrilling part. He lost interest in me fast. Anyway, I was just a kid. Old lechers must look out for themselves."
"You were trying to win acceptance from some trashy older girls or whoever your model was."
"You were my model. I was dying to be like my big brother. You were so cool, so self-assured and so independent. I couldn't wait to grow up so I could be just like you."