“Didn’t anybody ever tell you you’re not supposed to take communion unless you’re right?”

“Yeah,” I lied. “I know what banal means too.”

I always added that whenever anyone questioned my age or my knowledge. Either “banal” or some other new word I’d picked up.

“Then why’d you reach your hand in the communion plate? You ain’t right.”

“I’m as right as that old woman.”

“No, because she’s too old to do anything wrong. And you just starting to do yours.”

“Let me go in the bathroom.”

“Look at you, ain’t big as a minute and think you’re right.”

“I got a right to go pee.”

“I bet you think you got a right to do everything, don’t you? Look at you.”

“Let me in the bathroom. I know I got a right to pee.”

“Look at you.”

Finally, she moved out of my way.

When I passed her, she whispered, “Banal? I bet you don’t even know the difference between right and right.”

9

Gillette comes back into the room. She’s pinned her hair back in a ponytail. High full cheeks, dotted with a touch of rouge. Her rounded chin is as babyish as Tatum’s. Her nose looks powdered, but the rest is as shiny as if she’s just stepped out of a Turkish bath.

“You guys ready?”

We go to Hardee’s and eat roast beef sandwiches. Gillette and Tatum sit in the booth across from Catherine and me.

“Do you like it, Sister? Is it good?” Gillette asks.

“Yes,” says Tatum.

Gillette wipes barbecue sauce from the corner of Tatum’s mouth.

“Take little bites,” she warns.

Tatum keeps her mouth open, smacks and chews, makes it her little rebellion.

“I guess you can see how it is,” says Gillette.

Catherine nods. Gillette glances at me a moment, then bites into her roast beef. The roast beef is tough and sticks between my front teeth.

“You did get married though. I’m just noticing your ring,” she says to Catherine.

“Yes.”

“Is he a nice man?”

“Yes, very nice.”

“I bet he’s nice.”

I brush my tongue across the front of my teeth, but the roast beef won’t bulge.

Gillette pushes a loose strand of hair back behind her ear, scratches her jaw. Her nostrils flare a bit.

“I read about one of your shows, the one in Montreal. You’re doing really swell, kid. I did like what I saw here. You must have a lot of time. I really envy your time. I envy your time more than your man. My marriage didn’t stick. I guess you can see that. The moving I was talking about was us clearing out.”

“Clearing out,” Tatum echoes.

“I don’t have as much time as when we were at the colony,” Catherine says.

“Nobody does.” Gillette frowns. Her shoulders rise till they almost touch her ears. “I don’t like to think about those good days. They were too good, weren’t they?”

Gillette rests her chin on her collar. There are two chins. When she raises her head again, one of them disappears.