“And then what?” Kimmie asked, showing the faintest spark of her old self.

“And then we started fooling around … one thing led to another and in the middle of his special V-Day present he lost it.” Lolly said the last part in a rush, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

“Lost what?” Kimmie asked, innocently.

“Think about it, Kimmie,” Lolly urged. “He lost it … as in…” Lolly held her index finger straight up in the air and then let it drop slowly down.

“Ohhhhhh,” Kimmie said. “Ewwwww.”

“Don’t say ‘Ewwwww.’ It wasn’t his fault. I read about it online and apparently it’s a thing that sometimes happens to guys. He was probably freaked out from all the pressure of Valentine’s Day.”

“Well, it wasn’t your fault, either.”

“I never said it was! Of course it wasn’t my fault. Why would you say that?”

“I don’t know, because you were the one … it doesn’t matter, I’m sorry.”

“Because I was the one what? Giving it? You think it’s my fault?”

“No, no, no, I was just making sure Steven wasn’t blaming you, because if he did I’d be pissed and kick his ass.” Kimmie regretted displaying her newfound hatred of men in front of her sister. She had been flip-flopping between abject sorrow and man-hating rage for several days now.

The last thing Lolly wanted was to start a fight, so she gathered all her strength and reined herself in. “Kimmie, no, Steven didn’t blame me. But he did get all weird and locked himself in the bathroom for a long time complaining about his stomach, but I think he was hiding in there.”

“You mean he was crying in the bathroom like a girl?” Kimmie snorted. This was the closest she had come to feeling joy since the downward spiral of her life had begun.

“Kimmie, stop being a psycho meanie! I don’t know what he was doing in there, but the whole night was ruined. I tried to talk to him about it but he refused. So, that’s why I came home early! Now I’m upset, too, but I guess that’s what you wanted. Are you happy now?” Lolly didn’t mean to yell at Kimmie, but her Valentine’s Day shit show was something she desperately wanted to forget. She kept telling herself that it wasn’t her fault, but how could she know for sure? Even though she tried not to think about “Brad,” she couldn’t help wondering if Steven had ever had this problem with her.

Lolly watched as her little sister’s bottom lip started to quiver and a new flood of tears streamed down her cheeks. Good God, Lolly thought to herself, and I always thought I was the biggest crybaby of the family!