control, and it bounced off the ground at Corey’s feet. “Good power. Coach
says the trick is keeping your aim on hard throws.”
They threw the ball back and forth for a while, but Henry never made it fly
like a laser beam. He wanted to ask his cousin if he knew about masturbating.
Corey was old enough to know about that stuff and wouldn’t tell on Henry.
But a sense of shame tightened around Henry’s stomach every time he started
to ask and the question stuck on his lips.
“Alright,” Corey said, “I need to check on Lee and call Jessica. He flipped the
ball back to Henry underhanded and walked toward the house.
Henry hurried to catch up. “Who’s Jessica?”
“My new girlfriend,” Corey said. “Jessica Price. She’s on the volleyball team.
She’s had a crush on me since like sixth grade camp.”
“Have you kissed her?” Henry asked.
“Of course.”
Corey reached the front door and Henry blurted out, “What does masturbator
mean?”
Corey took his hand off the screen door and snorted. “Where’d you hear
that?”
“Bryce Grant told us about it at school. He says it means pulling on your
wiener, but the dictionary says it means when you stimulate one’s genitals.”
“That’s, well, that’s both kind of right,” Corey said. “But it’s pronounced
‘genitals.’” He emphasized the soft G.
“Oh,” Henry said. “Have you and Jessica Price masturbated?”
Corey started laughing, but not unkindly. “You don’t masturbate with
someone else. Besides, girls don’t masturbate.” He paused and Henry turned