Storms 01 - Family Storms

could have had any boy on the boat, but you chose Ricky just because he was her boyfriend. She says that you were plotting and conniving to get your revenge in subtle ways, this being one.”
    How could she say these things?
I thought. I wasn’t going to let her get away with it.
    “No, no, Mrs. March, I didn’t choose Ricky. They did.”
    “Who’s ‘they,’ Sasha?”
    “The other girls … the VA club,” I said.
    She stared for a moment, looked away, and then turned back to me. “Now, what is this supposed to be, the VA club?”
    “Virgins Anonymous. That’s what this tattoo is about. It’s calligraphy of the
V
and the
A.
All of the girls have a tattoo there.”
    “What’s Virgins Anonymous? I don’t understand.”
    “All of the girls in the club have given up their virginity to be members, and everyone has sex regularly with any boy. Kiera brought me to be a member, and they approved of me. I swore a vow on a notebook that contains the description of each girl’s first time. We meet regularly at Deidre’s house, because her mother works with her father and she has the house free after school. No one was supposed to talk about it, but Kiera’s lying to you about me. I didn’t ask for new clothes, I didn’t ask for the tattoo, and I didn’t steal her boyfriend. What happened was that I got seasick very quickly on the boat, and Ricky put me in the master stateroom. I wasn’t supposed to get seasick. Kiera said those pills she had given me would prevent it.”
    “What pills?”
    “The pills to make my periods less severe. Here,” I said, rising quickly and going to the drawer beside my bed. “I’ll show you.”
    I opened the drawer and stared down in disbelief. The pills were gone. I looked carefully through the drawer.
    “She must have taken them back,” I said under my breath.
    “Sasha, Mr. March is very, very upset.”
    “It’s not true. None of what she’s saying is true!”
    “Get dressed,” she said, rising. “We’re all going to have a talk downstairs in Mr. March’s office. I’m sick to my stomach.”
    I started to cry. She looked at me but not with the same compassion and sympathy I used to see in her face.
    “Just get dressed. I’m calling Deidre’s mother right now,” she said, and left.
    I couldn’t stop sobbing, but I put on some clothes, making sure not to wear anything Kiera had given me. I wanted to confront her first, but she was already downstairs sitting in her father’s office. She had her hands clasped on her lap and looked straight ahead, as though she was the one being accused of everything, as though she was the one so damaged and hurt.
    Mr. March sat at his desk. Mrs. March was sitting across from Kiera.
    “Just sit anywhere, Sasha,” Mr. March said.
    I looked at Kiera, but she wouldn’t look at me. Nevertheless, I sat on the settee, too.
    “Do you belong to or did you join a club?” Mr. March asked immediately.
    Good,
I thought.
They found out the truth. It serves her right.
    “Yes.”
    He held up a printout of the digital picture he had taken of my tattoo. “Is this the club’s logo?”
    “Yes, it is,” I said.
    “Hell Girl?” he asked.
    “What?”
    “That’s what this calligraphy represents. I had it confirmed.”
    “No,” I said, shaking my head. “It spells ‘VA.’ That’s the club Kiera had me join, the VA club.”
    Kiera blew air through her lips. She smiled at her father. “Did you ever? VA club?”
    “The girls took me to get the tattoo,” I said quickly. “All of them.”
    “Do you know where this supposedly occurred?” Mr. March asked.
    “Somewhere in L.A. I don’t remember the address. If I saw it, I’d remember.”
    “First,” Kiera began, “you know, Daddy, that someone under eighteen can’t get a tattoo in California legally. Why would anyone risk his business to give her that ridiculous tattoo?”
    “She’s right. Sasha?”
    “I don’t know why he did it. Maybe they gave him more money,” I said now, feeling real panic. “She has one. They all have one.”
    Kiera turned slowly. “Did you see it? Is that what you’re telling my parents now?”
    “Yes,” I said, nodding at Mr. and Mrs. March. “I saw it on all of them in the same place.”
    Kiera stood up, undid her jeans, and lowered them. She turned to her father and mother and lowered her panties. Then she turned to me, and I gasped. It was gone.
    “This is beginning to sound like
Psycho,
” Kiera said as she pulled her jeans up. “I