'You won't be,' Beau assured me. 'Right, Gisselle?' he asked. She was reluctant to answer. 'Right?'
'Right, right, right,' she said. 'I'm tired of talking about this.'
'I've got to go anyway,' Beau said. 'It's getting late. Are we still on for tonight?' he asked her. She hesitated. 'Gisselle?'
'Are you bringing Martin?' she countered sharply. He threw a glance my way and then looked at her again.
'Are you sure I should? I mean . . .'
'I'm sure. You'd like to meet one of Beau's friends tonight, wouldn't you, Ruby? I mean, you've fished, harvested oysters, chased alligators . . . I'm sure you had a boyfriend, too, didn't you?'
I looked at Beau. His face had turned troubled and concerned.
'Yes,' I said.
'So there's no problem, Beau. She'd like to meet Martin,' Gisselle said.
'Who's Martin?' I asked.
'The best looking of Beau's friends. Most of the girls like him. I'm sure you will,' she said. 'Won't she, Beau?'
He shrugged and stood up.
'You'll like him,' Gisselle insisted. 'We'll meet you out here at nine-thirty,' Gisselle said. 'Don't be late.'
'Right, boss. Ever see anyone that bossy in the bayou?' he asked me. I looked at Gisselle, who smirked.
'Just an alligator,' I said, and Beau roared.
'That's not funny!' Gisselle cried.
'See ya later, alligator,' Beau quipped, and winked at me before starting off.
'I'm sorry,' I said to Gisselle. 'I didn't mean to make fun of you or anything.' She pouted for a moment and then broke a small smile.
'You shouldn't encourage him,' she advised. 'He can be a terrible tease.'
'He seems very nice.'
'Just another spoiled rich boy,' Gisselle insisted. 'But, he'll do . . . for now.'
'What do you mean, 'for now'?'
'What do you think I mean? Don't tell me you promised to marry every boyfriend you had back in the swamp.' Her eyes turned suspicious. 'How many boyfriends did you have?' she asked.
'Not that many.'
'How many?' she demanded. 'If we're going to be sisters, we have to trust each other with the intimate details of our lives. Unless you don't want to be that kind of sister,' she added.
'Oh, no. I do.'
'So? How many?'
'Really only one,' I confessed.
'One?' She stared at me a moment. 'Well, it must have been a very hot and heavy romance then. Was it?'
'We cared a great deal for each other,' I admitted.
'How much is a great deal?' she pursued.
'As much as we could, I suppose.'
'Then you did it with him? Went all the way?'
'What?'
'You know . . . had sexual intercourse.'
'Oh, no,' I said. 'We never went that far.'
Gisselle tilted her head and looked skeptical.
'I thought all Cajun girls lost their virginity before they were thirteen,' she said.
'What? Who told you such a stupid thing?' I asked quickly. She pulled back as if I had slapped her.
'It's not so stupid. I heard it from a number of people.'
'Well, they're all liars then,' I said vehemently. 'I'll admit that there are many young marriages. Girls don't go off to work or go to college as much, but—'
'So it's true then. Anyway, don't keep defending them. They bought you when you were only a day or so old, didn't they?' Gisselle flared. I shifted my gaze away so she couldn't see the tears in my eyes. How ironic. It was she who had been bought and by a Creole family, not a Cajun. But I could say nothing. I could only swallow the truth and keep it down, only it kept threatening to bubble up and flow out of my mouth on the back of a flurry of hot words.
'Anyway,' Gisselle continued in a calmer tone, 'the boys will expect you to be a lot more sophisticated than you apparently are.'
I looked at her fearfully.
