Lazy Lizzie

Sixteen

“So, The Wacky Loops?” Curious Leo was back. 

“The Crazy Loops,” Lizzie corrected him, but it did not curb his amusement, he lazily steered the car, his hands too big for the wheel. 

“It was fun,” she confessed, because Dale hated that part of her story, even though it was how they had met. “I was… left alone, as a child. I read a lot. I watched a lot of TV. And I grew into this teen who knew how to talk, but didn't really know how to talk to people.” The city center was busy, the car stranded again under a red stop. “So when I became a waitress, I learned a lot about behaving in public.”

Out the window, the outskirts loomed as grey as she remembered them, all houses aligned. It was a similar neighbourhood to the one she'd spent her childhood in, so they were all like toy copies of the house she knew too well. She could draw their floor plan, knew where in that living room rectangle they most likely put their TVs. On the wall, to save space, if they had a man in the house. She also knew that street where the ‘acceptable’ part of the city ended,  ‘Foreclosure’ replacing ‘For Sale’ on the lawn signs.

“You know what happens to a girl who grows up with only the TV to watch her?” she decided against remembering too much.

“She dances like a video girl,” she joked. “So when I moved on to stripping, as soon I was legally allowed to,” she saw no reason to hide, “I learned about men. I was very curious,” she remembered. “It was like meeting beings from another planet.”

Alien Being was busy driving, but he was listening, so Lizzie felt encouraged. She could watch him for hours, hunched to better see forward, because he never lost his calm. Not even when faced with the inevitable honk of every commuter annoyed by The Lair's inability to activate full speed as soon as the lights turned green. An exasperated hand demanded explanations through a half opened tinted window.

“And then Dale fell in love with me, and I wanted to try that, too. Every book, every movie said it was great. The love thing.” Sensing that she was bringing the mood down, because Serious Driver was silent, Lizzie had a fun fact ready.

“I think I am the only stripper in the world who danced under her real, full name.”

His face took a second before relaxing into a smile of acknowledgment, “Your stage name was Elizabeth Taylor?” 

“Short curly wig and everything.” Lizzie laughed, making him laugh, “Contacts, the whole package.”

“Man, you're so lazy,” he surprised her, still laughing. “You couldn't be bothered to think of something else.”

Lizzie didn't answer, she had no excuses for Pizzie. Finally, the town was behind them.

“And the funniest part is that you ended up working harder,” Leo didn't look at the sign. To him, it was just another town. “Had to change your entire appearance. When you… could've just picked another name.”