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Show we are doing, reminding us of the recent sighting of Bloody Mary as well as the tale of the bloody hook. Soon, though, the other kids are called in for baths or late dinners. Stacy and I teeter totter in the now empty park while she talks about boys and I listen. One night she tells me she is shaving her legs regularly even though her mother has forbidden it. The first time she uses neither water nor soap and cuts the side of her shin off, leaving a scab that doesn't heal for weeks. At school, she puts on make up that her mother has also forbidden, purple eye shadow and frosted lipstick, Maybelline products she has stolen from the Long's Drugs in the nearby Salt Lake Shopping Center My mother has also said no make up, and being the rule follower that I am I obey. Cherry Lip Smackers lip gloss is all I am allowed. The one time I try to sneak to the SubaseMovie Theater wearing blush, my mother catches me. I try to convince her that my cheeks are only sunburned and I have powdered them, but she makes me wash my face before we leave. How Mrs. Kaup doesn't see the rouge and mascara on Stacy's face when she walks home from school every day, I can't imagine. Maybe she is just too tired of raising three spirited girls while her husband is deployed on his submarine for months at a time. I know when Mr. Kaup is at sea, they eat frozen dinners in front of the TV rather than sit down meals in the dining room. Maybe the rule about make up is equally affected by Mr. Kaup's presence or absence. Stacy does not seem worried about the consequences. She loves the feel of her slippery legs and looks forward to the months when her father is gone. Up and down, up and down we go, as the sun sinks behind the mountains and nearby palm trees rattle in the wind. The few stars we can see from military housing begin to appear in the bowl of the sky. I can find Orion and the dippers. Each time I 135 |