Journal of the Survivors

Chapter Three--Kyra

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“Graaaaaaaaaaammy?!” Tam sings. “Grammy, Grammy, Graaaaaammy!”

            Graham puts his finger between the pages of the book he’s reading, a book of poems I lent him, and raises his head.

            “Wanna play Truth or Dare, Grammy?” Tammy asks.

            Graham looks over to Jackie who smiles encouragingly. He shrugs, places the book on a nearby box, and replies, “Why not?”

            “Why not indeed! That’s everyone! Except for Bailey, she’s on duty. All right, move it on over to the lounge,” Tams instructs.

            We sit on the old blankets on the floor, blocking the chill from numbing our legs.

            “Okay, we’re going to play a variation of Truth or Dare. We shall play Truth, Dare, or Question. Truth, and Dare are the same as they’ve been since the beginning of time, but Question is where you ask a question and everybody has to answer. This should be, but is not limited to, a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question just to let you know. It just can’t be as specific as a Truth question. We’ve lived with each other for fairly long time that I think we should be able to share our deepest secrets and desires. Comprendo?” she explains.

            “Si señorita!” Archie answers for the group.

            We start off mildly with simple questions and dares, unless it’s Izzie of course. He jokingly dared me to try out the flavoured condoms with him. I ended up bargaining my way down to giving him a foot rub which is way better than the alternative. And then it’s Tam’s turn. She turns to me just as planned.

            “Truth, Dare, or Question, Boss?” she asks.

            “Question,” I respond.

            “Okay, since everyone has their doubts I thought I should ask: Are you a virgin? And if not, who’d you lose it to?”

            Even though I knew it was coming I still blushed. “I am a virgin.”

            “There’s a shocker,” Danny jokes from beside me.

            I elbow him. He elbows back so I shove him over making him laugh. “Mercy!”

            “Your turn to answer the question,” I tell him.

            “All right, all right. I’m not a virgin.”

            “Shocker!” I wave my hands dramatically in the air making Danno laugh again and earning me a glare from Arch.

            “Faith,” he says, “I lost it to Faith. I loved her.” And for once he doesn’t sound like he’s in unbearable pain. He sounds accepting. Why can’t I be like that? He looks down and blinks fast. Even though he’s not in total pain, it still hurts. I take his hand and I squeeze. He glances up gratefully and squeezes back.

            “My turn!” Izzie shouts from next to Daniel. “Not a virgin. Lost it to Mercedes O’Neal when I was fifteen and she was twenty-three.”

            “That’s gross Iz! No one needed to know that!” Tammy pretends to gag.

            “You asked the question. And we all know you secretly wanted to know it.”

            “Oh, yea, my deepest desire in life is to know every detail about your sex life.” She rolls her eyes.

            “Basically, yea I know.”