Dark Places

Trey and Ben drive to a 7-Eleven for beer and snacks. Trey leaves the cashier three dollars in change, and Ben thinks about how little money means to Trey and Diondra. One day, Ben and Diondra were taking her little cousins to the waterpark, and on the drive, the kids threw handfuls of change out the window, giggling. Ben told them to stop, and Diondra revealed that she knew Ben picked up the spare change she left in the car.

When they arrive, Diondra is dancing around in boxers and an oversized sweater, listening to “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC. Shopping bags and boxes full of new clothes and jewelry surround her. She has bought Ben a pair of black leather pants, a black striped T-shirt, and a black studded denim jacket. She likes Ben’s new hair color: “I told you it’d look good, Benji” (160). She tells Ben to take a shower (he stinks like cafeteria food) and try on the new clothes. Trey and Diondra make fun of him when they realize he had to take his boxers off to fit into the pants. When Diondra stops laughing, she takes Ben to the bedroom.

After they have sex, Diondra tells Ben there’s a rumor that he is molesting little girls at school.