Lisa and I, plus our moms … The ‘River Oaks 4’ arrived at the mall like so many Tasmanian Devils. The cloth would fly, the price tags almost completely ignored. All we left were rejects to most likely be marked down and a great deal of money in digital format. The cashiers were more than willing to clean up our mess; their commissions would be substantial and well deserved.

Well, maybe ‘Tasmanian Devils’ is a bit strong, but we went through a lot of try-ons. Some of them we put back on hangars … others … well some slinky things just don’t want to stay on a hangar. If they want to be on the floor, so be it. My mom realized that I would soon outgrow much of what we were buying, so I tried to pace myself. To take up the slack, Lisa, Aunt Katy, and my mom decided that their closets had a good percentage of outgrown or (worse) out of style items. Both Lisa and I would benefit from their outgrown clothes, and maybe some of what they thought were out of style. Neither of us cared that much about ‘out of style’ if there was something we liked and looked good on us.

So we were a positive on the economy of Houston, especially when the ladies who helped us ended their shifts and headed out to turn their dollars over and treat themselves or their families with their windfall. I was thinking about this and thought, “Gotta love this country.”

“What’s that?” Katy asked.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Yes, you said ‘Gotta … something’.”

“Ok, I thought, ‘Gotta love this country.’, but I didn’t think I said it out loud.”

“What did you mean? I know this is a great country and all, but why this great insight all of a sudden.”

I explained the concept of dollars turning over many times and the positive effect it had on a free economy.

“Wow,” my mom spoke up, “it’s wonderful to have a daughter so smart that she thinks like that. So many her age would be thinking, ‘Wow, I really got some cool stuff!’ The country’s economy would be the last thing on their minds.”

“Most of them probably wouldn’t know the definition of economy.” Lisa was needing to show that I wasn’t the only smart one.

“Lisa, I wasn’t trying to compare you and … Sarah. I would like to see IQ tests for both of you. I’m sure you both would score off the charts.”

Lisa smiled. “Maybe up into the double digits, huh?”

‘Possibly,” interjected Aunt Katy, “on a good day.”

From the clothing store we headed for a jewelry store. I got all the necessary jewelry and a ton of the unnecessary. We then browsed the shops, frequently finding something that one of us needed to make her life complete. At 2PM, we realized we hadn’t eaten, and Lisa and I begged to let us order pizza at home so we could go to the pool. Somewhere in the confusion, I had purchased a bikini, and wanted to see if it ‘worked’.

So, we headed home, ordered pizza, and put on our bathing suits. I looked at my reflection wearing my first bikini. My boobs did their best to fill out the cups … succeeding better than I expected. Down below, success was complete. The cloth between my legs clung to every part of my perfectly formed femininity. Any tighter and it would have been indecent. The circumference of my hips and legs was growing too slowly for what I hoped, but they were easily sufficient to be in the ‘female’ category.

The cool water of the pool was so welcome after hours of the Houston heat and humidity. The pizza arrived, and we attacked it like we hadn’t eaten in weeks. Then, back in the pool, no waiting one hour.

I bounced in the water slightly and watched my not-so-tiny boobs actually bounce a little. Lisa saw me and did the same thing. Her boobs were somewhat more developed and did a slow, sexy up and down … endeavoring to free themselves from the restraints of her miniscule bikini top. The water rolled off her beautiful breasts like rain beading and rolling off a freshly waxed car.

“If one of the guys I knew at school saw that, he’d have to be restrained! I can just see a guy being carried away babbling. You’re such show off!”

“Your time’s coming, Sarah. You’ll catch up, then we’ll see who’s a bigger show off.”

My mom overheard us. “What happened to my smart daughter who was considering the effects of our shopping on the nation’s economy?”

“We’re talking about all the sex we’re not gonna have with guys at school.”

“Ok, did you purposely leave yourself an ‘out’?”

“An ‘out’?”

Your ‘out’ was ‘with’ guys at school’. So, you’re only not gonna have sex at school or you’re only not gonna have sex with guys who go to your school? The statement leaves a lot of possibilities open.”

“Well, I assumed you knew we weren’t gonna have sex with some guy we meet on the street, or at the gas station or at a bar. No sex.”

“Honey, I hate to nitpick, but you already have sex. I think you mean y’all are not going to have ‘sexual relations’.”

“Mom, that’s a lie!”

“You think you don’t have sex?”

“No, you love to nitpick! No ‘sexual relations’!” Then I quickly added, “I’m sorry I called you a liar!”

“Thank you, Honey. Guess we’re raising you right.”

The sun went behind the clouds, providing some relief from the oppressive heat. Then, the wind changed direction and blew cool across the area.

My mom said, “Wow, that feels go….” She was cut off by a loud clap of thunder. “Inside, everyone. Where there’s thunder there’s lightning. We wouldn’t want Dad to come out here to find his beautiful girls fried and floating … or would we be boiled?”

Lisa was always ready with a (sometimes strange) comment. “I’ve heard girls are delicious sautéed!”

“Y’all are gross!” I shouted over another clap of thunder as we all ran into the house.

So ended our first pool day.

Next: The specter