around his legs. His teammates laughed with hands on their bellies and
forearms draped across their faces, but Henry was busy trying to remember
the details of the picture. The woman had been leaning back against a chair or
something, and her skin looked orange. He couldn’t recall much more.
“How’d you guys like the play?” Bryce asked. He stood up and the others
followed his lead.
“What was that?” Henry asked.
“A naked lady. Duh!”
“But how’d you get it?”
“Found it on the computer. It’s Jenny McCarthy.”
Nobody said anything for a moment.
“You could get in trouble,” Henry said. It just came out.
“You could get in trouble,” Bryce sang, imitating him. The group broke into
peals of laughter again. “What are you, a masturbator?”
Henry didn’t say anything.
“You know what a masturbator is, don’t you?” Bryce said. He made a gesture
in the air with his thumb meeting his fingers in a loose circle.
Henry didn’t know what Bryce was talking about, but he said, “Of course.”
Then, quickly, “Show us the picture again.”
Bryce folded the page into quarters and shoved it into his pocket as the boys
in the huddle watched. “That’s all you’re gonna get,” he said. “Mrs. Green is
coming, so act normal.”
Everybody turned to look for Mrs. Green, who was walking around the
school on recess duty. As they drifted back toward the kids with the football,