Mama warned me if I slept with a boy before marriage the Virgin Mary would snatch

me away. Where to I was never sure—maybe New York or Los Angeles. To a bedroom

of satin sheets so smooth I’d slide into Heaven. Tony was my first. Dimple in his chin

he pinched my butt up the stairs to civics. Twenty-four steps with him right behind.

March he gave me a broken heart on a silver chain. I’ll keep the other half in my pocket,

he said, for good luck. Never thought of being swooped up by Mary when I kissed Tony.

Felt him grow in my hand like giving birth to something I wanted to know. Mama

believed virgins hung the moon, though not a soul in our family ever stayed that way.

Proof? Cousin Raylene did whatever she wanted—the Virgin never messed with her.