Good Suburban People, Part 3

Still not sure if I nailed this ending, but the hayloft in O'Connor's original effort is not an option for me.(if you are not familiar with "Good Country People", do read it.)

“What happened 2 your leg?”

Helga(or maybe stupid idealistic Joy that loved everything and really earned the Hopewell name fulltime) put aside her dream of the Sweet Guy That Never Asked, and tried to convince herself she got a bloodthirsty thrill out of typing “CRUSHED by a Truck…artery almost completely severed…they thought I would die.”

“I am so sorry. I had (and he sent an emoji of a heart, which looked like the worst valentine ever, that nobody would  want to share with the whole class) Operation when I was ten. God spared me for a higher purpose.”

“Don’t need God when yr leg is, like,  bulletproof titanium. Ok, so, don’t you worry that you might miss out?”

“It’s true I don’t have much money…driving my mother’s Honda is sometimes a trial.”

“Dude, not that! Did Occupy teach you nothing(Although, like everything else, she only saw it on cable television.) “Capitalism sucks! I meant, like, sensually. Because you’re, like, saving yourself and all that?” Remembering the word "sensual" let her imagine what working on her education full-steam might feel like, even though she’d only done it, like three and a half times and could probably ask herself the same question.  She wouldn't be afraid to admit that the answer was yes. Still, she got around more thanJoel, or as she still liked to think of him, BibleMan.

“My chastity is a gift for my future wife.” 

“You could just send her flowers.”

Slowly, gently, their relationship began. While Sharon Hopewell was tutoring teens that flunked English in summer school, Helga sent pictures. Coy ones at first, but the tidal wave of gratitude and reverence for her imperfect body  Joel  offered made her reach for new heights, including expensively improbable underwear that she got exercise walking to the mailbox so her mother wouldn’t see it. It went on that way for weeks until, due to a combination of her long skirt and the kitty running between her legs, she tripped.  Her topless state no longer felt like a European vacation or a photo shoot,especially when she made the same sort of hollow thump when she fell as a piece of furniture.

"Joy, are you all right in there?" her mother asked.