He held the third straw for himself.
"Ladies, shall we begin the festivities?" he asked. and Tess moved to the table, got on her Imees, brought the straw to her line, put the other end in her nostril, and began to inhale as she moved it up the line, sucking up the powder like a miniature vacuum cleaner.
"Wow!" she cried, throwing her head back. "This is good stuff."
"Only the best for my cousin," Russell said. He looked at me. "You're next," he said.
How many times in our lives do we come to these sorts of crossroads? I could hand him back the straw, turn away, and walk out. I thought. It might make him angry or nervous, and he might take it out on Uncle Palaver somehow, Maybe he would deliberately ruin his show, and I would have been responsible for that. They both thought I was cool, street-smart, just because I was on the road with Uncle Palaver. Is this what it meant. too? I wondered.
If there was one thing Brenda used to rage about, it was young people and drugs, anything that deteriorated health and stamina. She also hated the use of enhancing drugs that made some athletes look superior. How many times had I sat and listened to her lectures and tirades, especially after she had seen a teammate use some hallucinogenic? I hadn't spoken to her twenty-four hours ago, and here I was confronted by the very thing she despised.
"C'mon," Russell said.
"We have places to go yet." Tess laughed.
I approached the table, got on my knees as she had, and put the straw awkwardly to the line of white powder. Instead of sucking it up. however. I accidentally breathed out too fast and hard. I was just that nervous. The powder lifted away from the bottom of my straw, and both Tess and Russell jumped back as though they were afraid to be touched by any of it.
"Hey! Jeez! Damn! That's expensive." Russell cried,
"I'm sorry." I moaned.
"She's never done this before." Tess declared, her eves wide and bright.
Russell looked from her to me. "Is that right?'
"I'm sorry." I said.
"Get up. Get away from it before you ruin my line," he ordered.
I stood up quickly. He lowered himself and, with his eyes on me, brought his straw to his line and inhaled it all so fast I thought it might blow off the top of his head. He sat back on his haunches and shook his head.
"You're not eighteen, are you?" he accused.
Tess moved around on my right and drew closer to me. "How old are you? Huh?" she
demanded, poking me in the shoulder.
"I'm seventeen," I confessed.
Tess looked at Russell. "Maybe that's not really her uncle, either." she told him.
He nodded.
"Yes, he is," I cried."He's my mother's brother."
"I don't know," Tess said, tucking in the right corner of her mouth. "Something smells here. right. Russell?"
"Right," he said.
"How's a young girl live with a grown man in a motor home?" Tess asked him.
"Makes me wonder." he said, staring at inc. "If I were you, I wouldn't say anything to anyone about this," he added, nodding at the residue of white powder."
"I wouldn't," I said. I rose to my feet and stepped toward the door.
"Where you going?" Tess asked.
"I thought you didn't want me here anymore.