Orange Soda

She was always pretty
long legs and cute freckles
linking fingers with womanhood
yet only softly

Quirky too
she always ate the same thing for lunch
peanut butter and jelly with
an apple for dessert

Always walked on only the white parts
of the crosswalk
she liked to count yellow cars
on her walks home from school

she always always always
stopped at the musky general store
nameless
for a bottled orange soda

The man behind the counter
he was young and handsome
always careful to give her a wink
or a smile as he handed her the change

but one afternoon
he decided to give her a little bit more
than a friendly twitch of the eyelid
or a tiny grin

it was painful

but she was definitely asking for it

her skirt was really short.