-1980- — Taboo 1

He reaches across the table. His thumb traces the inside of her wrist. She doesn’t pull away. That’s the first transgression: not the touch, but the permission.

She climbs the stairs. In her room, she presses her palm to the wall, where on the other side her parents sleep in separate beds. She can hear the low murmur of the television—Johnny Carson, maybe. Laughter. Then silence. Taboo 1 -1980-

She takes off her jeans. A matchbook falls from the pocket. The Rusty Nail Lounge . She doesn’t smoke. She puts it in her jewelry box, next to a dried corsage from a dance she didn’t enjoy, with a boy she doesn’t remember. He reaches across the table